“How about Korean fried chicken?” asked my partner, accountant, driver, research assistant and lawfully wedded wife, from the kitchen table.

“Sure, I’ll add it to the FFF master list,” I replied, wondering how Bonnie was tuned into a dish I’d barely heard of. (The audacity.) As it happened, her interest was piqued when she saw the Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich on the menu at Wild Child.

Due to a series of unfortunate events involving veggie burgers, we had to move Korean fried chicken to the top of the list this week. Neither of us had ever eaten it. We found a competitor for Wild Child in bb.q Chicken in Pinellas Park. The brand first debuted in South Korea in 1995, and now has more than 250 locations in the U.S., three in Tampa Bay. Odd that I’d never heard of it.

BB.Q CHICKEN

Due to the unfortunate events, we’d endured two aborted restaurant sits on Monday, so didn’t arrive until just before 8. We pulled up to a new-looking building on U.S. 19 and 78th Avenue N. Inside, the restaurant exuded a fun, fast-casual vibe., even though the dining room was nearly empty. K-Pop girl-group videos played on the TVs and over the sound system, but the volume was reasonable.

Our server, a polite and attentive young Asian fellow (I didn’t get his name), informed us that all of the fried chicken was cooked to order, so our Golden Original Sandwich ($9.95), which was actually three sliders, would take about 20 minutes. We added a Bulgogi Rice Bowl (which included chicken, $12.95) and an order of Fried Dumplings ($6.95).

Appearance

One look and I figured I was in for some serious crunch. Spicy Korean mayo was drizzled over the chunks of chicken. The rice bowl arrived first, and looked delectable. It was 8:05. I was hungry.

Taste and Texture

The bulgogi rice was delish, with tender chicken morsels and rice the right level of sticky. Peppers and scallions added some crackle. The sweet, decadent bulgogi sauce had a hint of tang. I asked for, and was granted, a small bowl of it so I could pour on some more.

Onward to the sliders. Thick crusts always make me worry that the bird beneath will be dry. Such was not the case here. The combination of white-meat chicken and hefty crust made for some chewy bites — chewy in a good way. I hardly noticed the buns. The mayo provided some middling spice-heat, and I was glad I didn’t order the chicken spicy.

WILD CHILD

I made a reservation on Wednesday morning for that evening at 6:30, and it was good that I did. We drove around St. Pete’s Grand Central District hunting a parking spot, and finally scored one when another car pulled out onto Central Avenue.

Wild Child’s large outdoor patio was full, so we sat in the small(ish) dining room, which was also packed. Our two-top was within arm’s length of other patrons. As per our custom, Bonnie sat on the banquette. The room’s boomy acoustics amplified the spirited chatter. Our table was long, so we had to lean in to talk. The host, Cassandra, was a delightful ball of energy in her Hello Kitty T-shirt.

We ordered the Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich ($19), a Summer Cobb Gem Lettuce salad ($15), plus a Pinot Noir for Bonnie and a Negra Especial for me.

Appearance

From the thickness of the sandwich and its orange-ish sauce, I figured that a messy meal was in my future. The salad was colorful and alluring. The bacon chunks called to me.

Taste and Texture

I removed the fancy toothpick from the sandwich, carefully cut it in two, picked up half, opened wide — very wide — and took a bite. Mmmm. The chicken breast was thick and juicy. I didn’t detect a whole lot of crust, certainly when compared to that of bb.q. The sauce oozed liberally onto my hands.

My best guess is that, per the menu, the sauce in question was kimchi mayo — but it wasn’t like any mayo I’d ever had. The sandwich also included some nice extras in shredded cabbage and house dill pickles, adding complexity to the flavor. The beast was tasty enough that I finished it. Right afterward, I hustled to the restroom to rinse off my fingers, and the rest of my hands — and parts of my wrists — all the while wondering, “How do people eat a sandwich this messy and only dab their fingers with a napkin?”

The salad was a far neater eat, with hefty pieces of lettuce, charred corn, a generous helping of avocado, and other goodies, with the smokey bacon adding an excellent dimension.

And the Winner of The Clash of the Korean Fried Chicken Sandwiches Is …

Difficult to say. I’ve vacillated several times.

Because we were forced to improvise this week’s matchup on the fly, we ended up at vastly different restaurants with vastly different takes on the sandwich. I enjoyed both. Not for nothin’, Wild Child’s came within 90 cents of costing twice as much as bb.q’s.

We also really liked both of our considerably different secondary dishes.

But enough waffling. The winner is …

Wild Child …

… for creativity. It maybe goes the other way if I was paying instead of Registry Tampa Bay.

By the way: bb.q stands for “best of the best quality.”