Goobne Chicken New Original Review [Korean Food]

---

Goobne Chicken built its name on oven-baked chicken rather than fried, and the plain Original has anchored that menu since the brand started. On 15 July 2026 the chain finally rewrote it, launching the Goobne New Original after roughly twenty years. It is not a brand new flavour, strictly speaking. Since I’d spent years ordering only Gochu Basak and Galbi Cheonwang, though, this felt like a good excuse to come back. It runs 20,900 won for the bone-in version on delivery apps, and the pitch is that the original identity stays put while the juiciness and moisture that oven baking struggles with get a serious lift. Let’s see what actually changed.

---

📋 At a Glance

• Product: New Original (the Original renewed after 20 years)
• Brand / Store: Goobne Chicken
• Price: 20,900 won bone-in, 28,900 won for the 1.5-bird portion (delivery app pricing)
• Calories: Around 960 kcal per bird
• Launch date: 15 July 2026
• What comes with it: One oven-baked chicken plus spicy sauce, sweet sauce and pickled radish
• Verdict: ★4.0 — No dramatic reinvention, but juicier and moister in every small way

---

Goobne New Original: Price and What Changed

For a while it was fashionable to renew a plain fried chicken by tweaking the batter mix, the brining method or the base seasoning. With sauced chicken, brands adjust the sauce ratio instead. Goobne lives and dies by oven baking, so when word came that the Original was being reworked, I wondered what was even left to change. As it turns out, this version tackles the weak spot of oven-baked chicken head on. First, here’s the delivery app pricing.

• New Original : bone-in 20,900 won, large portion (1.5 birds) 28,900 won
• Cut swap: boneless breast adds 1,000 won, boneless thigh adds 4,000 won

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

The lineup has grown enormously since then, but back when Goobne first appeared I ordered the Original fairly often. Hearing that the cooking method changed for the first time in twenty years already had me curious. Worth noting: the order comes with spicy sauce, sweet sauce and pickled radish as standard.

---

Unboxing: What You Actually Get

Let’s open it up and look at the contents. Being the plain Original, it’s genuinely hard to spot the differences from the outside. Digging into the official press material, the pieces are apparently a bit larger than before. Once you’ve been told that, it does start to look that way.

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

Bigger Pieces, or at Least Thicker Ones

Newer franchises have set a bigger benchmark lately, and it seems feedback about the bone-in Original feeling small got through, since the pieces have been scaled up. How much the weight actually rose was never disclosed. Given the wording points to thickness rather than mass, total weight may not have shifted much. Even so, the calorie count holds at around 960 kcal per bird, so the core advantage of baked chicken is intact.

Cooking That Holds On to Moisture

The cooking method shifted a little too. Compared with fried chicken in a coated batter, oven baking used to lose more of its juices, and that gap has been closed by minimising moisture loss. On top of that, the breast meat, long the driest part, has been reworked to eat softer and moister.

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

Flavour-wise, the existing signature seasoning has been pushed further to deepen that oven-roast character. Visually, though, I could not spot much of a difference. It might be pure imagination, but the surface did look slightly moister. Either way, this one only settles with a taste test.

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

---

Taste Test: How Does It Actually Eat?

Time to find out what’s different. I also got discounted wedge potatoes through a review promotion, which was a nice bonus. If you’re ordering, it’s worth checking which nearby branches are running events. I started with a drumstick.

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

The Drumstick Really Is Moister

This could easily be wishful thinking, but the moisture level has clearly gone up. Part of that may be down to it being a drumstick. Even allowing for that, it eats unusually soft for thigh meat, and the reworked cooking method surely deserves the credit. The crisp skin that oven baking does so well is still exactly as it was.

Breast Meat Is Noticeably Less Dry

So I tried the breast next, and here the change was unmistakable. It looks trimmed at the butchering stage so it pulls apart cleanly along the grain, and each piece is sized for easy eating. Breast is still breast, mind you, so dipping it in sauce beats eating it plain. Compared with how I remember it, though, the dryness has definitely eased.

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

Meeting the Original Again

It really had been a long time since I last ate the Original. The changes come through more than I expected, and the light, unfussy character that defines this bird is still there. When you want a whole chicken that doesn’t sit heavy, this is the order. Both sauces come in the box, so dip according to taste.

---

Final Verdict — The Oven-Baked Classic, Quietly Better

Anyone who already knows the old Original should enjoy this more, and anyone returning after years away will find it an easy, undemanding order. Nothing here has been transformed so dramatically that it hits you immediately. What you get instead is the oven-roast flavour, the moisture and the juices all improving a little at once, which adds up to a noticeably better bird. The price also sits on the reasonable side of today’s chicken market. If you want light oven-baked chicken for the first time in a while, I’d recommend it without hesitation. For readers outside Korea, this style of non-fried chicken is one of the things Korean chains do that’s genuinely hard to find elsewhere.

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

ⓒ

Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

The official account of this renewal, covering the thicker pieces and the reduced moisture loss, is set out in this (Korean source) Food Today report on the Goobne New Original launch.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How much does the Goobne Chicken New Original cost?

20,900 won for the bone-in version on delivery apps. The 1.5-bird portion runs 28,900 won, and switching to boneless adds 1,000 won for breast or 4,000 won for thigh.

Q. How is oven-baked chicken different from Korean fried chicken?

There is no batter and no deep frying, which keeps it lighter at roughly 960 kcal per bird. The trade-off used to be lost juices, and that is exactly what this renewal targets by minimising moisture loss during cooking.

Q. Is the breast meat still dry?

Less than before, noticeably so. It now pulls apart along the grain and eats softer, though it still works better dipped in one of the two sauces than eaten plain.