Joy Korean Fried Chicken — Restaurant in Sydney

Quite possibly... the juiciest and crunchiest fried chicken in Sydney.

After walking past this nice, unassuming little shop for the past month or two, I finally decided to give the place a try. It was almost closing time but the shopowners were very nice about it and welcomed me openly into their lovely shop regardless. We exchanged some niceties and frank discussions on the beauty of fried chicken as the shopowner prepared me two piece portions of the Sweet & Spicy fried chicken and the Coconut & Turmeric fried chicken... I already ate so I decided to order the minimum amount. When the man was done tossing the sauces to and fro the pieces of chicken, I was greeted with three pieces of stunning, extremely visibly crispy fried chicken. As part of my order, the shopowner threw in some nice coleslaw.

As soon as I took a bite out of my first piece of chicken, I could immediately taste the CRUNCH. This chicken was crunchy! The skin was very battered and crispy and there were lots of fun, bready notes throughout the texture. You can really feel the hard crunchy texture here.

Then there was the meat, which was supremely juicy. The hard skin must have sealed all the beautiful juices in the meat shut, because while I was eating, my mouth was covered in a cornucopia of delicious chickeny goodness! Overall, the chicken itself was practically perfect!

But what of the sauce? Well, I can guarentee that the Sweet & Spicy sauce certainly lives up to its status as the shop's most popular compliment to the chicken. It's honestly what you would expect out of a good sweet and spicy sauce so I won't go into more details. Then there is the Coconut & Turmeric sauce, which honestly may just be my personal favorite between the two I tried! The turmeric honestly reminded me of a good curry, and it pairs exceptionally well with the chicken. In fact, I suspect that the coconut actually enhances the inherent bready flavors of the crunchy skin, enhancing the overall taste of the chicken to excellent levels!

Overall, I walked out of that store satisfied with what I ate... in fact, I actually did eat at that store because the storeowners allowed me to finish my meal well past closing time! I feel like I need to recompense my tardy intrusion into their lovely little store by saying that Joy Korean Fried Chicken might just possibly be the juiciest and crunchiest chicken I've personally ever tasted in...

We underestimated the popularity of this homely feeling Korean fried chicken shop and turned up at 5:30pm on a Saturday night naively thinking we'd beat the queue.

Inside the crowded corner shop, locals are mixing quietly with first timers like Mrs Tofu and I as we all wait for our number to be called. I assume it was the owner who was manning the pass with cool efficiency and a ready smile whilst her team moved like clockwork around each other in the small kitchen. A joy to watch. No pun intended.

Be warned; seating is limited but Central Park is not far away and the chicken will hold its crunch (wink).

OK, onto the food. The KFC is amazing! Crunchy batter that holds its texture despite the chosen sauce (more on this later). It has to be at least fried 3 times to achieve this, I'm guessing. The chicken has been marinated and succulent with each bite.

Sauces. We tried bulgogi, sweet & spicy, maple & chili and original flavours. Keeping in mind the chicken itself is excellent; I found the "plain" option a bit boring once the others had been tasted. Maple was the standout and we couldn't get enough; using our chips to dip and mopping it all up with our pieces of chicken. Sweet & Spicy was a nice take on what you'd expect at most Korean fried chicken places and a little sweet for my liking.

Burger. Generous serve of chicken. Oozing with gochujang mayo and slaw. Soft brioche style milk bun and melted cheese. Perfect!

Chips. Crisp and tossed in chicken salt. Totally unnecessary if you use them to mop us the sauces. More of them in the combo box would be nice.

Coleslaw & Pickle. Fresh and refreshing but again light on serving size. Compare the menu picture of the Burger Box to our serving on the day. I didn't see if you could order more separately as they were great to cut through the fried food hit.

Tteokbokki. Lightly fried and chewy as expected. The Sweet & spicy sauce we chose didn't really match the rice cakes well. We hoped for more spice kick and sesame sprinkle.

Urk! Too long a review. We're happy to have found this gem and it rates high in our KFC rankings. Thank...

I'm sure it's been said many times before, but Joy Korean Fried Chicken really lives up to its name. From the moment we stepped into the diner, we were given a really warm and bright greeting from all staff members. We came not far off closing time, but there was no hint of tiredness shown. There were a steady stream of customers eating in and ordering takeaway, but staff stopped what they were doing and greeted people each time someone new came in. They also thanked everyone on their way out and took time to ask how their meal was. Service here is exceptional, and they made my friend and I feel happy and valued. Staff spark joy in what they do and take a lot of pride in doing it well.

Food is also extremely good, too. I ordered 3 pieces of chicken. The size of each piece of chicken is very generous. Two pieces would have been satisfying in terms of size, but I really wanted to try more chicken. I ordered the honey soy, sweet and spicy, and maple chilli. All of them were really good but I liked the maple chilli most. Each piece of chicken was cooked really well. They were soft, succulent, and juicy. There was ample tender meat on each piece, and none of it was fatty. The coating was so crisp and crunchy. It was well drained and not oily at all. There wasn't just flavour on the outside of the chicken but all throughout it. There was ample sauce coating the chicken, and the inner meat could be used to mop up the excess. I really liked the pickles, too. Something seemingly simple ate well with the chicken.

Joy's is a beacon in...