First Look: Sydney’s Most Coveted Fried Chicken Is Back

“We’re so back,” someone at a neighbouring table declares, as they start ripping into Kay Hwang’s sweet-and-spicy fried chicken, with its glossy, scarlet coating. They’re making short work of it. After more than a year on the hunt, Hwang has found a new home in Enmore for his inner-city smash-hit Joy Korean Fried Chicken.

When Hwang announced the closure of Joy’s Chippendale location last year, the response was overwhelming. In its final month, the shop regularly sold out within an hour and was forced to turn diners away before the dinner rush. “We’d open at 5.30pm and close at 6.30pm,” Hwang says. “I’d see a queue of 80 people, take their orders in advance, then have to cut it off.”

Hwang spent the past year inspecting more than 60 venues – even driving to Newcastle before finally settling on the Enmore site. It’s been a long wait for Joy devotees, but he’s ready: the new space has 40 seats, up from 12, and five times the kitchen staff. Most importantly, the chook still sports that perfectly crunchy, textural crust.

The recipe took Hwang a full year of relentless tinkering to perfect. “The first year of my shop was a disaster. I still remember opening for lunch and dinner and only having three customers all day long,” he says. Those empty services became recipe-development sessions, laying the groundwork for Joy’s cult following.

He begins by breaking down whole chickens and dry brining the pieces for three days before they’re triple fried. Every leg, breast and thigh is calibrated with baker-like precision. The spice blend and six-flour coating stay constant, but the ratios and frying times are tailored to each cut so it emerges juicy and tender, with a final high-heat blast to lock in the crunch.

The chicken comes as bone-in pieces or boneless breast. Order the Original Crispy style, or get it coated in one of five house sauces. The sauces climb steadily in heat – starting with the Honey Soy, which is sweetened with Australian honey, and the soy-garlic Bulgogi. The bestselling Sweet & Spicy delivers more kick than a classic yangnyeom, while the Maple Chilli, featuring chilli oil and Canadian maple sauce, finishes with a slow Sichuan burn. At the top sits the Fire, fuelled by fresh Carolina reapers in summer and ghost peppers the rest of the year. If spice isn’t your thing, there’s also a milder lemon-and-parsley coating option.

Alongside the chicken is Hwang’s lighter take on the usual sides: a slaw brightened with desiccated coconut, lemon juice and just enough mayo, plus crisp daikon pickles. You can also get chewy rice cakes, tteokbokki-style, as an extra.

A behemoth burger comes with chicken done in your choice of sauce, plus slaw and gochujang mayo. Hwang insists on using a breast fillet (“I don’t use thigh because I think it’s cheating a little”), and it stays remarkably juicy.

There’s a new vegetarian burger, the Holy-Eff, built around a tofu jeon – something Hwang cooked at home for his partner before bringing it to the menu. Chopped tofu and vegetables are folded through egg and flour, and shaped into a patty before getting the same crisp coating.

Also new to Enmore are rice balls in nori and kimchi flavours, plus Cass beer and soju to wash everything down – just as you’d find at a chicken shop in Korea.

Now Hwang has the space to keep up with demand, you might just be able to beat the queue.

Joy Korean Fried Chicken
212 Enmore Road, Enmore

Hours:
Tue to Sun 5.30pm–9pm

@joy.koreanfriedchicken