Pelicana Chicken

On our first visit to Pelicana Chicken – a South Korean fried chicken chain that boasts of its 40-year heritage overseas, and claims to have invented “Korean flavored chicken” – we thought we had fallen in love. Though rival South Korean chains Bonchon and Kyochon beat it to the United States by nearly a decade, defining “Korean fried chicken” before the concept peaked in popularity here, leading franchises to shut down, Pelicana showed up later to pick up the pieces. With Kyochon gone, Bonchon wobbling, and others using different recipes, we felt Pelicana’s Buena Park location offered the best Korean fried chicken in Orange County.

The not-so-secret formula was a seemingly perfect balance of crispiness, sauce, and juicy wing meat, which meant some but not too much batter, plenty of sauce, and a cooking technique that locked the chicken’s natural moisture in. But after another visit, we saw that there was some variation from day to day, and sauce to sauce.

Originally, we lucked out when we tried Pelicana’s spiciest (heat level 3) and smoky hot sauces – both great, with especially memorable smokiness. But on the next visit, we tried their signature sauce (mostly sweet, slightly peppery), spicy chili (heat level 2), and unsauced wings. None of these flavors was as compelling as the ones on our first visit, and the signature wings came out so moist and juicy that the batter was slipping off. They were still pretty good, just not like the ones that had come before.