My go-to meal: Fried chicken gets a sweet & spicy crunch at this Kansas City restaurant

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The tender meat. The sweet and spicy fusion of the dark brown glaze. And who could forget the hearty crunch?

All of these elements make a perfect first bite into a piece of Korean fried chicken at Kobi-Q, a family-owned Korean restaurant that opened in the Crossroads in 2018.

Korean fried chicken has long been a beloved comfort meal for me, ever since I found my go-to spot in Boston, where I lived for five years attending college. The meal is ubiquitous across South Korea and beyond, often served alongside beer or soju, a clear, distilled Korean liquor made from rice and other starches.

Whether it was a pick-me-up for one after a long day of classes or a shared meal before a night out with friends, I loved that something simple, filling and delicious was just an order away.

So when I moved to Kansas City a little over a year ago, it didn’t take long before I stopped into Kobi-Q, at 1531 Grand Blvd., to see what their fried chicken was all about.

You’ll see a wide variety of items on their menu, most of them Korean, but also some Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian influences (Kobi-Q also has a Westport location that serves those items as well as sushi.)

But I was here for one thing only. And sure enough, that first visit got me hooked — so much so that I knew I had to go back and write about it for The Star’s Let’s Dish series.

Kobi-Q has two options for its fried chicken: the classic sweet garlic glaze and a spicy dry rub. You can order a five-piece plate ($9), but I usually get a combination of both flavors in a 10-piece plate ($17) — just because I lack self control.

“It’s our most popular item,” said Kobi-Q co-owner and manager Mila Giesler. “Even at our sushi restaurant in Westport. People will get fried chicken and sushi — that’s a combo that people love.”

So how is it different from your basic KFC? It’s the chewiness from “sitting in that caramel glaze” before being fried, Giesler said. Couple that with the glaze or the rub, and you’ll enjoy an explosion of flavor with every bite.

Korean fried chicken was Giesler’s go-to comfort meal as a kid in Overland Park — something her younger self craved constantly, she said.

“I grew up on it, and I used to beg my mom for it,” Giesler said. “But she’d only make it once a year because the frying was such a deterrent. She would only do it for special events.”

Kobi-Q’s fried chicken is similar to the recipes Giesler had as a child, she said, but with one key difference. She felt the classic sweet garlic glaze lacked variety as a stand-alone item, so she later added the dry rub option, which uses spices often seen in dishes from China’s Sichuan province, known for spicy cuisine.

So as I licked off the last bits of soy-garlic glaze from my fingers, one thing is for sure: It won’t be long until I’m back for more.

This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 5:30 AM.

Irvin Zhang

The Kansas City Star

Since joining the Kansas City Star in late 2021, Irvin Zhang has worked as the newspaper’s newsletter writer, anchoring its daily flagship newsletters and leading its newsletter strategy. Support my work with a digital subscription