Consider the Wang

These are the Wangs I know I know. These are the Wangs I know. WANG LABORATORIES! You made computers before most people made computers & before Steve Jobs was a thing & that was sorta awesome. Go tech!

These are the Wangs I know I know these are the Wangs I know. WANG CHUNG! You took the Chinese phrase for "yellow bell" & made ignorant 80's American radio listeners wonder about the Asian origin of your band name whilst ensuring that Dick Clark had to repeatedly say "Wang Chung." Everybody have fun tonight!

These are the Wangs I know I know these are the Wangs I know. WANGS...PENISES...WANGS...PENISES.

These are the Wangs I know I know these are the Wangs I know. ALEXANDER WANG! Kanye dropped your name in a song & he is a TOTAL DESIGN EXPERT. You design clothes. You are urban. Whoopdee-do...

These are the Wangs I know I know these are the Wangs I know. WANGS! You're a tiny chicken joint that just opened in a prime location near the corner of 4th Ave & Union right next to Taco Santo and you have wangs...er...wings...er...chicken products (mostly). Also Korean stuff.

These are the Wangs I know I know these are the Wangs I know.

As we all know, the Park Slope wing situation blows. FO SHO you can get a solid buffalo wing at Bonnie's but pretty much everyone else is lackluster. Don't even get me started on Atomic Wings because they've since died. GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH.

WANGS...Get your mind out of the gutter, Park Slut. "Wangs" is a puntastic new spot that's replaced the SERIOUSLY SAD BUT CONVENIENT Union St joint known as Falafilo. Day after day, Falafilo was basically a bunch of somewhat quality dudes playing cards between falafel sandwich sales. Now they're done. In their place is Wangs.

I stopped by early one evening a few days back. For now, it's a takeout-only joint with a few benches that's open til 10pm, but once they settle into a regular schedule, it'll be an 8pm closing on the weekdays & 10pm on the weekends. If you're wondering about their opening time, I’m not sure. More importantly, you might want to think about your early-morning chicken dependency.

Their signature dish is obviously the wangs. They dish them out in portions of three ($6), six ($10), nine ($14) and twelve ($18) wangs, an increasing wang/price ratio that SO pleases my OCD side. While the wings are huge, they're more of a sporadic operation. On one night, I went by & got six wings. When I arrived home, I tossed three onto a plate, bit in, and upon further investigation, found this:

Blurry? Yes. Pink? Even more so. I tested out the other two on my plate...corroborative results. Gross.

The other three wangs from that order served extra time in the oven before consumption. On my second visit to Wangs, I got an order of three wangs. One of Wang's partners, a friendly gal named Sara, was in the kitchen, tossing the wangs & running the show. This time, the wangs were nicely cooked, allowing me to really dig in & experience the complimentary sweet & spicy Korean flavors. As a bonus, each order of wangs comes with an aioli. I can't decide if the sesame aioli is amazing or awful, but I recommend it over the garlic, scallion & ginger aioli.

If you think "wangs" are messy/barbaric, there's always the Chicken Banh Mi ($11).

It's a bunch of five spice chicken pate amongst the typical banh mi veggies, all contained within a sesame seed baguette. Tis' a sandwich with a wholly-satisfying blend of tastes & textures, but I'd still be interested in learning why, other than the chicken pate aspect, a chicken bahn mi at Wangs costs $11 while Hancos' traditional one will run ya $6.75.

They also have a bunch of sides on the menu, all of which are $4.75 or less.

I got an order of the Kimchi ($4.75) & was a bit surprised. While kimchi comes in all forms, Wangs' kimchi is made of chunks of daikon, lending it a unique but partially subdued flavor. It's a good attempt, but I'd rather have stinkier, cabbage-filled kimchi.

In the end, the WANGS are obviously Wangs' signature dish. I'm not going to hold the undercooked chicken experience against them. They’ve been open for less than two weeks. They’re not exactly an established chain, so there'll definitely be hiccups. On paper, they've got a basic but interesting menu that, with the mix of WANGS & Korean food, has a lot of potential.

Maybe they can get the guys who did Roberta's commercials to shoot a Wangs commercial. Wang computer ads. Korean references. COPIOUS WANGS. HIPSTER HEADBANDS. Once they get that video done, then they'll be able to sit back & watch the cash-only cash roll in. Before long, Park Slope will wonder why Wangs isn't an ironic gay bar.

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com and eatdrinktaco.com.