Chi Maek — Restaurant in East Lampeter Township

100% REAL UNADULTERATED CHICKEN? Thin, layered pressed "poultry"??

Purchased "chicken" katsu. Started eating it and realized when I would bite into it, I could not bite off a piece of it. It was very tough to do, which seemed odd. I had to pull (pretty hard) it off my fork to get a smaller piece of the cut "cutlet". You might say "so what"?. But, what was odd is that when I'd pull it off my fork to separate a piece off, it would leave a very thin paper-like flat piece of "chicken" sticking out of the piece. This happened a few times before i stopped to investigate. I have NEVER had that experience before eating REAL chicken.

So I investigated all the remaining slices of this "chicken cutlet" as if I were in a science experiment. Pulling it apart, looking at it and the texture, etc. What I can tell you is that the "chicken cutlet" slices atop my rice seemed to be comprised of VERY thin pieces (paper like thinness) compressed together in a horizontal layered fashion to make the entire piece of "chicken cutlet". I could quite literally PULL OFF EACH LAYER! I have never seen a real piece of chicken do that. Ever. Each layer did not look like chicken I was used to eating either.

Look, I don't know what the hell I ate before I started to realize it was strange. But, what I can say is that I have never eaten real chicken that has compressed, thin, paper-like horizontal layers that can be peeled off layer by layer. Maybe others have, but I've eaten a lot of real chicken and I can honestly say that has never happened. I have had chicken shred before, in cases where you are making something like a pulled pork sandwich or in other cases. That's totally normal. This DID NOT shred. It PEELED. You could not shred it in fact. It would not have made anything close to a shredded bbq chicken sandwich had you attempted to shred it.

Needless to say, I will not be eating there again. I ended up throwing the rest of the food away because it turned my stomach having seen that and not knowing exactly what it was.

If it's not real chicken, such as soy-based replacement or factory pressed and "glued" mystery parts, I would appreciate knowing that before ordering something on the menu stating it was chicken. Now maybe I'm to blame for not noting it says "chicken CUTLET ". Maybe that should have told me it was not real unadulterated chicken. But, it was quite literally the strangest "chicken" I have ever eaten. Even at Mc Donald's the nuggets are spongy. People have gotten used to pressed, spongy "chicken" patties, etc. They might taste good to most people, but they're odd texture inside and have tons of unhealthy fillers. But this is a thin, layered "something or other".

My point is I am choosing not to go to McDonalds and I thought I was paying more money for actual 100% real unadulterated chicken. That is all.

Anyway, it's a nice spot to go aside from my personal "chicken" experience. They have other options. For me, personally, I can find real chicken many places for the price so I'll go elsewhere. I'd be interested to see of other people can peel...

'Chimaek' is the Korean short word for (chicken) 'chi' and beer 'maekjoo'. While there isn't any alcoholic beverages sold here they do have a pretty big menu. They offer many side dishes such as katsu, bulgogi, and tteokbokki.

For Lancaster County I would rate this four stars, but if this were a real Korean restaurant in Korea it would probably be two stars. I settled on three stars for the review because I think this place is a step in the right direction but it definitely still need improvement.

(NOTE: I used to live in Japan and I have been to Korea several times. I am also Chinese.)

Parking: There was enough despite it being full. 😊

The Wait: I came on a Friday night for takeout. I waited about 50 mins. 😅

Seating: When busy there are no seats.😰

My Order:

1.Small Boneless Fried Chicken (Half & Half)😔 ⭐️⭐️/5 The chicken reminded me of chicken nuggets defrosted and then heated up in an oven, it was hard, there was no crunch and felt too breaded... The garlic soy is tastier than the spicy seasoning (it's really spicy and also lacking in taste). Considering the fried chicken is supposed to be the main item, it is crazy that it wasn't good.

Ttoekbokki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 The tteokboki, the spicy fish cakes, were probably one of the best things on the menu. It comes with a variety of fish cakes and is topped with melted cheese. It's very filling and just the right spice for me.

Bulgolgi ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Bulgolgi can be a hard dish to make right. The real taste is supposed to be deeper more savory umami taste. The meat tasted just okay, not bad but not outstanding either. It seemed like something was missing and I wondered if they used a Chinese substitute for the actually Korean based ingredients.

Japchae ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Japchae is a fun glass/potato noodle dish. I found this to be one of the best options on the menu. I highly recommend this one for people to try. It didn't taste bad, although it still seemed a bit cooked like Chinese style.

Other: I noticed that they also had bimbimbap and udon on the menu. Udon is Japanese.

Overall: 🤷🏻‍♀️🤔 This restaurant is a welcome change for rural Lancaster. Although it's not authentic it's not too bad. Taste wise if they focused more on the fried chicken and actually made it from scratch it would be so much better.

They should cut down the menu and focus on improving the quality accross the board. There's a reason why real authentic asian restaurants focus on a specific menu items, because it's hard to maintain good quality.

Would I bring my Korean friends here? Hell no.

Would I bring random other Non-Korean friends here? Sure,...

It was our first time trying this place and I’m so glad that I did. What a pleasant surprise to finally have a decent Korean restaurant in South Central Pennsylvania! Seriously, they’re so few and far between in this part of PA. The fried chicken is the best you’ll find in the central PA. The tteokbokki was delicious. The rice cakes were very soft and tender while the sauce was just spicy with a touch of sweetness to balance it. The bibimbap was good. But we probably couldn’t skipped it since the portions were enough to keep our bellies full. One critique on the bibimbap is that the rice was way too dry and they didn’t use an egg over easy like the traditional dish, so it didn’t taste authentic. However, the fried chicken was so meaty and they give a generous portion of the pickled radish. The service was great and the staff is on top of clearing your table when you’re finished with a dish. Also, I can verify with the statement that this place is owned and run by Chinese people. So no, this is not authentic Korean cuisine by any means. However, it’s a good attempt, especially being in rural Lancaster that will attract a majority of non Koreans. With that said, I would highly recommend this place. I’m Korean and it’s hard to find any Korean restaurants in Central PA (they’re really lacking here). So, I’ll be back for sure and have already shared it with...