Popcorn Chicken (Sawtelle Japantown): A Pictorial Essay

Thanks to @J_L, we were able to stop by and try Popcorn Chicken’s Beef Noodle Soup. :slight_smile:

Beef Noodle Soup:

This Taiwanese style Beef Noodle Soup is delicious! :slight_smile: The first thing that shocked me is what @J_L mentioned: That we were enjoying a bowl of legit Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup while sitting on Sawtelle, on the Westside. :smile:

The Stewed Beef Shank was tender, the Soup has a nice combination of Soy Sauce, Star Anise and perhaps just a touch sweeter than the usual Beef Noodle Broths, but only just a touch. The Noodles were great as well.

We’ll be back to try more stuff.

Thanks @J_L @chandavkl and others. :slight_smile:

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I tried Popcorn Chicken on Monday.

I had the beef noodle soup, of course, and a side of the popcorn chicken. I ordered both “hot”.
The soup is pretty wonderful! Rich with a strong star anise flavor. The beef is succulent and the noodles have excellent bite! Personally, I’ll go with medium next time just to see if some subtler elements of the broth become apparent. I loved the pickled mustard greens and will ask for extra

The popcorn chicken was tasty and I think the “hot” seasoning worked well there, too. But I’m very much with @bulavinaka. The chicken was screaming for a cold lager or something like that.

Service was incredibly friendly. They are trying a bunch of promotions and online loyalty rewards programs. I said yes to everything and found the first visit a little excessive. Free drink with a Yelp check in. 10% off if I download a loyalty app. Blah blah blah. Subsequent visits should be more pleasant in that regard.

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This happy hour is insane. Looks like going to UCLA health center is yielding some unintended benefits.

Well, aside from heart disease and such. :wink:

QPR here is insane. Is there a higher QPR restaurant on the westside? Each one of these dishes was $9.50. Also some of the best chicken I’ve had in recent memory.

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I ordered delivery from here last week, sadly, not having read J_L’s review. I ordered the fried chicken, spicy, the blood rice cakes (I love blood anything), the purple yam fries, the fried cartilage, medium spicy, and the pork belly plate that comes with rice.

The blood rice cakes were nicely seasoned but super chewy. Too chewy.

The popcorn chicken was okay. Just okay. Not worth trying again. I think the problem is the quality of the chicken.

My husband liked the yam fries more than I did. They were sweet, but just very carb-y tasting - not fried as much as regular fries.

The cartilage was very disappointing. It was cooked unevenly, so some pieces were crunchy and others took some work to chew. I had the memory of the standout cartilage dish at Chef Tony in Richmond, Canada. There were even tiny pieces of bone in the dish at Popcorn Chicken. Besides the uneven cooking and preparing, the quality of the chicken was poor.

Luckily, I had ordered this pork belly dish. The fat of the pork was melting, though the meat was a tad stringy, but still very good. I ended up eating some of this with the blood rice cakes that I broke apart. It helped cut the richness of the belly.

After the meal, we decided the place was not worth trying again, but looks like I was wrong! Will have to try the soup! Luckily, we are close enough for delivery. That soup looks perfect for the times I want soup to quell a cold!

I agree w/ you that the quality of the chicken isn’t good, but I still get a kick out of it, anyway.

I stick w/ the soup and pork belly. You can also get a side of the fried pork chops (off menu).

The place is not life-changing, but I’m happy to have it nearby.

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If you want great qaulity fried chicken. Walk up one 2 blocks to anzu Japanese gourmet. They have a little walk up stand and make delicious juicy chicken karage. Makes for a great bang bang

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Out of curiosity, what about the chicken at Popcorn Chicken reads as low quality to you all? I love the chicken there and at Anzu but haven’t noticed a big difference in quality. Maybe a little more cartilage at PC, but I actually like that, What am I missing?

Haven’t tried Anzu.

It seems a little gristly to me. Can’t say there’s a ton of chicken flavor. I actually don’t mind, since I like the chew (and at the prices they’re charging, I ain’t expecting the best quality chicken). and not sure if the product is a result of frying technique and the spices or the underlying chicken itself. JMHO.

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Thanks for that suggestion! I’ve walked by that place and always wondering how it was. Going to try today!!

In regards to the question regarding quality, the chicken tastes like mass produced chicken. When I buy chicken, I get Jidori. I can get that at the Asian grocery stores in west LA or my fave butcher, A Cut Above. I also get chicken at the farmers market, which is incredibly fresh, but I think a smidge under the Jidori in terms of taste.

I think it is also preparation. The fried chicken, which I’ve had twice recently, was much, much better at Yabu. Also had the fried monkfish at Hamasuka and that was a far superior fry job. It wasn’t horrible, just not worth ordering again.

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I mean, it is a boba shop catering to UCLA kids at a single digit price point…

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What Asian grocery stores on the west side?

Marukai Market on Pico Blvd.

Nijiya Market on Sawtelle (they have the best pearled barley!)

Mitsuwa Market

http://www.mitsuwa.com/locations/santa-monica/
(I rarely go here cause the parking lot is always packed)

Oh, I thought you found a place with butcher counters and fish tanks. That would be so great.

That would be! I lost my farmer at the farmers market who sold me tripe and now I have no local source!

Northgate Market on Inglewood at Braddock has tripe. I don’t know the quality, I haven’t tried it.

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Yeah, there’s definitely some cartilage but that doesn’t bother me unless it’s unchewable. I actually kind of dig it at PC, though I have to admit I thought it was the style. :blush: Anzu is definitely worth a try.

Ah gotcha. I love Jidori chicken too, and this definitely ain’t that.

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Thanks for the tip! I will try some and post on it!