Choon Chun Chicken B.B.Q.

Several months ago, a new restaurant opened up right near my apartment.  The name seemed quite unusual, and since I didn't know what kind of food it served, it intrigued me even more.  Tonight a couple of friends asked if I wanted to go out for dinner.  I told them that I would join them if they would agree to accompany me here.  So here I am at Choon Chun Chicken B.B.Q.

It's about mile away from the apartment, so my friends agreed to meet me here.  When we arrived, it was half full.  A large number of people occupied the two tables in the middle of the room, three women were at a table in the far corner, a couple was on the table next to theirs and a couple of ajumas (aunties) were on the table next to ours.

The plasma TV was showing Korean programs which were quite hilarious.  Glancing over at the table next to ours, I saw a pan full of food.  I asked the waitress what the ajumas had ordered and told her that I wanted the same.  In no time, she brought a portable gas grill to the table, and while they were preparing the food in the kitchen, she started bringing out the ban chan (Korean side dishes).

First, came the Chinese cabbage kim chee. 

The kim chee was quite spicy and not too sour.  This was actually some of the best kim chee that I had tasted in a while.

Next to arrive was the zucchini. 

The zucchini was very soft and mushy.  I couldn't tell what it was coated in, but I really didn't care for the texture of the zucchini.

The zucchini was followed by some odeng (fish cake). 

The odeng was a bit chewy and just mildly spicy.

And then came some daikon radish. 

This daikon wasn't seasoned at all, and it was crunchy and refreshing.

Last to arrive, was the Korean pancake. 

There were some green onions, some round onions and some green chillies in this.  It was quite good.

Soon after, our pan full of meat and veggies arrived.  This was the medium-sized spicy kimchee chicken stir fry (medium, US$19.95; large, US$32.95).

In the pan was Chinese cabbage kim chee, round onions, sliced sweet potato, sliced carrots, sliced cabbage, pieces of boneless/skinless chicken thigh, sliced green onions, sesame leaves, sliced red and green chillies, some duk (tteok, rice cake) and some chilli paste. 

The waitress then quickly left the table while everything started to cook.  About five minutes later, she returned and started vigorously tossing everything inside the pan.

After that, she left the table only to return another couple of times to do the same.  About 3 tosses and 20 minutes later, she declared our food ready to eat.

She then brought us a basket of fresh red leaf lettuce to use to wrap the ingredients while eating.

The kimchee chicken stir fry was quite spicy.  In fact, it was a little bit too spicy for me.  Using the lettuce as a "wrapper", I was able to take away enough of the heat so that I could enjoy this without gulping down a gallon of water.  Besides, the lettuce added a nice crunch to the cooked chicken and vegetables. 

By the time we were done, we had decided to come here again to try some of the other menu offerings.  The food was good, though just a bit spicy.  If you like spicy food, then you're sure to like this.  The portion size was just right for the three of us and at about US$6.00 each, I considered this a great bargain. 

Choon Chun Chicken B.B.Q.
1269 South King Street
Telephone:  808.593.4499

Comments

[AugustusGloop]

Looks great, and a veritable bargain at only $6! Did the waitress insist you not take a picture of her face? :-)

Nice pics, although that lettuce didn't look wide enough to be wrapper-friendly. I'm actually attempting to cook Korean pancake tonite. My first effort ever and I'm cooking for 7! Eek...

[pieman]

Isn't this a take on Tak kalbi? looks kinda similar, at least the methos of cooking is

[mr_me]

What a wierd coincidence! I just sat down to eat my dinner (I'm at work and eat in front of my workstation :P), opened up this week's Honolulu Weekly to read the restaurant review...and then I loaded up your site to see what great place you reviewed today. I got to reviews of the same restaurant in one sitting! :)

[fish fish]

The kimchi oledi looks so nice by itself. Must be a good ingredient inside the pan of veggie and meat. :)

[Reid]

Hi AugustusGloop,

The waitress was mixing everything together so vigorously that I don't think she even noticed that I was taking pictures of her. I thought about taking her picture and putting it up on the blog, then thought better of it.

The leaves of lettuce were torn in half, then a small amount of the stir-fried stuff was place inside and wrapped. It made a nice bite-sized bundle.

Good luck with your Korean pancakes!

Hi pieman,

It very well could be, but I'll defer to FatMan. He's all knowing with regards to Korean food. I just ate this and it was quite good. It was a first for me.

Hi mr_me,

It is strange isn't it? I'll have to pick up a copy of the Weekly tomorrow when I go in to work. What did the reviewer say about the place and what did they eat? I'm going back on Sunday to try the fried chicken. It looked good.

Hi fish fish,

The kim chee was really good. In fact, everything here was quite good...although a little bit spicy for me. =)

[claudine]

hi reid,
it constantly amazes me to see the numbers of restaurants you get to, and the variety of food in hawaii... this place looks lovely -- everything so fabulously fresh, except perhaps for the zucchini... perhaps it looked a little too much like cucumber and your were subconsciously expecting a "crunch."
happy new year, btw... haven't been here in a while...

