When I first found out that Bonchon was going to open a restaurant closer to home, I was so excited to not have to drive all the way to Sunnyvale. After hearing almost everyone I know tell me that this location was not up to par with the other one, I decided it was finally time to try it for myself. My boyfriend and I came in at an odd time (about 4pm - that time in between lunch and dinner). There was only one other group in the restaurant with us. Our server was great. Very attentive and made sure to check on us if we needed anything or refills for our water. A lot of other reviews talk about the poor service and since we dined in when no one else was there, I don't have much to say about it, unfortunately. We ordered a small of the chicken along with the bulgogi tacos. When we had tried the bulgogi tacos at the Sunnyvale location, we were shocked at how much we enjoyed it. After tasting it here, we both agreed that the bulgogi itself had a similar flavor profile of Taco Bell - yikes... The chicken was crispy, which is what it should be. But I have a feeling that the recipe has changed at this location and at the Sunnyvale location.. Whatever was changed, PLEASE bring back the old flavors. Something seems different and off lately. I added +1 star to my review solely because whoever's playlist was playing while we were there was on point. Imagine the 2000s R&B station on Pandora. Overall, I don't think I'll be coming back to Bonchon (Sunnyvale or Newark) for a while, which is such a bummer because I really enjoyed their food. read more

Bonchon Newark - Takoyaki - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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Great service. They were patient and took time to answer many questions related to allergen ingredients. Their fried chicken was free of dairy, egg, peanut, and tree nuts. Awesome for folks with food allergy. read more

Wanting to grab a quick beer and bite, Stephanie S., Shannon A., and I headed over to Bonchon. I was excited to get my hands on some delicious Korean fried chicken! They have happy hour on Mondays through Fridays from 5pm - 6pm. Their happy hour specials: - draft beer for $3.50 - soju cocktail pitcher for $10 - bucket of 5 bottled beers for $20 I'm always down for cheap beer! Between the Spicy and Soy Garlic wings, I enjoyed the soy garlic ones more. The spicy wings are pretty spicy! The skin is perfectly crispy on the outside, and the meat was perfectly juicy inside. What I liked about this location is that their wings are actually bigger, so I didn't feel too bad paying $1 for each piece (unlike the Sunnyvale location). Cheers! read more

Bonchon Newark - Soy Garlic and Spicy Wings - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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My family and I have gotten food here quite often. We're a big fan of the wings but over time, the quality has become terrible. I order for pickup very often, before the wings were huge and I was very satisfied. Yesterday, I received the tiniest wings which were like half a wing and was completely devastated and unsatisfied. The quality has gone to dirt and is not worth the money for what you are receiving. read more

Just wow. First off I don't like writing negative reviews I try to stay away from being negative but it was so bad I can't help not to. Chicken was just over cooked and burnt. The chicken wasn't even saucy how it should've been as well. Drove an hour because I was craving just to be disappointed opening the box and taking a bite. I was going to call and complain but there's no point. I'm not getting my money back and I def don't want any credit because I'm never eating at this location again. read more

We got the 10 Pc Boneless Wing. The boneless wings were the size of popcorn chicken. It was highly disappointing, as it cost us $17 for 10 of these. We will never return again. read more

Bonchon Newark - 10 Pc Boneless Wings - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

Took forever to get our small combo ( 6 piece chicken wings and 3 drum sticks) Togo order when the restaurant was empty . 35 mins.!!!!!! Even the people who came in after us got their food way before us . Turned out that they lost our order ( like for Real's?! the restaurant was pretty much empty -___-) At least the workers were apologetic about it but still ...... Service alone.. would give this place a 2/5 stars. Luckily, the chicken made up for it so it boosted up to 3 stars. If they fixed their kitchen service, this place can easily be 4 stars . Bonchon Chicken, Half & Half, half spicy and half garlic: I'd give it 4/5 stars, not the best but still very good! The chicken was juicy, crunchy and had great flavor! I LOVED THE TEXTURE AND TASTE OF THE SKIN!!! YUMMMMS. The coating of the skin was this sweet marinated taste/texture similar to San Tung. Of course, not as good as Sang Tung tho! I would come back for the chicken! I hope they fix their kitchen service though. read more

