Korean Fried Chicken Guide: Chimaek, The Styles, Which Brands to Try and How to Order
Updated March 2026 · 7 min read
Photo by Jungyeon Min via Pixabay
Korean fried chicken is not the same thing as regular fried chicken. The technique is different, the flavors are different, and the culture around it is entirely its own. If you’re visiting Korea and you haven’t ordered chicken delivery at least once, you’ve missed something.
In Korea, fried chicken is not fast food in the way most people think of it. It’s a social event. It’s a late-night ritual. It’s what you order when there’s a soccer match on, when you’ve had a long week, when you’re sitting on the floor of your living room with friends at 11 PM and nobody wants to cook. I’ve eaten more Korean fried chicken than I can account for, and it never gets old.
The market here is genuinely competitive in a way that keeps quality high. There are dozens of major chains, each with its own dedicated following, its own signature flavors, and its own army of customers who will argue passionately that theirs is the best. Walking through any Korean neighborhood after 6 PM, you’ll see delivery riders constantly moving, boxes stacked on the back of motorcycles. Someone nearby is always ordering chicken.
Chimaek: chicken, beer and Korean culture
The word chimaek is a combination of chicken and maekju (beer) — and it describes one of the most embedded food cultures in Korea. Fried chicken and cold beer, eaten together, usually late at night. It’s the thing you do when you’re watching a match, when you’re catching up with friends, when the evening calls for something uncomplicated and deeply satisfying.
During major sporting events — especially when the Korean national soccer team is playing — chicken delivery orders spike dramatically across the country. There’s something almost ritualistic about it: everyone gathers, the game starts, and somewhere along the way somebody opens the delivery app. I’ve done it more times than I can count, huddled around a TV with friends, a box of chicken between us and a round of cold beer. The combination genuinely works. The crunch of the chicken against the cold, clean bitterness of the beer is one of those pairings that sounds simple but delivers every time.
This culture makes Korean fried chicken different from the version you might know elsewhere. It’s designed to be eaten slowly, over the course of an evening, not grabbed quickly on the go. The double-frying technique keeps the skin crispy even as it cools. The flavors are built to complement beer. The pickled radish that comes alongside almost every order — cool, slightly sweet, slightly sour — is there specifically to reset your palate between pieces.
The styles: what makes Korean fried chicken different
Korean fried chicken is almost always double-fried — cooked once to cook the meat through, rested, then fried again at a higher temperature to create the extraordinarily thin, shatteringly crispy skin that distinguishes it from other styles. The result is a crust that stays crunchy far longer than most fried chicken.
Original (plain fried)
Crispy, lightly seasoned, served without sauce. This is the purist version — all about the texture and the quality of the chicken itself. It’s the one that tends to divide opinion: some people find it too plain, but those who get it right make something genuinely addictive. Good with beer precisely because it doesn’t compete with the flavor.
Yangnyeom (seasoned/sauced)
The sauced version — chicken glazed in a sticky, sweet-spicy sauce that coats every piece. Yangnyeom is probably what most people picture when they think of Korean fried chicken. The sauce varies by brand but typically combines gochujang (Korean chili paste), sugar, garlic, and vinegar into something that’s simultaneously sweet, spicy, savory, and slightly tangy. Genuinely excellent, and the version most likely to have you eating more than you planned.
Soy garlic
A glaze rather than a thick sauce — each piece brushed carefully with a soy-based mixture that’s garlicky, slightly sweet, and deeply savory. Kyochon made this style famous. It’s arguably the most elegant of the Korean fried chicken styles — complex flavor, thin glaze, crunch intact. The kind of chicken that’s still good cold the next morning.
Half and half
Most chains offer a half-and-half option — half original or soy garlic, half yangnyeom. This is the move if you’re ordering alone or can’t decide. It’s also the move if you’re ordering with someone who has different preferences. Nobody fights over half and half.
The brands: which ones to try and what to order
The Korean fried chicken market is enormous and competitive. These are the chains worth knowing about — each has a distinct identity and is easy to find across Seoul.
