I Ate at The WORST Fast Food Chains in Korea.

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]You would think that Koreans survive only on rice, kimchi, and anti-depressants, but South Korea's actually obsessed with Americanstyle fast food. Ever since Loia showed up in 1979, the country's appetite for burgers and fries exploded. And fast food is now one of the most popular food categories in the country. And while some of the giants like McDonald's is printing money here, there are brands that are actually struggling. And some of these brands might surprise you. So, in this video, I'm going to visit the least popular fast food chains in Korea to find out if they deserve their terrible reputation.

[00:00:29]Are they actually that bad? I'm going to score each of them out of 10. So, let's find out if the Koreans are just picking on them for no reason. Why don't we start with one of the least popular brands here, KFC. I've got so many fun things here. I don't even know where to begin. The double down Zinger burger.

[00:00:45]Single piece of sweet and spicy chicken.

[00:00:48]The KFC biscuit. The bonus chicken that came with the combo. Now, that's chicken rice. And that's their pizza chicken type of food. I'd like to start with the most crazy thing here and that's their Zinger burger. But Jimmy, where are the buns? Well, this doesn't have buns. So, the boneless chicken thighs are the buns here. And in the place where the patty is, they have a hash brown. They've got like tomato sauce, bacon, cheese. Is the chicken actually good?

[00:01:20]M.

[00:01:21]>> Wow. The chicken is pretty impressive.

[00:01:25]So, they're like super tender and very juicy. You know, I often complain that there's not enough protein in a burger.

[00:01:30]So, this to me is like heaven.

[00:01:35]Another item that's kind of interesting that I've never seen in Korea is this chicken rice. I didn't know chicken rice was a thing here. The rice is drenched in this kind of cheesy smelling sauce.

[00:01:45]It smells spicy and cheesy at the same time with a little bit of that curry-like aroma, too. Let me get a taste of it.

[00:01:54]Wow. You know what the sauce is like?

[00:01:56]It's exactly like the rosé bulock sauce.

[00:01:59]Comes with some pieces of chicken tenders.

[00:02:03]>> I mean, I was ready to dismiss it, but it's actually surprisingly good.

[00:02:07]So, it might be kind of surprising to you guys that KFC isn't a huge success in Korea. I mean, it's definitely not. I don't think I've met one Korean who said KFC is their favorite fast food. I think the reason is mainly because our local fried chicken franchises are extremely popular here. you know, places like BBQ or Kchon, they make pretty amazing fried chickens, arguably better than what KFC can offer. So, I think they're just being out competed in the fried chicken business. They're still very good, though. Having said that, let's find out if their chicken is good. So, this is a typical sweet spicy chicken in Korea. We often call it yangyam chicken. Pretty surprised that KFC in Korea offers them, too. This is a very Korean thing. Is it as good as the Korean ones?

[00:02:49]It's really nice and meaty, I'll tell you that. And the yangyam sauce is pretty dead on. Like it's same as any Korean fried chicken franchise.

[00:02:56]Although, if I have one complaint, I'm eating at the store here, so I think the chicken could be a little crispier. This is at like 65% crispiness. So, in terms of pure chicken quality, they just need a little more push.

[00:03:08]This, I believe, is also original to Korea. This is the pizza chicken.

[00:03:16]So, this is just like having a pepperoni pizza on top of a fried chicken. It's a chicken breast, so it's a little tough, but this is actually one of the healthier options that you can get here.

[00:03:28]I won't lie, I actually kind of like it.

[00:03:30]One of my favorite things in KFC in any country is their biscuit.

[00:03:36]It's like a really buttery scone. Korea has their strawberry jam like this. Look like this from the back. And if you just kind of snap and squeeze, it shoots out strawberry jam. Oh man, you would have to be a psychopath to not like this.

[00:03:54]>> So buttery. Kind of sweet on the surface too, which I really love. I got a chicken tender with the combo. Looks like there's nothing special about it other than the fact that it's kind of girly. It's pretty thick. Didn't come with any sauce.

[00:04:09]Wow. It was actually a huge piece of boneless chicken, not a chicken tender.

[00:04:13]I don't know if you guys can tell, but it's actually pretty juicy on the inside. stylistically just a little different from the Korean fried chicken, I feel like the American fried chicken, the skin tends to be like less crispy and more oily. They still can be very good, but when it comes to fried chicken, KFC kind of feels like a B minus student. And in Korea, a B minus might as well be a complete failure.

