Chicken 649 — Restaurant in Victoria

This is by far my favourite spot for fried chicken in town, and I have ordered all four of the Fried Chicken varieties on the menu multiple times.

The Soy Garlic fried chicken is my favourite by a wide margin. It combines the perfect balance of sweet honey and savoury garlic flavours with a perfectly crispy skin. Yangnyeom is my runner-up, as it has a uniquely sweet and tangy Korean flavour, while having a bit more spice to it. Grab lots of napkins for this one, however, as it's always doused in copious amounts of delicious sauce (this is NOT a bad thing). The Honey flavoured variety says it all in the name, and is a great pick if you're in the mood for more sweet and less savoury. Last but not least, the Original 649 is a great choice if you just want to try out Korean fried chicken in its purest (but still delicious) form. My suggestion? Skip the original as the sauces are my favourite part of the Korean fried chicken equation.

Best bang for your buck is getting the half & half box. It's just a dollar more than ordering a full order of any individual flavour, and it gives you the chance to sample two different flavours with lots of leftovers. For a big group, grab two half and half orders so everyone gets to try a bit of everything.

As for the rest of the menu, I've tried the wedges and sauces, and they're decent, but honestly this place is all about the chicken, and you won't be disappointed if chicken is all you order. That being said, one of these days I'm going to take the plunge and try the House Special chicken varieties, although they don't excite me the way the classic varieties do and I don't honestly feel like I'm missing out not having tried them.

Now comes my only 'gripe' ( a term I'm using loosely) with Chicken 649... it is not a sit down kind of place; this place is purely counter service. I ate-in once with my partner and nephew, and I can say with all honesty that this is the most DIY sit-down place I've been to in a while. Everything was self-serve, from grabbing water out of the fridge and pouring it ourselves, grabbing the drinks we paid for out of the fridge, and then even having to pop the non-screw-top caps off with a bottle opener kept behind the counter, to eating the chicken out of a take-out box and no plates in the restaurant. If it wasn't for the fact that I love this chicken so much, I would have felt quite shortchanged giving them a 20% tip based on the level of service provided. This being the case, however, if you're going in with your eyes open you can adjust your tip accordingly if you're planning on staying there to eat.

ALSO careful how you carry the large pizza boxes for full orders...the two slots along the edge of the box have dripped sauce all over my car before, and nobody enjoys wiping honey out from the dark recesses of a...

Once you have chicken from this place all chicken pales in comparison. I don't know what they do with their crunchy chicken coating or frying process but this stuff is still crunchy the next day, unlike chicken from more commercial chains. The legend about this joint is that a young Korean man won the lottery and used the money to buy specific fryers and start the business, hence the name. I cannot confirm or deny, but it's a good story. In any case, they make good chicken. It's really good value for the money. At lunch for $12.50 you get a box with five pieces of crunchy chicken, either plain or coated in sauce of your choice, along with a soda of your choice, crunch coated wedge fries and a container of daikon pickles, which I love. After 2:00, the price is $15 ... Still a deal. It's enough for two unless you're really hungry or want to hoard it, like someone I know (me). They also sell boxes with larger amounts of chicken (20 pieces, I think), PARTY CHICKEN!🐔

All chicken is served in pizza boxes. My favorite sauce is the spicy red Korean one. It's sweet with hints of garlic and chili. The grandkids like plain chicken. There are a few other sauces, even a specialty cheese one. I've tried then all and still like the spicy Korean one best. Also, if you don't want your chicken coated in sauce, you can ask for it on the side.

Right now, it's only takeout. If they make dine in an option again, it's a simple, cafeteria type decor, an eat and go vibe. This place is about chicken, not ambience. But you can buy a beer if you want.

Husband's comment: Where did you get this? I could live on this stuff!

I did not tell him I ate three pieces and only gave him two. There, I said it. 🤐...

Chicken 649 used to be a go-to for us. We've since moved out of town and don't get to frequent as often but went last night and... I don't know what happened but this place has gone down hill fast! I read some replies to other reviews stating management hasn't changed, which is almost worse. How did it get so bad?! The original chicken was so greasy. Yes, it's deep fried but previously it was perfect - crispy but not heavy. This time the grease was pooling on the underside of the chicken like it was wet. We also ordered a yangnyeom chicken sandwich, that came a solid 20 minutes after the 4 piece original chicken and 3 other people's order. The math ain't mathin' on that one. There were 2 thin thighs on the burger, which I appreciate the decent amount of meat but made it incredibly difficult to eat with 2 thighs sliding around. And the sauce, there was so much sauce I couldn't find the bottom bun. The coleslaw was a soggy mess too. I ended up ditching the bun and just eating the chicken, turning it into an overpriced '2 piece chicken meal'. The service was horrendous. No water. No napkins?! No. Napkins. !! It's finger food and you don't have napkins readily available?!

I don't think I'd go back to Chicken 649 if...