Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bok Bok Dok is like K-Pop: sweet, spicy, and crisp

Neon animals, fruity lemonade, and twice-fried chicken in Midway District

A soy garlic bok bok chicken sandwich
A soy garlic bok bok chicken sandwich
Video:

FEAST!: Bok Bok Dok is like K-Pop: sweet, spicy, and crisp


It’s been fun watching the population of Korean restaurants in San Diego slowly tick up, and branch out from the Convoy district into other parts of the county. And yet, the intriguing and distinctive cuisine still feels under the radar.


You know what’s not under the radar? K-Pop.


Place

Bok Bok Dok

3960 W Point Loma Blvd., Suite J, San Diego

The Beatles may be bigger than shepherd’s pie, but aside from the U.K. it’s tough to name a nation that has seen its music more readily embraced by Americans than its food. We gobble down rice noodles and ramen, but try to imagine a Thai pop tune playing on commercial radio. Or a Japanese girl band headlining Coachella, the way South Korean phenom Black Pink did last year.


There’s a running theory that fans of K-Pop and other South Korean entertainment are behind the steady rise of Korean food around the world, as documented by headlines such as “After K-pop, K-food is conquering France,” and, “Indians’ love of K-pop and K-dramas makes them hungry for Korean food.” Anecdotally, I’ve spotted signs of it here in San Diego: after Korean-Americans, the demographics I’m most likely to encounter at local Korean restaurants fall in the K-Pop-loving, Gen Z age range.


A K-Pop friendly restaurant in Midway


Which is all to explain why Bok Bok Dok makes sense to me. Kinda.


Sponsored
Sponsored

A recent addition to the Midway District, Bok Bok Dok glimmers with neon light, youthful animal imagery, and a steady rotation of K-Pop music videos on a central TV screen. I mistook the industrial space for a counter restaurant, but my astute server, Zach, insisted otherwise. I grabbed a seat at one of two communal high-top tables and gave him my order. Then I lost myself for a while, captivated by dazzling K-Pop choreography.


In the 2020s, the buzziest dish out of South Korea is the extra crispy, twice-fried chicken, dubbed bok bok chicken, and Bok Bok Dok seems to be a playful way of saying so (like calling it Bok Bok Chik’n). Twice-fried poultry occupies much of the menu, either in the form of fried chicken sandwiches or crispy chicken wings.


Twice-fried Sweet & Spicy chicken wings, flavored with the Korean chili paste gochujang


Whichever way you go, an array of sauces will follow, including gochujang sweet & spicy, tamarind chili, and soy garlic. And in any case, you can bet the crispiness will be paired with a sauce that’s some part sweet, tangy, spicy, and sticky.


I might have preferred more spice and less sweet, but then, it’s tough to go wrong with wings. And the breading on my garlic soy sandwich proved crispy enough to hold crunch through a soft brioche bun. But the best thing I tried featured beef, not chicken. The $13 kimchee fried rice is studded with the restaurant’s bulgogi.


Kimchee and bulgogi fried rice


That marinated beef dish is also featured in Bok Bok Dok’s $13.50 rice bowl, on the $13 bulgogi fries, and in $9.50 pair of bulgogi tacos. But it’s mixed with the spicy, fermented kimchee that the savory beef char finds common cause with an older palate. But may yet pair well with the restaurant’s drink menu, of soju cocktails and fruit-blended lemonades.


I'm old enough to know every restaurant is not for me: if Bok Bok Dok feels a little young to some of us, it's probably by design. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty room for us on the K-Food bandwagon, somewhere in San Diego. With or without the pop.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
A soy garlic bok bok chicken sandwich
A soy garlic bok bok chicken sandwich
Video:

FEAST!: Bok Bok Dok is like K-Pop: sweet, spicy, and crisp


It’s been fun watching the population of Korean restaurants in San Diego slowly tick up, and branch out from the Convoy district into other parts of the county. And yet, the intriguing and distinctive cuisine still feels under the radar.


You know what’s not under the radar? K-Pop.


Place

Bok Bok Dok

3960 W Point Loma Blvd., Suite J, San Diego

The Beatles may be bigger than shepherd’s pie, but aside from the U.K. it’s tough to name a nation that has seen its music more readily embraced by Americans than its food. We gobble down rice noodles and ramen, but try to imagine a Thai pop tune playing on commercial radio. Or a Japanese girl band headlining Coachella, the way South Korean phenom Black Pink did last year.


There’s a running theory that fans of K-Pop and other South Korean entertainment are behind the steady rise of Korean food around the world, as documented by headlines such as “After K-pop, K-food is conquering France,” and, “Indians’ love of K-pop and K-dramas makes them hungry for Korean food.” Anecdotally, I’ve spotted signs of it here in San Diego: after Korean-Americans, the demographics I’m most likely to encounter at local Korean restaurants fall in the K-Pop-loving, Gen Z age range.


A K-Pop friendly restaurant in Midway


Which is all to explain why Bok Bok Dok makes sense to me. Kinda.


Sponsored
Sponsored

A recent addition to the Midway District, Bok Bok Dok glimmers with neon light, youthful animal imagery, and a steady rotation of K-Pop music videos on a central TV screen. I mistook the industrial space for a counter restaurant, but my astute server, Zach, insisted otherwise. I grabbed a seat at one of two communal high-top tables and gave him my order. Then I lost myself for a while, captivated by dazzling K-Pop choreography.


In the 2020s, the buzziest dish out of South Korea is the extra crispy, twice-fried chicken, dubbed bok bok chicken, and Bok Bok Dok seems to be a playful way of saying so (like calling it Bok Bok Chik’n). Twice-fried poultry occupies much of the menu, either in the form of fried chicken sandwiches or crispy chicken wings.


Twice-fried Sweet & Spicy chicken wings, flavored with the Korean chili paste gochujang


Whichever way you go, an array of sauces will follow, including gochujang sweet & spicy, tamarind chili, and soy garlic. And in any case, you can bet the crispiness will be paired with a sauce that’s some part sweet, tangy, spicy, and sticky.


I might have preferred more spice and less sweet, but then, it’s tough to go wrong with wings. And the breading on my garlic soy sandwich proved crispy enough to hold crunch through a soft brioche bun. But the best thing I tried featured beef, not chicken. The $13 kimchee fried rice is studded with the restaurant’s bulgogi.


Kimchee and bulgogi fried rice


That marinated beef dish is also featured in Bok Bok Dok’s $13.50 rice bowl, on the $13 bulgogi fries, and in $9.50 pair of bulgogi tacos. But it’s mixed with the spicy, fermented kimchee that the savory beef char finds common cause with an older palate. But may yet pair well with the restaurant’s drink menu, of soju cocktails and fruit-blended lemonades.


I'm old enough to know every restaurant is not for me: if Bok Bok Dok feels a little young to some of us, it's probably by design. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty room for us on the K-Food bandwagon, somewhere in San Diego. With or without the pop.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader