Korean Fried Chicken @ Mom's Touch, Seogwipo, Jeju-do

Who does not have a soft spot of fried chicken? I know the majority of us would and if not for taking a lookout for my diet, it would be the same for me too. But as they always say, you are meant to loosen up during vacation. 

A common sight in big cities in Korea

Getting a bit bored of rice, we decided that we would try something different. And in this case, what fast food is available here that we do not have back home. First thing that came to mind was KFC. Not the one from Colonel Sanders, but rather Korean fried chicken. Receiving a real burst of popularity back home, it will be great if the opportunity were to arise to have it in home soil. And not so far away is Mom's Touch, a chicken restaurant chain which is very popular in Korea. 

If you look closely at the signs, they have burgers too.

Although it has a peculiar and somewhat suggestive name, the origin of it all is fairly innocent. The company's name comes from the thought that their food is made the same way your mom would make for your family. And there is one 5 minutes away from the hotel we stayed in Seogwipo. 

Look at the variety!

If you are the kind of person that gets analysis paralysis because of choices, then you will be here for some time as it has 24 different types of fried chicken. Your eyes do no deceive you. TWENTY FOUR TYPES!!!! From soy sauce glazed to spicy battered pieces, you do literally become spoilt for choice, which is something different than Kentucky Fried Chicken. Also, unlike Kentucky Fried Chicken, you do not get a 2 piece snack plate here. But rather you buy chicken by the bird. Each flavour is priced at ₩9,000 for a half bird and ₩17,000 for the whole fowl.We have opted to get 2 halves, one is the soy sauce glazed and the other is the spicy garlic. In terms of sides, we had the jalapeno nuggets. For drinks, we ordered a grapefruit fizz.  And again unlike Kentucky's the chicken here is cooked to order and depending on the size of your order it may take a while. It took the 20 mins for the food to arrive. It was worth the wait. 

Thing of beauty ain't it?

The spicy garlic was really really spicy and had enough heat to feel like its radioactive. Yet, underneath the potentially lethal flavour profile, the aroma of roasted garlic is evident. This gave the chicken alot of personality. Imagine jalapeno Cheetos as chicken batter and you would probably get what I mean. 

Colonel Sanders, eat your heart out. 

The crust had a great crunch and the chicken encased within is tender and juicy. Even writing it now makes me feel like I need one drumstick of that napalm like chicken. I was pretty amazed at how there are many things going on in a fried chicken dish. Impressed through and through, would order again if I were to visit Korea again.

I swear that this has to be made of plutonium or something like that. 

The soy glaze chicken has a different flavour profile that the spicy garlic, but it is not to be trifled also. Sweet, salty and aromatic, it cuts away the heat that was the initial spicy garlic chicken. There is also some chillies in this bad boy in the formed of smoked dried chilli peppers. But it is not as intense as the spicy garlic chicken. It does lend a smoky edge to it, it is after all smoked.The glaze is sticky and coats the batter well. My Mom says its very similar to kung po chicken, and with the smoked chillies in side I have to agree somewhat. 

Sweet sticky and crispy. Just delicious.

The jalapeno nuggets were good and it is topped with jalapenos and cheese, similar to a plate of nachos. However, after two heavy hitters this side dish felt a bit flat and unnecessary. They do have other sides though like salad and fries, but looking at the portion of food that we have, it was a wise choice to go a bit conservative with our order. That serving of nuggets was ₩2,500.

A fan of nachos will definitely love this. 

After going through so much dynamite, the grapefruit fizz felt like the relief that I needed. Fizzy, sweet, and zesty. This fire extinguisher was ₩2,000 a pop for the "Mom-size".

The heat buster. 

This meal was indeed finger licking good. The only real shame is that this is not available in Malaysia. If you would want to try some amazing chicken, lucky for you that this is a well known establishment. So when ever you are in any big city in Korea like Seoul, Busan or Seogwipo, do yourself a favour and Google Search for your closest Mom's Touch. You would probably enjoy it as much as I did.