Bonchon Menu Items Ranked Worst To Best

A warm, savory broth in a soup is the perfect way to coat your stomach with great flavors and leave you feeling full, but not to the extent your belly seems like it's about to bust open. So, when you're craving that rich brothy sensation, you might get the urge to order up the Udon Noodle Soup at Bonchon. Sadly, this menu option won't supply you with that satisfaction you can find in other soups.

The soup has thick wheat noodles, mushrooms, nori, and scallions. You have the option to add either bulgogi or an egg for a punch of protein as well. The big issue with this item is the lack of flavor in the broth. Yes, the soup is quite filling, but you end up loading your stomach up with a bland liquid, which is exactly the opposite of what you're looking to do. The noodles have a nice chewy texture, and if you add an egg or the bulgogi, you'll get some extra flavor, but the bland broth seeps into both those items, resulting in a disappointing execution.

There's something appealing about food that has a fun name. The dish might not necessarily contain ingredients you're familiar with, or even those that are your personal favorites, but when the name playfully bounces off of your tongue, the urge to try it looms tall. One such name is "bibimbap." This Korean dish is fun to say, and when it's cooked correctly, your mouth has just as much fun taking it on. Sadly, there isn't much fun to be had with the Bibimbap at Bonchon.

This dish is very veggie-heavy, which is good if you're trying to maintain a clean diet. It comes with white rice, quinoa, assorted seasonal veggies, sesame seeds, and egg. You can also add tofu, chicken, or bulgogi if just one egg doesn't punch you with enough protein. The whole thing is then ladled in Bonchon's savory Bibimbap sauce. The sauce should marry all of the ingredients together under one flavor-packed roof, but here it just primarily adds a thick liquid texture. Most of the flavor will come from the chicken or the bulgogi if you choose to add one of them. But hey, at least you're getting a bunch of veggies.

Dumplings are always a great option for an appetizer. They're shareable, they're small enough that you don't overfill your belly before tackling the main course, and, when made with love, they're absolutely delicious. Bonchon offers Potstickers, which is just another name for dumplings. You have the option of getting them stuffed with either pork or veggies, and they come brushed with either soy garlic sauce or spicy sauce (or half and half if you want to try both). Sounds awesome, right? Well, unfortunately there's an issue here.

The texture of the dumpling is what really takes away a lot of the enjoyment. The pork or vegetable stuffing tastes good, but the fried outer casing of the potsticker is often too tough, and you end up working your jaw muscles way too much to reach the tasty center. Overall, the flavors of the sauce brushed on the outside and the filling are legit, but the extremely firm feel of the dumpling wrap itself strips the appetizer of its pleasing flavor qualities. Your mouth doesn't want to work overtime to find a pleasant flavor.

What do you do when you want the tasty, handheld experience of a burger but don't feel like gorging yourself on something that's going to fill you up for the next two hours? You turn to sliders. Sliders have all the great aspects you love about a burger but in miniature size. They're a great way to kick off a meal with something savory without ruining your appetite for the main course. At Bonchon, customers can order either crispy chicken or marinated ribeye sliders. They aren't necessarily a bad option, but you might find them falling short of truly scratching a strong slider itch.

The miniature sandwiches come with coleslaw, cucumber, red onion, and spicy mayonnaise on potato buns. Now, if you're going to order these, best to go with the marinated ribeye option over the chicken. The chicken ends up tasting dry, but the marinated ribeye is tender and juicy. The fixings included on the sliders all perform up to task, especially the creamy kick of the spicy mayo. However, as tasty as the mayo is, it really can't pull the texture of the chicken up out of the dry hole it's in.

If you're looking for a noodle dish but don't want to eat Bonchon's Udon Noodle Soup, you should aim your attention toward the Japchae. The dish comes with glass noodles that have an almost translucent appearance, red peppers, carrots, onions, spinach, mushrooms, sesame seeds, and sliced marinated ribeye all tossed in a soy garlic sauce. You get a bunch of veggies and protein in one dish all married together with a savory sauce.

The mouthfeel of the glass noodles is extremely pleasant. They're delicate, but not so much that they fall apart in your mouth. The veggies are all super fresh, which means you get a healthy dose of vitamins and nutrients (always a bonus), and the marinated ribeye is thin, tender, and tasty. The soy garlic sauce does a great job of taking every individual ingredient and making them feel like they belong together. The dish is both filling and flavorful, and it's a solid option when noodles are on your mind.

When the carnivore in you starts really calling for attention, sometimes a protein like chicken just won't cut it. You need beef, a whole simmering plate of juicy, tender beef. It'll coat your mouth with richness and leave a trail of decadence behind as it travels down your throat. If that's the sensation you're looking to achieve at Bonchon, look no further than the Bulgogi. This is the ultimate scratch for the carnivore-inducing itch that won't stop nagging at you.

The dish comes with a pile of thin, marinated strips of ribeye. Anyone who knows steak knows that ribeye is recognized for its wonderful marbling, and it shows in this dish. The fat melts in your mouth and helps pack the mushrooms and onions that are also on the plate with a ton of savory flavor. Scallions and sesame seeds also add a great taste to the delicious marinade the steak is cooked in. Just be aware this is a very hearty, rich dish that might overwhelm anyone not used to consuming such intense beef. Overall, Bulgogi is exactly what carnivores are looking for when they want a more-than-satisfying meal.

When it's time to party, it's time to taco. That's how the saying goes, right? Tacos have a way of creating an image of a party in your head, and that makes them super fun to have around. Pile pretty much anything you want into a crunchy shell or flour tortilla, and you have a handheld vessel of awesomeness ready to hit your appetite with a high-five. So, if you're looking to throw a belly fiesta when you're at Bonchon, look no further than the Korean Tacos.

You get three flour tortilla tacos per order, and you can choose whether you want them stuffed with spicy chicken or marinated ribeye, both of which are full of juicy flavors and have a great melty texture to them. The protein is then topped with lettuce, coleslaw, red onions, buttermilk ranch, and spicy mayo. The already-soft meat works awesome alongside the two sauces, which give each bite a creamy spiciness. The coleslaw has a great, bright crunch to it that helps offset the richness of the sauced meat, and the fluffy-but-thin texture of the flour tortilla is the perfect bed for all the ingredients to party together on.

If you do have to leave Bonchon without trying even one piece of the epic fried chicken (for whatever irrational reason that may be), then you must make it your mission to at least snag yourself an order of the Pork Buns as a suitable replacement. These things are worth the trip alone, and after your first bite, you immediately ready your wallet for another order. These steamed bao buns are teeming with pork belly soaked in soy garlic sauce, coleslaw, cucumbers, and both spicy mayo and katsu sauce. Your appetite just stood at attention. You're welcome.

Obviously, the belle of the ball here is the pork belly. Pork belly has a reputation for offering some of the greatest melt-in-your-mouth fatty sensations known to meat, and that's exactly what you get here. The thick slices of pork dissolve onto your palate in a luscious pool of umami-packed richness, thanks to the soy garlic sauce. The coleslaw cuts through some of that richness perfectly, but both sauces swoop in with a one-two blast of creamy savoriness that tangos with the pork belly like ballet dancers. But, when all those textures and celestial flavors come stuffed in a fresh bao bun, your mouth reaches a culinary enlightenment. Soft, delicate, and absurdly fluffy, these buns transport every superb ingredient into your face's docking bay in the smoothest way possible.