The best chicken if I could eat it everyday I would but I can you are to good and I don't want to stop eating you amazing flavorful chicken... definitely will keep coming back. I have it at least twice a week with my family lol love it here friendly staff pricewise very convenience... read more

This franchised kfc is good in my standards. Their kfc is ok - it was crunchy, crispy but the meat was juicy, cooked just right and marinade was on the too salty side. Kfc is 2/5. I had better kfc at a smaller chain which is crispy, crunchy, juicy, tender and really smacking good. Two things I like is their kimchi fried rice is pretty tasty and their Korean tacos with the galbi and bulgogi. Those soft tacos was filled with marinated meat, cabbage, diced tomatoes, red onions and their housemade dpicy creamy sauce. Those were good! Kimchi fried rice is 3.6/5. Korean soft tacos are 3.8/5. KFC is 2.5/5. Overall is 3.2/5. read more

Portion is enough for the price and the taste is always consistent. No other Korean Fried Chicken taste as good as this place especially in the East Bay. Sia down the street has gone downhill since the Korean cook left. I highly recommend this joint for anyone craving Korean Fried Chicken. The only menu I would like to demand from this place is the plain fried chicken not marinated. read more

Location: This place is located right next to Newark Memorial High School as well as Mission Valley ROP, which serves to be a popular place for high schoolers to eat after school or during lunch. It is a very noticeable place, with it being its own establishment and and a conplete black. The appearance is modern, yet quaint with its decor as it tries to feel like a bar/restaurant. Food: My sister and I ordered the small chicken, mostly because we saw the size of the plate on the table next to us. The chicken are huge, and delicious. The meat on the fried chicken was juicy and the skin was crispy. They also gave us some radish, which helped offset the flavors a bit in a good way. We also ordered the tteokbokki, which is one of my favorite dishes. It was legitamate tteokbokki, with the rice cakes being chewy and spicy and the fish cakes drowned in sauce and cheese. One star has to go off, however, because of the overabundance of onions. We could not finish that plate at all with that amount of onion. Will try and order it again next time, however. Service: Our server was attentive and got our order quickly, which I appreciate because I had to be at school in 45 mins. The amount of tables she had to serve too was large, so she did a fabulous job. Come here if you want authentic KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) and tteokbokki, quickly or as comfortably as you desire. read more

Bonchon Newark - Small order of chicken (8) spicy and garlic soy, and an order of spicy rice cakes. - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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-1 star -chicken is not freshly cooked when you order, like what other reviews said, it's been sitting under a heating lamp -1 star again - ordered seasoned fries that does not taste like seasoned 3 stars- good service (was not busy on a Friday night), quick service (bec chicken is already made,got our food less than 15minutes) and cool interior. That's pretty much it for this place. I think I like 99 chicken and The Chicken On Fire better. read more

Better than the Sunnyvale counterpart. They had lunch deals for their KFC and apps. I would skip the apps and just order the chicken. The KFC was crunchy, flavorful enough that you tasted it not only on the batter but the chicken itself. Their pork belly bao was a miss- chewy bao tasted defrosted and the pork was not crispy. The takoyaki was ok, not enough squid but tasty enough to order next time. read more

Bonchon Newark - Takoyaki $5 lunch special - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

Great Low key spot with good choices and great chicken, service was amazing and really down to earth considering its basically a fast food place. employees seemed happy working there and treated customers with respect. read more

Great customer service but my wings were soggy. Very disappointed my first time being disappointed in Bonchon! I'm not quite sure why my wings were soggy but I didn't give up! I went to Bonchon in San Leandro and they were so much better. Crispy, spicy and finger licking good! read more

Updating my review and giving this place 4 stars STRICTLY just for their wings WINGS WINGS WINGS only. I love the spicy wings and it tasted great. I wouldn't get anything else but the wings. tried the seasoned fries and they were not "seasoned" pretty bland and needed salt. A table next to us ordered "popcorn chicken" and it was more like crumb chicken. It looked very sad. I don't even want to even give any of their other dishes a try since each time that i have, it's been a disappointment. Their chicken wings is still BOMB though. And it's a plus that gong cha is next to it for a tasty dessert! read more

