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Successful NYC Chef, David Chang, opens Chick-fil-A inspired "Fuku".

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entremet

Member
Also for those unaware, this location is in one of the hip parts of NYC.

Tourist and locals will lap this shit up, plus having the Momofuku brand attached to it.

He's definitely not competing with CFA's more family friendly pricing and atmosphere, especially with the booze license.

We are supposed to get a 3 story CFA restaurant in Midtown, which is far from hip and chic.

I'll try both and do a review here.
 

Zabka

Member
The midtown chik-fil-a is opening up around the corner from my office and I've been looking forward to trying it for a long time. Have they stopped giving money to anti-gay organizations?
 

nomster

Member
I mean CFA basically blurs the line with fast and fast casual nowadays especially on the service front. In fact, CFA generally offers better service than fast casual places. And even ignoring that, this place is serving just a fried chicken breast. It's not like there are many options with different and fresh ingredients like you would find at a place like Chipotle or even CFA.

It's a fried chicken breast on a bun.
I think calling it just a fried chicken breast is an oversimplification but whatever, doesn't need to appeal to everyone.
 

Timeaisis

Member
A chipotle burrito with chips and a soda in BFE USA will come out to around $12. I don't see how this is poorly priced for its market.

It's fried chicken on a bun. At Chipotle you get a burrito with meat, cheese, veggies, beans, rice and sour cream. The ingredients justify the price. Oh and they use high quality meat as well. Oh, and beef and pork is more expensive than chicken I could go on.
 

aeolist

Banned
The midtown chik-fil-a is opening up around the corner from my office and I've been looking forward to trying it for a long time. Have they stopped giving money to anti-gay organizations?

according to wikipedia they've stopped

i still don't eat there though, several members of my (fundie nutjob) family have worked in various positions for them and i don't like the way they're run
 

entremet

Member
It's fried chicken on a bun. At Chipotle you get a burrito with meat, cheese, veggies, beans, rice and sour cream. The ingredients justify the price. Oh and they use high quality meat as well. Oh, and beef and pork is more expensive than chicken I could go on.

This looks much bigger than CFA's version.

The chickens are also a bit higher end. CFA does use quality chicken too. These are slightly above it.

How that translates into taste? We'll see.
 

nullref

Member
It's fried chicken on a bun. At Chipotle you get a burrito with meat, cheese, veggies, beans, rice and sour cream. The ingredients justify the price. Oh and they use high quality meat as well. Oh, and beef and pork is more expensive than chicken I could go on.

It's a single little concept restaurant by a celebrity chef in an expensive location, and will be patronized by people who don't care whether their occasional fast-food indulgence costs $3 or $8. I don't see the point in worrying about the price. Maybe he's just charging a lot because he can, or maybe that's what it takes to actually cover his costs and make some money at this small scale.
 

nomster

Member
How is describing exactly what it is an oversimplification?
It's just pasta, I can make it at home. It's just a burger, it's just a piece of pizza etc. why distinguish any level of food? Read the description. He isn't just buying chicken, coating it in shake and bake and frying it.
 

Bry0

Member
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.

Yeah, can't say i am sold with prices like that.
Way too much money.
 
I think calling it just a fried chicken breast is an oversimplification but whatever, doesn't need to appeal to everyone.
that, and he's using thighs, not breasts.

you guys are a bunch of successful restaurateurs, i take it? you think price point wasn't any part of that r&d? chang has been immensely successful at pretty much everything he's done.
 
People calling this 'real food' while shitting on other random fast food chains are the real jokes in this thread.

All of it is the simplest of deep fried garbage, except one of them is using a slightly higher grade chicken. Oh boy.
It's like a swimming contest between two people who can't fucking swim.

Also, wedges are king.

Nah. Chicken could have different seasoning, it could be brined, it could be double battered, maybe it's floured first then battered, maybe there's egg in the batter or maybe there isn't. Was the chicken double fried for extra crispness like it's done wih korean fried chicken? And how often will they change out their oil? There's lots of factors to deep fried food. You just don't know much about it.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
Nah. Chicken could have different seasoning, it could be brined, it could be double battered, maybe it's floured first then battered, maybe there's egg in the batter or maybe there isn't. Was the chicken double fried for extra crispness like it's done wih korean fried chicken? And how often will they change out their oil? There's lots of factors to deep fried food. You just don't know much about it.

Yeah, wow. I see the complexity now. Gee whiz, that's a lot of factors.

You fucking serious? None of this is remotely worth the hyperbole of calling other chains 'non-food' while acting like this is somehow 'haute cuisine' or some shit.
No. You're still talking about deep fried chicken from a fast food chain. Get some perspective.
 

