Buk Buk Southern Hot
1/254 Grange Road Flinders Park 5025
What started as a habitual scroll through Instagram one day turned into a web-wide deep dive into Nashville hot chicken for Kieren and Emily Mykyta, the couple behind new Flinders Park chicken joint Buk Buk. “Places like Belles Hot Chicken in Melbourne inspired us,” says Kieren. “It didn’t really feel like anyone was doing it here [in Adelaide].”
The new concept came after the Mykytas had taken a year off from work (they sold their old burger shop, 127 Days, to new owners), travelled Europe and had their second child. Originally conceived as a trailer for events (Buk Buk first emerged at this year’s Beer & BBQ Festival), with the help of business partner at the time Angus Fisher-Marks, the couple decided to return to their roots and open a brick-and-mortar when they found the Flinders Park digs.
The Mykytas haven’t been to Nashville, but it’s on their to-do list. They were interested in the rise of Southern fried chicken – and its mouth-burning sub-genre hot chicken – across the whole of the US, and particularly the sharp increase of food trucks in places such as California. The menu is compact and straight to the point: there are boneless pieces, wings and tenders, served as spicy as you want (“It gets hot,” Emily says of the heat levels, which range from the mild “Mom & Pop” to the sweat-inducing “All Money In”), and sides such as waffle fries, macaroni and cheese and slaw.
The super crunchy chicken is marinated in a buttermilk-hot sauce, put through a seasoned flour dredge, and then into the fryers. Then it’s brushed with a cayenne pepper or other spice mix, and served on a slice of white bread (“Texas Toast”, Kieran calls it) with slices of pickles on top. “That’s the quintessential Nashville hot chicken, versus other styles like [in] New Orleans,” says Kieren. “But there are similarities throughout the South. We called ours ‘Southern Hot Chicken’ so we could have a bit more versatility, but Nashville is the style we’re going for.”
The fit-out has a DIY, sentimental feel. An old church pew has been repurposed as a bench; the branding was designed by Kieren, and almost all of the framed photographs on the walls were either taken by the couple themselves or pulled from their family photo albums. Gelato is supplied by the Mykyta’s friends at Ecco Gelato.
As for the drinks, there’s Pirate Life and Balter on tap plus Little Bang tinnies and boutique wines and spirits.
Phone: No phone
Independent Editorial Policy
We do not seek or accept payment from the cafes, restaurants, bars and shops listed in the Directory – inclusion is at our discretion. Venue profiles are written by independent freelancers paid by Broadsheet.