Welcome, Bon Chon chicken!

CEBU, Philippines - There's a new bird in town. It's crispy, crunchy, savory, slightly sweet and spicy all at the same time. The skin is paper thin, the fat having been mostly rendered out of it. It is almost always served with pickled radish and enjoyed with beer or soju, the Korean distilled alcoholic beverage.

It has been raved about globally, in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Virginia and New Jersey. And in Asia, it has expanded in Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Manila and just very recently in Cebu. I am naturally referring to BonChon, the quick service restaurant (QSR) that opened at the 2nd floor of the Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu.

BonChon, meaning "original village" in Korean, opened its first store in November 2010. In just a little over a year, 28 branches mushroomed in Manila. It may be considered one of the fastest growing QSR in the country apart from being the biggest Korean-style crispy fried chicken chain locally.

The enterprising force behind the chicken phenomenon is Scott Tan, the 29 year old driven and energetic managing director of BonChon Chicken Philippines. While living as a student and later on as a working professional in America for close to 10 years, Scott discovered BonChon on one of his frequent visits to New York. Totally convinced of its promise and potential, and deciding to follow his passion and palate, he ventured into the food business and shortly after won over BonChonInternational. He was to bring this franchise to the Philippines.

In November 2010, the first outlet officially opened to immense lines, inspiring gustatory passion among Filipinos. The company is steadfastly committed to serve fresh, innovative food at reasonable prices, delivering much value to its growing customers without any shortcut.

Lucky for Cebuanos, we have Steven Alain Yu and wife Pinky Yu of Avalon Scion Foods Corporation to thank for bringing BonChon Chicken to our shores. This young entrepreneurial couple runs a rapidly growing group of companies and aims to showcase Cebu as a premier destination in the country. With their success in managing their list of global brands, Alan and Pinky now boldly ventures into the food business as they bring to Cebu the phenomenon that is BonChon.

The first outlet at the Terraces, is one of the biggest BonChonstores in the country. Steven proclaims that the size is a deliberate decision that enables them to best serve Cebu patrons, giving them a superb dining experience as they discover the globally raved about crispy chicken secret.

BonChon chicken diners can choose to have their chicken with either a mild, hot sauce or a soy garlic sauce and is served with complimentary pickled radish.

Aside from the super crispy yet light and not greasy chicken, it offers some seafood specialties that have become popular items on the local menu. They include fish taco, crispy squid rice and fish and chips.

At BonChon, the traditional Korean bulgogi is served Asian style as beef bulgogi over rice, Western style as beef bulgogi in a wrap, and BonChon style as crunchy chicken bulgogi over rice.

As a delicious ending to a chicken meal, BonChon Ko-yo (Korean Yogurt) strikes the perfect balance among tart, sweet, cool and creamy, served in alternating layers with home-baked graham pie crust, and offered in blueberry torte and Banoffee Pie variants.

You simply owe it to yourself to try this Korean revolutionary fried chicken, and I guarantee you will be going back for more. (FREEMAN)