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[entremet]

Chang is the creative force behind the Momofuku empire.

This is his entry into the fast casual market that has proved oh so profitable for many of restaurateurs.

All the sandwiches are spicy. He's using a super secret habenero puree and spice mix and the fries are wedges or steak fries like KFC.

After six months of intensive R&D in the 600-square-foot East Village birthplace of Momofuku, Inc. (163 First Avenue, the original location of its Noodle Bar), David Chang is ready to unveil Fuku, home of the $8 spicy-fried-chicken sandwich and prototype for what the chef hopes will become a fast-food brand. The obvious inspiration is Chick-fil-A, which Chang grew up eating in suburban Virginia, but he’s also a vocal fan of In-N-Out for its unique corporate culture as much as for its burger. Chang describes Fuku as “our attempt to sort of honor the great fried-chicken places and fast-food concepts out there, to do our version of that, and hopefully, to make it better.”

For New Yorkers who can't wait for Chick-fil-A's NYC location to open or won't dine there due to personal ethics, you have another option here. Plus its opened on Sundays.

This will be in the former location for Ko, which is tiny and standing room only for now.

They also got a liquor license, so you can have some beer with your spicy fried chicken sandwich.

The menu is simple so far--The sandwich, steak fries, and a seasonal vegetable side that Chang admits, no one will buy lol.

Chang is testing and developing new variations of sandwich, with a Korean style one with pickled onions and a Cordon Blue style one with swiss cheese and ham. Those are still in the testing phase, though.

Chang is hoping for Shake Shack style expansion nationwide.

http://www.grubstreet.com/2015/06/david-chang-fuku-fried-chicken-opens.html

Man, I wanna go right now.

 

[Chris R]

Sandwich looks tasty but those fries are nasty.

Might as well eat a baked potato

 

[entremet]

Sandwich looks tasty but those fries are nasty.

Might as well eat a baked potato

Yeah. I hate wedges personally. Funnily, he mentions Shake Shake in another interview, the other big fast casual chain that started in NYC with great success, yet with mediocre fries too lol.

 

[otapnam]

Sandwich looks tasty but those fries are nasty.

Might as well eat a baked potato

Country wedges that are fried just right are awesome though.

 

[Slayven]

Wedge/steak fries slander? Insane

 

[possiblyphil]

Superchix nailed what is wrong with Chik fil a, this is worse than the original..

 

[entremet]

Wedge/steak fries slander? Insane

This is now a wedge/steak fries thread lol.

My beef is too much white potato meat.

Regular fries have a perfect crispy fried outside to white potato meat ratio. Wedges fuck up that ratio.

 

[FriedConsole]

Will cost $30.

 

[Chris R]

Wedge/steak fries slander? Insane

I eat fries for crunch, and crunch requires a thin fry. Give me small fries over steak/wedge any day. But if I had to eat a wedge fry to get at that sandwich I'd suffer.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Wedge/steak fries slander? Insane

Seriously. Well done wedges are the best.

I eat fries for crunch, and crunch requires a thin fry. Give me small fries over steak/wedge any day. But if I had to eat a wedge fry to get at that sandwich I'd suffer.

A great wedge will have a crunchy skin with a soft center. So wonderful.

 

[entremet]

Will cost $30.

Sandwich is 8 bucks.

Welcome to NYC lol.

Here's the menu:

Not my pic.

 

[akira28]

the perfect wedge needs to be cut with an acute angle that allows for perfect crisping without a lot of extremely dry starchy potato ruining the bite.

 

[Cagey]

Oh shit Fuku opened? Expansion will take a damn long time but this joint is going to be packed for months.

 

[ponpo]

Fried chicken burger and wedges - good combo imo.

 

[Tripon]

Fast casusal? Prices are a bit high for that.

 

[Slayven]

Terrible name for franchise and branding purposes.

 

[entremet]

More pics.

Sandwiches looks big. They're also using fancy free range chickens, not Purdue broilers. So there's a commitment to higher quality than regular fast food. It's fast casual after all.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Fast casusal? Prices are a bit high for that.

In NYC?

 

[UncleSporky]

Terrible name for franchise and branding purposes.

For people who say this, he will direct to Fuku Too.

 

[entremet]

Terrible name for franchise and branding purposes.

