Bok a Bok Chicken - Capitol Hill — Restaurant in Seattle

Bok-a-Bok is one of those urban culinary legends that is critique-proof: people will always eat at places like this, and that's perfectly fine; especially if it means supporting a local business and its valued employees. No one would argue with those benefits.

But what can be argued are the merits of the food itself.

Simply, Bok-a-Bok is After Hours Food, the kind one consumes unthinkingly after a few too many at the club or a night of bar-hopping (neither of which is really happening right now). It's hot. It's salty. It's a little spicy. That's it: the food tells you what to think and fills your gut. Its purpose has been served.

Offering mostly chicken-inspired amuse-bouches in the form of sandwiches and bowls, Bok-a-Bok's wan offerings remind me of the dreary Stateside Japanese restaurants I frequented as a child, where their version of karaage was indifferently served on small plates. Flavourless and greasy, the poor ex-chickens awaited their final, gruesome fate at the end of a set of chopsticks.

One spectacular example was the Bowl of Shame, a decadent, one-size-fits-all melange of pasta, cheese, chicken bits, tater tots, a poached egg, and so on. On this occasion, unbeknownst to me, it was served barely above tepid, thereby robbing it of the preferred temperature at which it should be served. I mean, burn your tongue, dull your tastebuds, and you don't have to live through what follows: a stoner's bad interpretation of poutine. Apparently, whoever invented this dish did it with whatever was in the pantry. There are at least three other kinds of this sort of dish: puttanesca, shepherd's pie, and shakshuka, any of which would be far more fun and flavourful than the Bowl of Shame.

The chicken sandwich I sampled was not much better: it was bland and uninspiring. Please, if you're going to run an Asian-themed restaurant, proudly and loudly use MSG. Stop listening to its detractors: those are the same people who slag off garlic, chocolate, and wine.

But, not all was lost:

Bok-a-Bok redeemed itself with the Dirty Tots, which were just as good tepid as they were cold the next day. So, yay!

Being clear, the staff person who took my order was very pleasant and attentive, and I tipped 20%. As someone who used to wait tables and was a short order cook at a dive bar, neither of those jobs is easy; and nowadays, those folks are risking their lives just so we can stuff our guts. I blame none of them for my dissatisfaction with the food; they were grand, and deserve...

Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives recommends Bok a Bok, so I thought I would try it. After walking 20+ minutes, I was disappointed to experience a take out window.

Once they greeted me I was informed that to sit down and eat I would have to go next door to the bar. There’s a QR code to use to access the menu and order. Heads up! There is an auto 15% gratuity to bring your food over to you. Not cool.

The food was ok. The Sesame Soy Garlic Chicken Sandwich was flavorful and extra crispy. My first bite reminded me of a tripe sandwich. The chicken thigh was a bite tough and slightly overcooked. The fries were seasoned well, but got soft and cold pretty quickly.

This review gives 3 ⭐️stars for food and service because the chicken and fries could have been better. The automatic gratuity to walk food to my table is a greedy money grab that EVERY future customer should know about. Buyer beware!

One star for the atmosphere since you have to go in the bar-maybe gay bar🤷🏾‍♂️ to order and wait for your meal to get delivered is a huge turn off. Not everyone want to sit in a bar for a chicken sandwich.

In total, mediocre at best. Not worth the...

This was a tough one for me. Specifically looked up diners drive ins and dives spots for my trip to Seattle. Was looking for a spot to warm up and grab a sandwich and thought this would be it.

Unfortunately it's a walk up takeout window now (theres lots of pictures still showing the sit down restaurant so it was a surprise.)

The staff was friendly, took our oder efficiently and our food was ready pretty quick. We ordered 3 firecracker sandwiches, which had an awesome sweet spiciness that slowly built up.

Eating them outside in the cold near some trash cans was less than optimal. Maybe if you know what you're going into that's fine but from out of town and basing on what's shown on Google maps it was a surprise. The area itself is pretty dirty as well, literally had a man poop on the sidewalk in front of us...