Lighting up the palate with Korean fried chicken

• Name + address: K, Let’s Eat, 449 Preston St.

• Type of food: Korean

• Sides: $1.50-$11

• Mains: $13-$39

• Diet: Meat, vegetarian

• Wheelchair accessibility: No

• LCBO Licensed: No

• Website: K, Let’s Eat

I’d recently heard about a new Korean eatery and so naturally I needed to get out there. Besides, one of our readers described their chicken as a “religious experience.”

I arrived for lunch on a warm day and seated myself in the modest and colorfully painted room. Along one wall was a table that held a glass cabinet with prepared food ready for take-away.

Their sign read Korean Cuisine and Fried Chicken and while that’s true, the menu selection was modest and did include some classics such as Jap Chae (stir fried glass noodles) and kimchi fried rice.

However, I arrived here with the chicken recommendation in mind and so I stuck to that along with a couple of starters.

The kimchi was made in house and fairly standard. It was nicely prepared but for someone experienced with kimchi, it may feel as if something is lacking. It had some heat but was missing complexity.

The mandu, a dumpling by another name, was yet another example of how too many restaurants want to take shortcuts when preparing these delicious morsels. For the love of gyoza folks — stop deep frying these dumplings!

In this example the chicken and vegetable filling was very pleasant in flavour and texture. Unfortunately it had been left so long in the deep fryer that it did a disservice to the filling and actually hurt when eating.

Pan frying gives you a duality of textures with a crispy underside and softer sides making a nice contrast and the experience less arduous.

All foods at K, Let’s Eat are served in takeaway containers which on the one hand is rather practical, on the other it does not make for classic dining.

Then came the main event: sweet chili chicken. An entire bird had been cut into 16 pieces, battered, fried and tossed in an intoxicating sauce. The fruity aromas raced to meet me and I felt comforted by what I knew was to come.

The first bite released a surge of steam from the bone and the taste reminded me of something I’d once had at a fairground in Germany. Funny how sense memory works.

The chicken fell from the bone and I tried to ignore the temperature because it was so good. After a few pieces I gave it a rest to let it cool down. In the meantime I nourished myself on the tteokbokki (rice cake) that accompanied the chicken. A nice touch.

Served in this way, a chicken along with a few sides, can easily feed three or four people and is something I recommend.

While the service is very welcoming, I also recommend ordering your food as takeaway. There is no air conditioning here and on my visit the room was very hot.

It’s nice to see diverse culinary options proliferate along Preston. These restaurants draw more Ottawans to the neighbourhood where they’ll discover even more delights.

K, Let’s Eat is onto something good and with a few tweeks to the menu, and the climate of the room, will only see an increase in its popularity.

Further reading

• Food Mood: a Korean gem along Rideau St.

• In’s Kitchen goes deep on tradition and flavour

• Table Sodam: a beloved destination for exceptional Korean cooking