BB.Q Chicken marries local products with authentic Korean sauces with delicious results
With visitors from all over the globe, the Bow Valley is a great place to explore culinary cultures. One of our favourite food traditions comes from Korea in chimaek: the pairing of crispy fried chicken, cold beer and good friends to unwind after work. Chimaek is a natural fit for the Bow Valley as retail and hospitality staff and other locals look for a chill, casual place to catch up and enjoy some great food. And Canmore’s Best of the Best Quality (BB.Q) Chicken is the perfect place to do it.
Run by brother-and-sister team Jason and Jessie Kim, this Korea-based franchise brings the very best of fried chicken culture to Canmore. The vast menu has something for everyone from the very accessible golden fried chicken, to the wildly spicy dukk-bokki rice- and fish-cakes in a spicy sauce.
On your first visit, staff will walk you through the extensive menu and help you make your decisions based on your cravings and preferences. Then, when you come back (and you will), you’ll have a great place to start.
For fried chicken, choose your style of chicken (bone in or bone out) and the sauce or seasoning you want to go on it. Options abound depending on your taste and tolerance for heat. You can go “topped” with Doritos-style flavour powder sprinkled on top or “sauced” with your chicken tossed in delicious fire-carmelized sauces.
The most popular sauce, according to Jason, is the Gagnam-style, which is an aromatic, garlicky sweet sauce that is mild enough for most palates. We loved this sauce and will be back for more. You’ll also want to try the “secret sauce,” which in Korea is known as “sauce.” Sweet and just a little spicier, this is the classic. The honey garlic is perfect for kids or less adventurous eaters and the Szechuan-style Mala Hot will make spice lovers break a sweat.
And there’s a lot more than fried chicken. We fell in love with the Crispy Shrimp Menbosha: tiny toasts stuffed with minced shrimp, deep fried and served with your choice of sauce. The sweet potato cheese balls were also a delicious dessert (yes, dessert, trust us on this one!)
With the produce and meats locally sourced and never frozen, and the sauce ingredients coming right from Korean, BB.Q Chicken gives you the best of both worlds: local and authentically Korean.
BB.Q Chicken is open daily 12-8 p.m.