This place is all sorts of NO. Let me start with the bad: - Upon walking in, we saw one of the worker scratching his a** in plain sight, which later turned out to be a food runner. - One of the workers has very bad BO. I won't point out which one for their sake. - The guy kept bringing wrong orders to the tables. Not just mine, but other tables as well. - Worker was cleaning the table. Simple job right? No, he was spraying the hell out of it and particles of the spray was flying into other tables nearby. After touching the dirty rag with both hands, he ran food orders.....without washing his hands!!! - Worker kept flipping his head to pull back his semi long hair, while holding food near customer tables. And I saw him use both hands to pull back his hair right before running food......without washing hands. - Food runner holding 3 cups of rice with his unwashed fingers touching the rice. All of this was from the same guy!!!! You may be asking how we became so observant....well, our server forgot to put in our chicken order so we sat there for a long time. While waiting, we couldn't help but watch the workers running the chicken plates hoping it would come to our table. We were shocked to see such a new, clean establishment perform unsanitary actions. Luckily, our waitress brought out our food so we were more at ease. The good part? Staff was friendly, takoyaki & salmon avocado ball was very good. Oh, and did I say free beer was offered that night?? I guess it was some promo. Chicken is served with sauce (spicy and soy garlic) only. They don't put sauce on the side. The spicy had a good kick and was good, however the soy garlic was bland and had parts of salt on the chicken. The seasoning was not spread out evenly. They're closed on Wednesdays. No to-go orders, only for dine-ins with left over food can take the food to-go. Parking lot is a joke. The spaces are wide enough for a mini coop. Who the f*** spaced out the lot?? Everyone was double parked because the spaces aren't big enough for a standard car size. It was cool to try but I'll stick to 99 Chicken and Coco chicken. read more

Bonchon Newark - Salmon avocado ball - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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Bonchon Newark was highly anticipated by both 1st-timers and frequenters of Bonchon Chicken (other location in Sunnyvale.) Sadly Bonchon Newark failed to live up to the hype. While the chicken here WILL do for those craving Bonchon's chicken, you'd be hard-pressed to say that this is anything comparable to quality offered at the Sunnyvale location. Why? The chicken here seemed overly fried or fried at a temperature too high, which caused the crispy outer skin to in a sense "explode", thus revealing the meat inside. This would in turn normally make the chicken drier on the inside... However, the chicken here seems overly oiled as well. For a brief moment I had mistaken the excess oil for juicy meat. Because Bonchon Newark was a bit of disappointment for the customers, there was no wait when we went during normal dinner hours (6:30PM.) We had expected some sort of wait, so we called in to put in an order to go. After we arrived, we noticed the restaurant was nearly empty, with only 2 tables filled so we asked if we could dine in instead. The employees here were friendly and agreed quickly without hesitation, which we were appreciative of. I thought they went above and beyond when they offered to plate our food and provided the same service as if we were dining in, and thus this place deserves at least 3 stars in my book. All in all, I have to admit that the zero wait time was nice compared to the 30-60 minute wait at the Sunnyvale location... And while the chicken here isn't out-of-this-world, but it's not half-bad either. We'll be back, but probably only if we don't want to wait, or for the sake of convenience. read more

Bonchon Newark - Medium order of wings + drums - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

Great service and food! We had heard the chicken wings were a must try, and we went for the spicy small platter. Note that this isn't your traditional american-style fried chicken with lots of breading, but the double deep fried korean-style of chicken wings. We are absolute fans! We also tried the fried rice and the potsickers - half soy and half spicy. My bf liked them - for me the wrappers on the potstickers were a bit too thick, but it's just a matter of preference. We were there on a Tuesday night where they had a happy hour special - $2 for a bottle of Kloud beer! Great to wash down the spiciness of the wings. We will be back! Great people. read more

I ordered using delivery app. Chichen is so soggy and salty.. I think if anyone who visited sunnyvale or san jose.. they will know this newark branch isn't same .. this is the second time and same disappointed ( first time I picked up food at newark location and so disappointed but I guess because they open recently .. they just need time ) .. they use the chicken bigger size and sauce is also not same with other branches( san jose, sunnyvale ) also there is smell of chicken fish. I love bonchon chicken but newark is .... totally different taste read more

Bonchon Newark - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

When I think of Bonchon, I think of perfectly fried crispy chicken coated with a thin layer of spicy sauce goodness. We tried this place on a Friday evening and the restaurant wasn't packed, so we were able to get a table for 8 people around dinner time. We ordered soy sauce and spicy chicken. Although the chickens were tasty, they do not par up to how Sunnyvale's location is done. The chicken wasn't perfectly crispy and the flavors were lacking a bit. The spicy chicken was okay, it wasn't as spicy as I remembered it. The chicken pieces were huge so a few with a side of rice will fill you up. The appetizers such as popcorn chicken and japchae were all okay... Honestly the flavors of this place were underwhelming and it deterred us from wanting to visit again. We did enjoy drinking the mixed soju drinks... our favorite was the lychee. As usual, the soju crept up on us although they were deceivingly sweet and tasty. The service was attentive and friendly. The ambiance of this place had a sports bar type of feel. They had a bar and a couple of screens playing sports. read more

My bf and I found out about this location as we were casually driving around Fremont. We literally stopped in the middle of the street and shouted "BON CHONNNN!" It wasn't open yet, so we patiently waited till we saw pictures on Instagram that it was. About 2 weeks ago, my friends and I came for dinner on a Saturday evening. We got sat and didn't even get menus. 20 minutes probably passed till we actually had to ask for them. Then when we were all ready to order, we asked a guy if he could take our order and he says "uhhh let me tell someone else." Ok? Why can't you?! We let that slide until our server, who was some white dude, came to our table. He took all our orders, hoping he would understand, because he seemed so clueless at the time. 20 minutes go by and that same guy that said "let me tell someone else" comes again with a plate of chicken and asks us "is this yours?" Uh? We don't know? Aren't you supposed to know? You're the one bringing it out to us! Then he proceeds to say "did you guys order this? Wait never mind I don't know" and walks away. We were so confused at that point because that was just terrible customer service. Then all our food starts coming in and there were a few mishaps. Everything was just a total mess because either the kitchen or our server got it wrong. When we tried to flag our server down again to clarify what he wrote on his ticket, it seemed he was obviously dodging us. The owner knew there was complications with orders at our table, so he comped a few more pieces of chicken. The owner was pretty nice but since they're still fairly new, this location needs a lot of work done! There is definitely no hospitality and no server to customer interaction. I'm hoping the next time I come by that it'll improve by a lot because I'm obsessed with the salmon ball. It'd be nice not to drive all the way to San Mateo for that anymore! Other than the employees, food is awesome as always. But for now, I'll be sticking to the Sunnyvale location. read more

Bonchon Newark - Dinnerrrr - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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So excited that they opened one up closer to where we live! This one is so much better than the first location because they have way more stuff on their menu. A little on the pricier side but the other stuff they serve look so good! This one is a little bit bigger than the other location, newer, cleaner, and the staff is way more friendlier. Just a tip: If you order their wings, I recommend eating there or if you take it home, you better live close. My brother got an order to go, got stuck in traffic for 45 minutes and the wings were no longer crunchy. They were soggy AF. read more

Bonchon Newark - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

Bonchon is known by their wings. (not by me). they have a broader menu now with typical; korean classics: bibimbap, japchae, fried rice, udon, pork buns, korean tacos. also takoyai, sliders, salads, shumai, fried calamari, popcorn chicken, etc. eats: takoyaki (6.95) 8 pieces? -"fried octupus dumplings lightly drizzled with Japanese mayo, katsu sauce and sprinkled with bonito flakes". -nope, got fried gooey balls with mayo and spicy dipping sauce. inside only 1 or 2 chewy/tuff pieces of octopus. obviously came frozen. *took 10ish minutes. take outs: -when requiring at take out counter, require to give phone no. first name and last initial. receipt is labedled "call in". definitely won't be calling in much less walk in. -menu overpriced. read more