It's a shortening Momofuku, which are the name of his fine dining joints.

 

[Chris R]

I'm suddenly hungry again

 

[Slayven]

Are the service people as nice?

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Is that $14 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink? That's Five Guys territory there. Actually, it's more expensive than Five Guys. And like double the price of Chick Fil A.

 

[Dishwalla]

He calls this CFA inspired and there's no waffle fries? lol.

Terrible name for franchise and branding purposes.

Fuk u.

 

[entremet]

Are the service people as nice?

Haven't been yet. But his other restaurants have nice service.

 

[Slayven]

He calls this CFA inspired and there's no waffle fries? lol.



Fuk u.

Or Polynesian sauce?

 

[entremet]

Is that $14 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink? That's Five Guys territory there. Actually, it's more expensive than Five Guys. And like double the price of Chick Fil A.

It's in NYC for now and it is fast casual, which is like Chipotle level.

The sandwiches look much bigger than CFA's and he's using free range birds too.

He calls this CFA inspired and there's no waffle fries? lol.



Fuk u.

Well he can't just rip them off wholesale lol.

This is the opening menu. He plans to add more variation of sandwiches.

He's testing a lot of new concepts but they're not ready yet. He's a perfectionist.

 

[Cagey]

It's a good deal in general, let alone in the East Village. You pay for quality.

 

[Swhalen]

Is that $14 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink? That's Five Guys territory there. Actually, it's more expensive than Five Guys. And like double the price of Chick Fil A.

David Chang's restaurants serve real food.

 

[Zia]

Is that $14 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink? That's Five Guys territory there. Actually, it's more expensive than Five Guys. And like double the price of Chick Fil A.

It's David Chang.

Also, to the wedge haters, dunk that shit in Ssam sauce. It's a take on gochujang so good it makes McDonald's fries palatable. Not that I've tried...

 

[otapnam]

It's David Chang.

Also, to the wedge haters, dunk that shit in Ssam sauce. It's a take on gochujang so good it makes McDonald's fries palatable. Not that I've tried...

I ordered a case of ssam (split with friends).

Pretty good stuff, ill probably make my own batch when i run out though

 

[Mimosa97]

That's one sad looking bun.

 

[entremet]

That's one sad looking bun.

It's this:

The GOAT hamburger and hot dog bun maker in the US.

 

[okno]

I turned down a job here. Kind of regret it, but I run my own bar now, sooooo I'll just go eat here. Can't wait to try it!

 

[sir_kevith]

You guys hate those fries??? We call them jojos

 

[sfedai0]

Damn that cheap ass looking bun though,

 

[nullref]

Looks tasty. I didn't know Ko had moved.

Damn that cheap ass looking bun though,

It's not looking pretty in those pictures, but Martin's potato rolls are great.

 

[Einhander]

 

[3N16MA]

Damn that cheap ass looking bun though,

Martin's potato rolls are great buns. I wish they sold them around here.

 

[fallengorn]

Regular roll? I guess the switched off from mantou buns.

 

[StriKeVillain]

I'll queue up for a Fuku Back.

Sandwiches look eh.

 

[entremet]

You guys hate those fries??? We call them jojos

The heck? Where are you from?

 

[Permanently A]

Chicken to bun ratio looks niiiiice. Would try.

 

[kris.]

The wedge hate in this thread, man. Wedges are the best kind of fries when done well.

 

[wenis]

I would save a plate of wedge fries from a burning building before I'd save their haters.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Hold on. Am I really seeing potato wedge hate? What kind of reptilian shit is this?

 

[Reverend Funk]

If you prefer wedges you are a bad person. That is a fact.

 

[Kettch]

Man, I thought my spicy chicken sandwich at Wendy's was expensive. For $8 this would have to be made from some kind of super chicken.

 

[noquarter]

It's this:

The GOAT hamburger and hot dog bun maker in the US.

Those are pretty good, but personally think Kings Hawaiian buns are the best. Wish I could find them out here.

 

[Mimosa97]

It's this:

The GOAT hamburger and hot dog bun maker in the US.

Why do they call them potato rolls ? (Not a native speaker)

And I wasn't implying that it tested bad, just that it looked sad lol. I have stopped judging food by the way it looks a long time ago.