[00:04:33]Like, you could have the dumbest Korean parents imaginable, elementary school dropouts, even they would get mad at their kids for getting a B minus.

[00:04:40]Ironically, my favorite thing was their chicken rice.

[00:04:44]It's kind of like a rosé curry chicken rice. And I have to say, I love the nature of this burger. No buns, all chicken.

[00:04:53]Overall, that was a pleasant meal. Just because I feel like their fried chicken wasn't quite perfect. In fact, for Korean standards, it was kind of below average. I'd say KFC deserves a score of six. That's not horrible, right? All right, on to the next one. Traveling all over the world, I've met all kinds of people, but the kind of people that I've never met are the people that like Taco Bell. And that applies in South Korea, too. Taco Bell is arguably the least popular chain here in Korea. You can actually barely find the stores here.

[00:05:21]But maybe the Koreans don't really have the taste buds for authentic Mexican food. So, let's go find out if Taco Bell is any good. I've already said this so many times before, but I used to live in California, so I have a special place in my heart for Mexican food. And now, Koreans making Mexican food. They might not be popular, but I'm super stoked for this. That's a supreme taco bowl. Came with a drink. That's a kimchi cheese cassadilla. Pretty exciting. Kimchi cheese fries. There are many chunks of meat there, too. You know, I want to start with their foundation, their taco.

[00:05:51]And this is supposed to be their double decker taco. Well, is this like a vegan taco? I'm not seeing a lot of meat. So, supposedly there are two layers of tortillas. There's a hard shell and soft shell. And in between they have melted cheese, which is kind of cool, I guess.

[00:06:06]Doesn't this remind you guys of the paint folding art that you guys did as kids?

[00:06:14]M. You know, it's actually not bad at all. I feel like the lettuce that's in this is very fresh. And my god, and it's filled with cheese and ground beef. It's a pretty simple thing. For $3, I'd say it's not bad in Korea.

[00:06:27]While we're at it, let's try their taco bowl as well. I think it might be the same thing, but with the hard shell deep fried bowl. Oh, there's actually some rice in it, too, which is kind of interesting.

[00:06:40]>> Actually, not bad. I'm I am enjoying this.

[00:06:49]It's kind of like a dollar store version of Chipotle.

[00:06:55]Man, I love these shells, too. Now, the kimchi fries. There are many things I like about it. First off, I like the volume of the food. It is a lot of food.

[00:07:05]And the fact that they have kimchi in this, it's pretty interesting, right?

[00:07:08]Kimchi to Koreans is like baseball to unathletic Americans. We think we know everything about it. So, I'd be excited to find out if this kimchi is actually good.

[00:07:21]>> Wow. This might be my favorite thing that I had today. The mix of cheese, lettuce, kimchi, and pulled pork. They go together extremely well.

[00:07:30]Wow. Sometimes when corporate restaurants have kimchi, it's like little powder of kimchi, but not real kimchi. But they actually have real kimchi, which is pretty surprising. This is grandma level kimchi.

[00:07:42]You know, when you eat something with sour cream, you feel the coldness of sour cream when you eat it, and it makes this really nice contrast. Oh, man. I love that about this dish, too.

[00:07:51]And look at the meat and kimchi. The ingredients are actually really chunky.

[00:07:55]They have a lot of things. It's not just French fries. Yeah, this might be my favorite thing by far. Properly made fusion food. So, I felt really good about their kimchi fries. So, I'm excited for their kimchi cheese quesadillas. I feel like that's one of those theater nacho dipping cheese. I mean, they could have done better than that, but maybe this is perfect.

[00:08:17]Am I turning into an obese American or is this actually good? Definitely not a delicate meal, but for fast food, this is actually quite good. Now, you should also take into consideration that Korea makes terrible Mexican food in general.

[00:08:30]You walk into a proper looking Mexican restaurant in Korea, they're not very good tasting. So, compared to those places, Taco Bell almost feels authentically Mexican.

[00:08:40]Let's see what's in the quesadilla.

[00:08:44]cheese, kimchi, pork, you know, that just feels like an honest guess idea to me. Yeah, I'm telling you, their use of kimchi is very good. The kind of kimchi that they're using is slightly um aged.

[00:08:54]And they also cooked it a little too.

[00:08:56]That makes it a little more flavorful.

[00:08:58]The kimchi is legitimately good. While I'm at it, let me try some of their chips, too.