Bonchon has a unique taste to their KFC (Korean fried chicken) as the sauce is glazed upon it rather than simply poured onto it as most joints. The chicken itself is extra crispy as it seems it is double battered which intensifies ones KFC experience. we ordered: Soy garlic KFC -tasted like candy -crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside -strong soy garlic flavor 8/10 Spicy KFC -hella hot, but satisfying -just the right amount of spices, not overwhelming with heat flavor -one of the better spicy marinades I've had on KFC 8/10 Takoyaki -overly drizzled with sauce and mayonnaise -too much batter, didn't really taste the octopus inside -overpriced (6.95 for 6) 5/10 Happy hour soju $10 -we got mango soju, it was yellow like mango but did we taste mango? Nair. -tasted like straight alcohol, hella strong -if you want to get tipsy quick, all you need is one of these. 4/10 for taste, 10/10 for effectiveness -The happy hour lacks any food, although it does provide decent deals on alcohol ($10 soju and $3.50 beers on tap) -I enjoy the chicken here a lot, although the rest of the menu I feel is overpriced (i.e. edamame $6.95, pot stickers $7.95). -The place is clean as a whistle and is decorated in a fashionable way which makes the eating experience here 10 times better. -They have about 8-10 tv's where people can watch the game and enjoy their happy hour at their open bar. Although I am giving Bon chon 3 stars for its alright appetizers and service, I do plan on coming back because their chicken is one of the better KFC's that I've tasted. read more

Bonchon Newark - Takoyaki 6.95 (overpriced) 5/10 - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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It's alright tbh. There's a lot of entrees available but we went there for the chicken. We got half and half and shared a large with 4 ppl which is still more than enough. Bonus points for being very good value !! The flavors were good but the spicy was a little too sweet for my liking. The crispness was excellent and the wings were double the size of other places. I had a good time and we took a lot home. However after I got home I had a really intense stomachache and had a long reign on the porcelain throne. So overall I'd come again when I wanna feel like a king. read more

New favorite Bonchon location. Bonchon has a special place in my heart, however, they changed the quality of the chicken they use almost 1 year ago. I've been to all of their locations in the Bay area, and unfortunately, the experience varies location by location. This specific one was better than what I expected (I had a horrible experience from the Berkeley one right before). The chicken came out in a timely manner with the right amount of breading and sauce. If you can, I would recommend coming here instead of Berkeley. read more

My first experience with Bonchon was in the Philippines where the concept is totally different. In the Philippines, the menu is a lot more specialized and limited to a fewer items. You order at the counter, make a payment, and can dine in like a normal fast food joint. Totally different here. You're seated at a table in the dining room and this is a full on, legit dine in restaurant with a much more expansive menu. I'm pretty sure they serve alcohol here too! Not a big fan of their full-service dine in experience. I don't want a staff member coming up to the table to ask if everything is okay when my face is smeared with soy-garlic sauce! The wife and I tried the pork belly buns which were bland and flavorless. A total miss. But I will say that the wings have been really good each of the times we've been here. The wings were a good size each too, and not the smaller sized wings you'd find at Wing Stop. read more

I love coming here and bitting into a sizeable fried chicken with that nice perfect crunchy exterior. Recently went here to try their soy chicken wings...so good...service can be a bit slow paced especially when it is crowded at night. read more

Good food and good service . Chicken was crunchy and flavorful. Place was clean and the food came out fast.

My wife and I were there on June 22, 2019. Portions are big, and great flavor. I am a fan!

I can't believe the fraud perpetrated by this restaurant. If you don't have salmon or avocado, remove it and don't charge me for it. Sending out sauce and fried onions instead of a salmon avocado ball is pathetic! read more

Bonchon Newark - Seriously folks, this is what they sent me -- no salmon, no avocado. How is this a salmon avocado ball? - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