Kyochon
The brand most Koreans would put at the top of the list. Founded in 1991, Kyochon is famous for its soy garlic chicken — each piece hand-brushed with sauce, thin crispy crust, incredibly juicy inside. The honey combo (sweet and slightly spicy) is their other signature and equally worth trying. Order the half-and-half soy garlic and honey if you can’t choose. The portions lean smaller than some other brands, but the quality is consistently high.
BBQ Chicken
The largest chicken chain in Korea and probably the most recognizable internationally. BBQ fries in extra virgin olive oil, which gives the skin a distinctive richness and keeps it crispy for a long time. Their Golden Olive Chicken is the benchmark — if you’re eating plain fried chicken in Korea for the first time, start here. It’s the standard against which everything else gets measured.
BHC
Currently one of the most searched chicken brands in Korea. BHC is known for creative, sometimes addictive seasoned flavors. Their Ppurinkle — a cheese, onion, and garlic powder coating — has a cult following. If you like bold, savory, slightly unusual flavor combinations, BHC is the one to explore.
Puradak
My personal pick for when I want something a bit different. Puradak positions itself as a premium brand — the chicken is oven-roasted first, then finished in the fryer, which produces a cleaner, less oily result with genuinely juicy meat. The packaging alone is something (think luxury bag design). My go-to is the Cheongyang Mayo — cheongyang chili pepper heat with a creamy mayo coating that somehow manages to be both spicy and rich at the same time. If you’re someone who can handle spice, this is the one I’d push you toward.
Nene Chicken
Known for creative flavor combinations and consistently good quality across the range. Their Oriental green onion chicken — fried chicken topped with thinly sliced scallions and a soy dressing — is one of the more distinctive options on the Korean fried chicken landscape. Worth trying if you want something a step away from the standard flavors.
Almost all Korean fried chicken comes with a small container of pickled radish — white cubes in a sweet, slightly vinegary brine. Eat these between pieces. They reset your palate, cut through the oil, and make the whole experience considerably better. Don’t skip them.
How to order delivery from your hotel or accommodation
Ordering chicken delivery is one of the most Korean things you can do while visiting — and if you’re staying in a hotel or Airbnb, it’s genuinely easy to make happen. I’d actively recommend it as an experience. There is something about sitting in your room with a box of freshly delivered fried chicken and a cold beer from the convenience store downstairs that captures something real about everyday life in Korea.
Baemin
Baemin is Korea’s largest food delivery app. As of early 2026, the app supports English, accepts foreign cards, and allows guest login without a Korean phone number — meaning it’s genuinely accessible to visitors. Enter your hotel address, browse by category (Chicken is easy to find), and most orders arrive within 30–45 minutes.
Ordering directly from chains
Most major chains including Kyochon, BBQ, and Puradak have their own ordering websites and apps. Some hotel concierges will also help place delivery orders if you’re unsure — it’s a common enough request that it won’t raise any eyebrows.
Pick up a beer or two from the convenience store before your delivery arrives — CU, GS25, and 7-Eleven are everywhere in Seoul and all carry a solid range of Korean beers and ciders. Cold Cass or Hite with fried chicken is the classic pairing. The convenience store downstairs is not an afterthought. It’s part of the plan.
Frequently asked questions
A whole chicken from a major chain typically runs 20,000–25,000 won, with premium brands like Puradak at the higher end. Half-and-half orders (two flavors) usually cost around 22,000–27,000 won. Delivery fees add 3,000–6,000 won on top. It’s not cheap by Korean street food standards, but the portions are generous — a whole chicken comfortably feeds two people with beer.
Yes — Baemin, Korea’s main delivery app, now supports English and accepts foreign payment cards without requiring a Korean phone number. Enter your hotel or accommodation address and order directly. Most deliveries arrive within 30–45 minutes. It’s one of the most enjoyable and genuinely local experiences you can have without leaving your room.
Korean fried chicken is worth taking seriously. Not because it’s trendy or because you’ve seen it in a drama — but because it’s genuinely excellent, and because the culture around it tells you something real about how Koreans actually eat and socialize. Order it delivered to your hotel room with a beer from the convenience store. Watch whatever’s on. Eat the pickled radish. You’ll understand why this became a national obsession.
We’ll be sharing more Seoul food guides soon. Stay tuned!
