BĀNG BAR

By Jonah Turner

I first heard about Bang Bar while watching Ugly Delicious, a food show starring David Chang. David Chang is a world-renowned restaurant entrepreneur. He is known for his many restaurants across the world. While in New York, I decided to go to his restaurant, Bang Bar.

Bang, which means bread, is a fusion restaurant mixing eastern and western cuisine. When I arrived, to my surprise, it was in a shopping mall. I was a little confused, as it was tucked away in the corner of a building on the third floor; not an expected location for a well-known restaurant. The format of the restaurant was grab and go. A great place to stop by for a quick eat.

The menu was pretty basic, but don’t let that fool you. You can select from three food categories including  the U Wrap, Fold Up, or Rice Bowl into which you can choose to put spicy pork, teriyaki chicken, spicy eggplant, and cumin beef. Not knowing what it was, I got the U Wrap with teriyaki chicken. 

What was so special about this place was the mix of simplicity with complex culture. The meat is cooked on a vertical spit, a cooking technique invented in Turkey and used in many middle eastern dishes. The style of food and ingredients is mostly Korean. The mixture of these two cultures is not something you can find just anywhere and makes Bang Bar a unique establishment . 

The U Wrap 

My U-Wrap with teriyaki chicken, which was cooked on a vertical style spit like shawarma, was very flavorful. It cost $12, which isn’t too bad for New York City prices. The chicken is cut from the spit onto a flatbread. They also added caramelized onions. I enjoyed that it was very straight to the point. No fillers. They then roll up the flatbread, fold it into a U shape and place it into a small bag. At first, I thought it came with two wraps. Then I realized what the U-wrap meant. I had never before seen this presentation of a wrap and was pleasantly surprised. It is very crafty and nothing falls out. If you’re ever making a wrap, I would use this technique. The wrap was delicious. It was sweet, meaty, and went down smooth. Definitely a great place to grab a quick lunch. Overall, a 6/10.