Ridiculous Chicken — Restaurant in Blacksburg

The food is ok, not really impressed but also not disgusted. We bought almost every appetizer and tried 3 meals. It wasn’t a failure, but it also wasn’t somewhere I plan to return (I just didn’t think it was worth the money). Here is a simple break down of all the foods we tried:

The Korean corn dogs are for sure the brand I get from oasis, and they seem baked or microwaved, so no better than what I could do at home. The outside is tasty but fish inside is pretty gross (I love fish cakes usually), so I eat the cheese portion and son eats the fish.

Takoyaki was frozen kind that was heated, but it was very soggy and didn’t have a crisp outside, so I’m left assuming it was microwaved. Husband and I joked their kitchen must be a row of microwaves.

The worst offender- tornado fries-were not cooked all the way, just cold hard potato inside.

The shrimp tacos were pretty good, but shrimp was absolutely the freezer kind you thaw, not fresh. Was very bland and has that bad after taste of a frozen cooked shrimp. The corn and cabbage were fresh, and sauce very good.

Boneless Chicken was Tyson or some other breaded frozen meat, but the sauce was really good. The price of it didn’t seem to make sense. It was the price of a full meal entree but it was 5 nugget size pieces covered in a sauce, so 2$ per nugget.

Bone in chicken was “very good” according to my 11 year old. The ginger sauce was very tasty. Best thing of the meal in his opinion.

The rice cakes (Tteokbokki) were good, I really enjoy rice cakes and mochi so I was happy with them. Many would probably find them bland and boring, but the sauce will help those with a pallet that doesn’t appreciate bland foods. I would prefer it without the spicy sauce. My favorite thing from the meal.

Overall I think this place has a lot going for it but really needs to hand make or at least deep fry (the frozen items) instead of microwaving or heat lamps. Most of the food is from Oasis (or they have the same distributor- 100% sure on takoyaki and corndog).

I would like to see the corn dogs fried and takoyaki baked, so they aren’t wet/soggy when served. Freshly cooked shrimp would take the Korean tacos from a “meh” to a “great”. Also, I do understand inflation and cost of things is rising, but charging 15$ for 4-5 small microwaved frozen nuggets is borderline insanity. Corndogs 5$ a piece, but the exact same ones at Oasis are 6.99$ for 5. If they were better prepared I would feel the price mark up was fair.

Lastly, the to go packages are eco friendly, as they are breaking down and shredded before you can get them in...

Tweeks Home Town Food Review: This was my second time at this weird little, mafia-decor Korean Fried Chicken place and bar in downtown Blacksburg. As a local and foodie historian in town, I can share that the previous occupant of this restaurant space was a swank seafood/steakhouse "Poor Billies".. previously one of the more expensive, trendy-posh little places in town to eat.. so the decor is.. well.. strange for what it is now.. a Korean Fried Chicken place with dine-in bar and dance-floor upstairs.

Anyway, the last time I had the bone in wings here, they were okay but kind of soggy (maybe because I got them to go). This time I tried the boneless. It wasn't too bad (good flavor! not soggy at all). Though I wish more of the menu used their authentic Korean food names. For example, I asked if I could get my chicken with either Gochujang, or spicy Bulgohi, or Kimchee sauce flavored sauce, then that would be great. The waiter just stared at me blankly and said, "we don't have any of that", as authentic sauce names were not listed on the menu, and the waiter didn't even know what Gochujang even was. After I ordered my chicken with their "spicy soy garlic" sauce, I can safely say that the sauce they used was basically a Gochujang flavored sauce. If they're going to brag how great their Korean Fried Chicken is, then they should probably put Korean names next to their dishes and sauces.. both for Korena n00bs as well as us hard core Korean food lovers.

A smaller issue was the pickled turnip (a form of Kimchee) that comes with the wings, and was completely without any red/spice at all. It was more like sweet vinegar pickled turnip than actual Korean/kimchee style turnip. Weird, and a bit bland.. but that's okay I guess.. though I would like the option of getting real kimchee with my KFC wings. I'll see if I can ask for that next time.

Next time I'll try the ramen soup and report on that. Stay tuned..

UPDATE: As promised.. a year later (third time here) I dropped in for their Tonkotsu Ramen $11 with beef bulgogi (+$4), which I had with spicy oil (+ $19, plus added a side of Kimchee for $4. (See photo) Other than the beef, It came with all the fixings (good broth, fish protein puck, soy egg, seaweed, etc.. and was very yummy. All said and done, before tip it came to $21. Kind of high for lunch.. feel like they nickel/dime you for what you get (spicy oil should be free).. but they are downtown Blacksburg (gotta pay crazy high Blacksburg rent). I might come back when craving ramen.. but would probably avoid bringing my family of...

Gross, point blank. We stopped by for lunch based on the pictures from Google of the food, but that's not what we received. I ordered 3 pork tacos, and as soon as the kid set them down I knew it was going to be bad. There were two different types of liquid filling the plate about a quarter inch, so all 3 tacos were not only soaked on the top with juices, but the bottoms were completely soaked, 3 fully wet and mushy soft tacos. I gave it a shot, but it tasted bad as well, it was essentially runny coleslaw from Kroger slapped on a soft taco with a tiny bit of runny wet pork mush. Holding it felt gross, it was just wet, slimy, sticky, and not edible.

When the kid originally sat us, he mumbled something and walked off, no suggestions, no anything. After the "food" came, I let him know about the issue, he just sort of went "ohhhhh" and walked off carrying it to the back.

Side note, we were literally the only people in the entire place (bad sign) and the music was party volume uncensored pop/rap. I listen to all kinds of filthy music, but it's weird being in a "restaurant" with your significant other, and the music is talking about (not sure what it will let me write here) f-ing someone in the face and the other word for cat, at full volume. Just imagine if you went in there with your elder parents and something like "pop that p" by 2 Live Crew is on while you're trying to choke down a couple of wet tacos. Yikes.

You can tell it's a party bar at night when students are in town, every surface of this place is worn down or sticky. It's clear they make money on the bar crowd and don't care at all about presentation for people that are coming in to just eat.

Verdict: Disgusting, bottom line. Eat literally anywhere else, even Wendy's would be a cleaner and better...