[00:09:04]Okay, their chips are a little bit soggy. Not very good. It's one of those Dollar Tree chips. I'm going to have to end this meal with an authentic Mexican dessert. Churros. I'm actually not sure if this is Mexican.

[00:09:19]Could be crispier, but it's not like overly sweet. There's a good amount of cinnamon. I feel like the balance of flavor is pretty good. Just movie theater level, I guess.

[00:09:29]Okay, Korean Taco Bell. That wasn't such a bad time. It's certainly not the most upscale authentic Mexican food experience, but for a fast food compared to other places, that actually wasn't bad with everything considered. I want to say it's a seven.

[00:09:44]Yeah, it's 7 out of 10. Another franchise that is surprisingly unpopular in Korea is Shay Shack. It was only popular the year that it was introduced to Korea, and it quickly became this place where not a lot of people go to.

[00:09:56]Just because it's not popular doesn't mean the food is horrible, or is it horrible. I know Shake Shack to be a little more expensive. So, let's go spend some money.

[00:10:07]You know, I don't want to be a hater, but in Korea, close to $30 for this is kind of a robbery. But listen, maybe they're just that good. So, I believe that these two burgers that I got, they're both Korea exclusive items.

[00:10:20]Since I'm a very proud Korean boy, why don't we start with the Korean bulogi burger? Okay, I'm not going to lie, their buns are definitely pretty high quality. Like, they feel different on my fingers. So, it looks like they have a patty and some bugi beef on top of it, too. And with the lettuce, it kind of makes it look like a Korean lettuce wrap. You know, like when you eat barbecue, it's just going to make my country proud.

[00:10:46]You know, I'll start by saying that the ingredients are very good. Although I haven't been to Shake Chef too many times, I always felt like the ingredients are very fresh. So, that's good. But to me, this is just buggi on top of a patty. and they don't really blend in together. It's kind of like a repetition, you know. Bugi actually tastes like the Korean dish bugi. I just feel like they don't really go together.

[00:11:07]I have higher hopes for this New York steak burger. Looks like it's got bacon, fried onions, mashed potatoes, and spinach. I hope it's better than the burgogogi.

[00:11:19]Wow. Nice and creamy, sweet. Now, this is a good burger. So, it's dinner time here in Korea and for dinner time, the restaurant is very empty. And I can kind of see why. You know how Shake in America, it's this thing that's like 1.5 times better than In-N-Out, but like two to three times more expensive. Well, it's very expensive here in Korea, too.

[00:11:40]Like just their burgers close to $10, which is enough money to get all kinds of meal in Korea. And the portion is kind of small, too. Like their burgers like my palm size. This single burger is more expensive than the minimum hourly wage in Korea. I mean, I for sure don't want to work at a convenience store for an hour just to get a burger like this.

[00:11:57]Really good burger. Just a little too expensive.

[00:12:02]One thing that I like about Shake Shack is their shake.

[00:12:07]Oh man, it's so insanely sweet. I shouldn't like it, but it's actually so good. When I tell my Korean friends that I used to live in America, what they often ask me is, um, Jimmy, do Americans actually dip their fries in milkshakes?

[00:12:20]The answer is I don't know actually. It seems that a lot of Koreans saw that in American TV shows. I've personally never seen anybody do that in real life, but today I'd like to do that myself and tell you guys if it's actually good.

[00:12:35]Well, I'd hate to say it. Yeah, it's kind of good. It's kind of like sugar coating the fries. I mean, their fries are pretty good to begin with, but it's kind of like sugaring the fries. And there's something really sickening about it because it's probably really bad for you. But yeah, it can be good. Honestly, I'm not really a French fries guy. I'm more of an onion rings guy. And I feel like their onion rings would be pretty good, too.

[00:12:59]The batter feels a little too hard for what they're charging, but I love their dipping sauce.

[00:13:05]And I appreciate the fact that onions are actually in there. You know how with some onion rings, there's like a string of onions, but you don't really see the fibers. This is not bad at all, man. This is real talk, but I thought if I have close to a million subscribers on YouTube, I've been making a [ __ ] ton of money. But in real life, it's really not like that. I still have to go, man, Shake Shack, that's a bit too expensive.

[00:13:27]Why don't we go to McDonald's instead?

[00:13:28]Obviously, I'm not in poverty, but money is still an issue. That being said, Shake Shack in Korea definitely feels a little too expensive. I hope they had In-N-Out here. I mean, if I had to give them a score with everything considered, I feel like it was just so unreasonably expensive that I'd have to give them like a five. They had great burgers, but they're not like impossibly delicious.