Kinsella

Banned
I'll have to go check this out. I can't stand Chik Fil A due to horrendous amount of salt they use. It's inedible to me. Also LOL at potato wedge hate. You must have eaten poorly cooked wedges.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
Looks good, I'll have to put it on my Google Maps list of places to eat
in 10 months or so when there isn't a line out the door to get in
 

PG2G

Member
Some of you guys sound like you've never had a good fried chicken sandwich before.

I can't speak for this place, but there are fried chicken sandwiches out there that remind you that chik fil a is basic fast food.
 

Champagne

Banned
Yeah, wow. I see the complexity now. Gee whiz, that's a lot of factors.

You fucking serious? None of this is remotely worth the hyperbole of calling other chains 'non-food' while acting like this is somehow 'haute cuisine' or some shit.
No. You're still talking about deep fried chicken from a fast food chain. Get some perspective.
This is a terrible post. Really dude?

Cuisine is all about the minute sort of details that he brought up. Of course none of those things is going to make a certain type of food taste like an entirely different type of food, but the idea that the style and steps of preparation and origin of the meat itself don't greatly influence the end flavor is something that only somebody that has never cooked for themselves could think.

Chains like Chik-Fil A aren't 'non-food' just because they don't have a name-brand respected chef like David Chang behind them, but it's just as flagrant to insinuate that Fuku can't be worth a couple of extra bucks (since when did people forget that Chik-Fil A isn't exactly cheap itself?) for a sandwich that might also just be better than other chain sandwiches, even if at its origin Fuku is still a fast-food (or 'fast casual' if we must) joint in and of itself.
 
Yeah, wow. I see the complexity now. Gee whiz, that's a lot of factors.

You fucking serious? None of this is remotely worth the hyperbole of calling other chains 'non-food' while acting like this is somehow 'haute cuisine' or some shit.
No. You're still talking about deep fried chicken from a fast food chain. Get some perspective.


I didn't mean to overwhelm you. And that's just a few things to consider.
 
This doesn't make any sense. But OK. He is serving a chicken on a bun with fries. Is a CFA sandwich nonfood? Same with their wraps and salads? Grilled or fried chicken?


What does this mean? I'm not sure how that justifies a $14 chicken sandwich, fries, and drink.

You're supposed to overpay for mediocre food because of who he is.

Duh.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I want Fuku so bad right now
 

entremet

Member
Tried this over the weekend.

Very impressed. The fries are much better than they look too. They have some kind of special seasoning.

It's pricey for what it is, but it has the Momofuku cachet plus it's in NYC so it's expected.

The spicy chicken sandwich is slightly above CFA's version, but that should be given with the price increase. They nailed the crispiness of the skin too.

Highly recommended.
 
Terrible name because there's already Fuku Tea and Sushi Fuku. Unless they're all related.

I like this, though. Chik-fil-a without all of the right-wing commentary.

It's a fine name since it's part of the extremely popular Momofuku group of restaurants.
 

entremet

Member
From some of the Instagram pictures he has posted it looks like they are pre made and just siting around.

They go through a first fry in the morning before service and then the second fry when you order them.

This is actually quite common. Most fast food items are fried twice. The first fry is called a blanch fry and the second fry finishes cooking the item.

It would take way too long to completely fry an item to proper doneness once for a fast food joint. The twice frying process is also provides better results overall.
 

psylah

Member
310349.jpg


FUKU ME!
 

Guevara

Member
On the topic, Shake Shack has a great new chicken sandwich, probably also inspired by Chik-Fil-A.

shakeshack8f-1-web.jpg


I had one this weekend: A+
 

entremet

Member
On the topic, Shake Shack has a great new chicken sandwich, probably also inspired by Chik-Fil-A.

shakeshack8f-1-web.jpg


I had one this weekend: A+

I had this one. I guess the comparison effect was strong since I got a Shackburger too. I love love the Shackburger, so the Chicken Shack didn't seem so awesome.
 

Kin5290

Member
The fact that it's a Japanese guy has me intrigued. I'd fuck a burning lawnmower to get MOS Burger in the states. Their restaurants are so chill and quiet, and reasonably priced. Asia GAF knows what I'm talking about:

ef111cb0eb0dfb0cfd4affa4f3db04d2.jpg
MOS burgers are just awful. Terrible burgers, terrible fries, tiny ass portions.
 

Apt101

Member
Nice, I wish him the best. I had the pleasure of eating at Momo's last time I was in the area and it is straight up the law. Watching him on Mind of a Chef, I think he has good no-nonsense ideas regarding food. So I am positive this will be good.
 

Doc Holliday

SPOILER: Columbus finds America
All I have to say is that I had dinner at Momofoku Ko and I can safely say it was the best food i've ever had in my life. Unbelievably expensive, but holy shit it was good.
 
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