Dish guide · Meat
Korean fried chicken
치킨
Chikin, Korean-style fried chicken
Extra-crisp fried chicken, either plain, glazed in a sweet and spicy sauce, or fried whole in the old style. Chicken with beer has its own word: chimaek.
What it is
- Huraideu is plain fried; yangnyeom is coated in a sweet, spicy sauce.
- Tongdak is an old-style whole fried chicken.
- It's often double-fried, which makes the coating very crisp. Pickled radish cubes are the usual side.
How to eat it
- 1Order half fried, half yangnyeom if you can't decide, and eat with your hands and a cold beer.
History
- American-style fried chicken is commonly said to have reached Korea with the US military after the Korean War, though the rise of cooking oil in the 1970s also mattered. Yangnyeom chicken is usually credited to Yun Jonggye, in the early 1980s.
- Chimaek joins "chicken" and maekju, the Korean word for beer.
Allergies and diet
Usually contains
- Yangnyeom sauce may contain peanuts, garlic and gochujang.
- Frying oil may be shared with other foods.
Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.
🗣️ Allergy card for the staff
Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.
📍 Where to try it
- 🍗
Gohyang Tongdak (Main) 고향통닭 본점
Fried chicken · Seomyeon & Jeonpo · Since 1990
One of Busan's best-known old-style fried chicken shops, by Beomnaegol Station, one stop from Seomyeon. Order the crisp fried chicken with ttaengcho ddongjip: fried chicken gizzards tossed with hot green chili. Reviewers rate it among the city's top three, and it goes perfectly with cold beer.
Try: Fried chicken
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Tosokchon Samgyetang 토속촌삼계탕
Soups & stews · Seochon & Bukchon · Since 1983
A Seoul institution for samgyetang, a whole young chicken stuffed with rice and simmered with ginseng. It sits in a rambling hanok a few minutes from Gyeongbokgung Palace, which makes it an easy lunch before or after a palace visit.
Try: Tosokchon samgyetang
- 🍗
Yeonggwang Tongdak 영광통닭
Fried chicken · Seochon & Bukchon · Since 1984
Seochon's neighborhood fried chicken shop since 1984: crisp, old-fashioned chicken with cold draft beer, now with a second branch nearby. Order half fried, half sauced, plus spicy whelk salad.
Try: Fried chicken
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍗
Friend Chicken (Huraendeu Chikin) 후렌드치킨
Fried chicken · Itaewon
An old-school fried chicken joint near Noksapyeong where the real draw is sitting outside on plastic stools with a pitcher of draft beer. Order half fried, half sweet-spicy yangnyeom chicken; locals also swear by the kimchi stew. A slice of everyday Seoul nightlife a few minutes from Itaewon's bars.
Try: Banban chicken (half fried, half yangnyeom)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍗
Gyeyeolsa 계열사
Fried chicken · Jongno
Often named one of Seoul's three great fried chicken shops, in the hillside neighborhood of Buam-dong behind Gyeongbokgung. Order the old-school fried chicken, light and very crisp, with golbaengi-somyeon, spicy sea snails tossed with thin noodles, and a draft beer. A favorite reward after hiking Bugaksan or Inwangsan.
Try: Fried chicken
1 hr+ wait - 🍺
Manseon Hof 만선호프
Pubs · Euljiro
The biggest name in Euljiro's Nogari Alley: cheap draft beer and grilled dried pollack (nogari) at plastic tables that fill the streets on warm evenings. It has grown into several buildings around the alley, with a rooftop that is the place to be at sunset.
Try: Grilled dried young pollack (nogari)
Short wait - 🍺
Munich Hof 뮌헨호프
Pubs · Euljiro
An old-school Korean beer hall in Euljiro's Nogari Alley. On warm evenings the plastic tables spill into the street, and people sit outside with cheap draft beer, grilled dried pollack and garlic fried chicken.
Try: Grilled dried young pollack (nogari)
Short wait
Sources
We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-10-31.