[00:13:48]And for what they're charging for a meal, it opens you up to so many different great options. So, yeah, I'd have to give them a five. But their shakes are pretty amazing. I don't think there's ever been a time anywhere in the world when I didn't like the place that I'm going to right now, and that's Popeye's. Apparently, in Korea, it's not exactly a popular franchise. I feel like they're consistently good in other countries. Let's see how it is in Korea.

[00:14:10]It's crazy. It's so not popular. The entire restaurant is actually completely empty right now. I mean, even considering the fact that it's close to their closing time, it's kind of bizarre how unpopular Popeye's is here. All right, so the food is here. I want to start with their chicken. So, here's their classic original chicken, and that's their soy garlic chicken. I mean, I want to be fair, but just looking at it, it doesn't look too fresh to me. It also feels very small, like this chicken just finished the weight loss journey.

[00:14:38]But hey, maybe this is delicious.

[00:14:44]I mean, I wouldn't say it's bad, but I feel like it could be a little juicier.

[00:14:51]You know how when most Popeyes around the world when you bite into their chicken, the skin is like super crispy, but the meat is like super juicy, so you get like a tsunami of juice into your mouth. The one that I have here, I feel like the skin is kind of dry and crumbly, and the meat is also dry and crumbly. It's quite crispy, so I like that. I wouldn't say this is a great fried chicken, though. I have a feeling that this honey garlic is pretty similar. Let's give it a try.

[00:15:18]Actually, this cut of chicken is a lot more juicy. But again, I feel like the chicken is just a little small. Like, it's a lot of bones and not a lot of meat compared to like other places. Cute little side dish. It's a ball of cream.

[00:15:33]I think it's filled with a kind of custard cream. The dough is very chewy.

[00:15:37]It's kind of like mochi almost.

[00:15:40]Wasn't too bad. Here's something that I've never seen ever in Korea. It's a squid burger. I guess the fried patty there is a fried squid. It kind of looks and smells like a mac chicken. Let's give it a try.

[00:15:59]Listen guys, this is very subjective.

[00:16:01]Everything about this burger is almost exactly like a Mac chicken burger except the patty is a really foul tasting squid patty. Like I'm not even sure how much of that is actually squid. It tastes starchy and a little bit fishy at the same time. I'm not the kind of guy that dislikes food too easily, but I definitely don't like this.

[00:16:27]Okay, that's enough. In the patty, there's like lumps of squid dough, and when you chew it, it doesn't even feel like squid. I'll have to wash it down with their most famous classic chicken sandwich. I'm sure many of you guys remember about 10 years ago, chicken sandwich by Popeye's became this sensational item that became extremely trendy in the US. And I was like, man, it can't be that good. But when I tried it for the first time, I was like, oh my god, their chicken patty is just amazing. Now, is the Korean Popeyes as good? I really hope it is.

[00:17:04]Do you guys remember how I said their chicken was a little crumbly on the skin? I think I'm starting to see why.

[00:17:10]Do you guys see how there's like layers of batter and then kind of thin slices of chicken? I feel like it's mostly deep fried better. That's why it's so crumbly and crispy. And their chicken ratio is actually pretty low.

[00:17:25]It's like one of the very very few times that I actually wanted to spit out the food during this entire channel in my entire life. Let's just split it open cuz I don't think I'm imagining this.

[00:17:35]Look guys, this is pretty insane. So, all of that's just better. Do you guys see the little slab of chicken? It's like a slice of ham. I mean, for them to have the audacity to call this chicken sandwich is kind of crazy. It's all fried better. I feel like I'm being such a bad person for doing this, but I don't think I'm going to eat that. That's not even chicken. No wonder no one's at the restaurant. Wow, guys. I'm sorry, but I am getting out of here. I can't believe what just happened. That just might be the worst fast food experience ever in my life. I don't know. Maybe it's just a bad batch that I got, but overall quality, especially the chicken patty and the squid patty, I mean, I hate to say it, but they were disgusting. I'm a nice guy, but I want to give them a score of one. It was so bad that regardless of your taste, there's no reason for anybody to come here. It's about as bad as it gets. Anyway, guys, it looks like fast food in Korea, I feel like other than Popeye's, they're not all that bad. There was some nice things to have at Taco Bell, KFC, and Shake Shack. Although, I feel like even within the same store, the level of the food was kind of inconsistent. Hope you guys enjoyed this video and if you have time, please go watch my other videos,