This place has THE best chicken! My boyfriend and I always order the soy garlic wings. They're perfectly crunchy and have a great flavor to them. As you can see in the pictures, the portions are huge! We also order the seasoned fries. While there's not really a wow factor to these fries, we love 'em because skinny fries are our favorite. I wish there was a tad bit more cheese that we could taste or even some more basil flavor. The entrees are always a gamble. One time we ordered the bulgogi and there was barely any meat but it was still pretty good. We also ordered the bibimbap (sp?) and it was just so so and didn't have much flavor. They also have individual soju drinks which is nice since my boyfriend wanted a beer and I wanted soju. The environment is very neat. They play some good music and there's some huge TV's so you can watch some shows or sports. I only wish they closed a little later. This place deserves a full five stars for the chicken (which we crave on a constant basis) and also for our server, Karla! She was extremely attentive, as a server myself I was very impressed! We will for sure be back for our next craving. read more

Bonchon Newark - Soy Garlic Wings - HUGE and so crunchy! - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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I saw that they opened a Bonchon closer to my house than driving to Sunnyvale, so my wife and I opted to give it a try. I liked the interior decor and we lucked-out, since a couple of guests were just leaving, so we were seated fairly quickly. We started our meal with the Salmon Avocado Ball, which was delicious. It's a ball of seared Salmon, mixed with Avocado, crabmeat, cucumber and Ikura, topped with a spicy mayo and Unagi sauce with crunchy Tempura bits on top. I'd definitely get this again. I also ordered a side of their Kim Chee, which wasn't as hot as I'd like, but pretty tasty. For their Chicken, we ordered the half & half (Soy Garlic & Spicy). First and foremost, their Chicken is very juicy and moist. It has to be some of the juiciest Chicken I've enjoyed. The Soy Garlic was very good. The Spicy was hot enough for me, but too hot for my wife. I liked that they had a mix of both wings and drumsticks. I'll have to go back to try some of the other items my fellow Yelpers have commented on. Service was quick and the staff were really friendly. read more

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A friend brought dinner to go from here and the chicken was on point. Although it wasn't as crispy as eating it in the restaurant, the drumsticks in soy garlic sauce were huge and full of flavor! The spicy boneless chicken was too spicy for me but tasty. It does get a bit pricey here but definitely worth the trip! read more

Bonchon Newark - Soy garlic drumsticks - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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I ended up ordering from here again and they really improved their takeout container game. The wings were no longer steamed and soggy by the time they arrived at the dinner table. They were crispy, flavorful, and delicious. read more

Where to start, my friend and i went to this place because our previous experiences were good compared to the other locations. When seating we were seated by an amazing server. Food took a little longer than what we expected because he was the only server during prime time (dinner). Manager was no where to be found to help the guy out. Finally got our food, we were so excited... my friend bit into his chicken and it was semi pink... he said he tasted fine... a few chickens later he bit into one that was literally bloody pink and he said the texture tasting super chewy... I asked for the manager... manager came to our table with this attitude tone... instead of understanding where my concern was for my friend being sick.... she grabs the chicken that was bloody pink saying its normal for it to look like that. I looked at her... than she decides to take another wing and rip it apart with her bare hands explaining that chicken is supposed to be that pink and its nothing they can control. At this point i was boiling... i asked for the check and she says i can recook these wings if youd like... you kidding me?! Why the hell would i want the chicken you touched?! Nor want more after how she handled the situation! Dont bother going to this location! Management is indescribable. read more

Bonchon Newark - According to the manager.... Apparently its supposed to look like that! - Korean Near Me - Newark, California

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This bonchon is so different from the original bonchon. I feel disappointed, it's nice and modern inside, but the menu is so different. They sell a bunch of non traditional bonchon things. I ordered the medium, and I didn't even get daikons, what gives? I thought it's complimentary! The wings were different as well, it's not as big as the one in Santa Clara, and not all of the wings were covered with sauce. The meat was not fall off the bone..sad. The season fries were super salty, and not even seasoned and looked NOTHING like the photo. I felt like I was a bit ripped off. Service was slow, and pens didn't even work. read more

I went bonchon newark this afternoon...i try the chicken wings with soy garlic and fried rice....it was so amazing...nice friendly staff....very clean and nice... read more

Good food, but the items we ordered was not as warm as we thought it be. It felt like it sat out for a while before it was served to us. Also the wings was still pinkish in the middle. There's a private lot for parking. The staff is attentive and friendly. read more