[Julia]

hi Reid, yes i think this is dak galbi too. It looks tasty! The pancake, on the other hand, doesn't look very spectacular. I think it's pretty expensive considering there are only onions and chillies in it.

[Reid]

Hi claudine,

It sure has been a while! =)

This place was actually very good. Most of the people were eating the same thing that I was, so I felt that I had made a wise choice.

I'm also surprised about the number of places that I go to as well. I never thought I ate out that much. LOL! Seriously, I normally eat out on the weekends so that usually covers me for a couple of posts. I only really eat out during the week when I have to work late, or if I'm really tired and don't feel like cooking.

You're right about the zucchini...something just wasn't right. Perhaps I was expecting cucumber kim chee. =)

Hi Julia,

I asked a Korean friend at work today and she told me that it was indeed dak kalbi. This is actually the first such restaurant that either of us has encountered in Hawaii, but I'm told it's very popular in Korea. The name of the shop "Choon Chun" is also the name of a place that's located near Seoul.

The Korean pancake was OK. I though it was nice because it was so crunchy. Tastewise, it was plain...

[FatMan Seoul]

Hi Reid,

I'm back. Yep this is dak galbi. Even the name "Choon Chun" is a copy of the popular chain of dak galbi restaurant here.

Don't mean to steal your audience, but here's a link to my post on Choon Chun's dak galbi:
http://fatman-seoul.blogspot.com/2004/05/dak-galbi.html

The cucumber is meant to be mushy. One of my favs, actually. It's a stir-fry with garlic, onions, dried shrimps and a dash of soya sauce.

Cheers.

[Jonny Angel]

Thanks, Reid. Korean is my favorite meal so these pictures are just gorgeous to me. Curse you for making me so hungry for good Korean food!! ;-)

[MrsT]

Hey..Reid.. :)
Love the pictures.. ;) Everything look so yummy.. !!

[Reid]

Hi FatMan,

You dak kalbi was a lot cheaper than mine and you got rice AND cheese on yours. I didn't get any rice or cheese on mine. Hmmm, why do I suddenly feel cheated.

Hi Jonny,

I'm glad to have found this place. I'm actually planning on going back soon for the spicy noodles. They looked really good as well.

Hi MrsT,

Thank you! =) Everything was really yummy, although I think that as I get older, it becomes a little harder for me to take really spicy food.

[MrsT]

Hey.. Reid.. ;)
So weird.. !! this week.. everyone i met has been telling me.. it gets hard to take spicier food.. when one gets older like i.. heheh!! wat a coincidence..???!!??

[Reid]

Hi MrsT,

What a coincidence is right. I've been noticing that some days I'm fine, and others I'm not. Oh no, what am I going to do when I get to Singapore. I heard there are a lot of spicy dishes there...and I love curry!

[wes gordon]

Hey-I did the pancakes last night at home. They were fantastic. Spent a month in Korea this summer and loved the food. Your site is very cool.

[Reid]

Hi wes,

Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving me a comment. My apologies for taking so long to respond. I'm glad you liked your stay in Korea. I'm hoping go there soon.

Thanks for the compliment on the site. Hope to hear from you again!

[Glenn]

After reading the reviews/comments, our family of 6 decided that this would be the place to dine for the evening. Everything looked delicious and the descriptions...yummy!! We entered the almost empty restaurant and were promptly seated (we called for reservations), examined the menu and ordered a pitcher of Coors Lite. We ordered the chicken stir fry and two pupu dishes (korean sausage & fried chicken). Soon after the ban chan arrived and we just wiped the small dishes clean. I especially liked the mayo-tuna-cucumber dish. The potato was also great. When the korean sausage arrived, everyone looked at my eldest daughter since she ordered it. It looked like blood sausage with a side of pork intestines. I took the first piece and it was bland (didn't see the salt that came w/it). It reminded me of dinaguan. The fried chicken was sweet and very dry. OK, so we ordered the wrong pupu items. The stir fry came and the waiter tossed everything together. Mrs was served first and she gave this look..."hmmm, not so good." I ate a bite size portion and was not impressed as well. Spicy for sure, but almost bland. Where's the lettuce? After everyone was served the waiter asked if we wanted rice mixed into the stir fry and we all agreed that it was a great idea....wrong. Tasteless, but still very spicy. Driving home, we all agreed that it was an interesting experience, but we would never return to this restaurant.

[Reid]

Hi Glenn,

Thank you for dropping by the blog and for providing feed back on your experience at Choon Chun. I'm sure my readers will appreciate it.

Though it's been a while since I was last here, I have to agree that the chicken was a little sweet, but when I had it, it wasn't all that dry.

I did not have the Korean sausage, but from past experience, I would have to say that your guess is correct. Korean sausage is normally made with some blood, but I also think that it is filled with grain (maybe rice) as well.

For me, the dak kalbi was spicy. In fact, I think it was a bit too spicy, but seeing as it is only flavored with chilli paste, I can see how you would find it bland.

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. I guess dak kalbi is not for everyone.

[jenny]

It reminds me of my home town.
Choon Chun is my home town and i used to eat Dakalbi a lot.
I miss my home town. Now i am living far away from there.