The Best Fried Chicken in Adelaide
There's a sort of primitive pleasure to eating fried chicken. You're gnawing the bones to get at the last morsels of meat and your fingers are all covered in grease. It's real caveman stuff. Would you have it any other way, though? It's way more fun than using cutlery or even nibbling carefully at the edge of a burrito. So choose a style (American? Korean?), a cut (thigh? wing?) and your spice level, and get stuck in.
Restaurant
Gunbae Chicken and Beer
Korean fried chicken is all over town, but Gunbae is one of the best. The menu is blissfully simple: chicken (brined for 12 hours before being fried), beer and Korean sides including kimchi pancakes, mandoo salads and rice balls.
Restaurant
Cheekies Hot Chicken
What started as a Nashville hot chicken pop-up at Brklyn is now also a fully-fledged restaurant in the city centre. The hottest chicken here comes coated in a blend of four different chillies, including the infamous Carolina reaper.
Restaurant
Belles Hot Chicken Adelaide
The Melbourne-bred chain is bringing its Nashville-hot tenders, chicken sandwiches and boozy slushies to South Australia – for good this time.
Bar
99 Gang Social
Fried chicken, American-style burgers and tropical cocktails are the signatures at Gang Gang’s disco-ready burger bar. After the dinner trade, a floating DJ booth provides danceable tunes till late.
Shop
Kokko
At this playground-inspired Korean fried chicken shop, everything's meticulously hand-made by two Seoul natives. Order their chook plain or add sauces like citrus mayonnaise, cheese flakes or the signature: a sweet-and-spicy garlic concoction.
Restaurant
Ban Ban
Another key player in the city’s Korean hot chicken scene. It’s serving the tried and tested union of fried chook and cold beer – to which you can add fries blanketed in bonito flakes, cheesy corn casserole and flamed edamame.
Restaurant
Little Ban Ban
A grab-and-go sequel to Ban Ban. Wings, drumsticks and boneless pieces can be ordered straight-up, but this place gets extra points for the rice box options. Plus more for the spam fries.
Bar
Nola
A New Orleans-inspired bar featuring whiskies from around the world and 16 beers on tap. The menu is all about Creole soul food – including Cajun fried chicken in mild and spicy iterations – to help soak up all that booze.
Restaurant
Plus 82 Pocha
Here you can listen to K-pop while you eat fried chicken and kimchi until late. Drench your chook in garlic soy, sweet chilli and “secret sauce” options, which come served with an assortment of nuts and house-made pickles.
Restaurant
May Q
The line-up of classic Korean dishes here is bolstered by a huge collection of soju. Pair one of the easy-drinking options with the house fried chook, and you’ve got the recipe for a seriously good time on your soon-to-be-greasy hands.
Restaurant
Bread & Bone
At this moody late-night grill, it’s a tough choice between crisp tenders, juicy buffalo wings or the buttermilk fried chicken burger. The other option is to abandon dignity altogether and spring for the lot.
Restaurant
Busan Baby
The fried chicken here comes coated in either salt and pepper, soy garlic glaze or a spicy sauce.
Restaurant
88 Pocha
Love Korean barbeque? Dak-galbi is the next Korean specialty you have to try, and this retro-inspired joint has mastered it, alongside classic street foods.
