Fuku - East Village, NYC. Bang-banging for dummies

Fuku is the newest venture from NYC chef megastar David Chang. Famous for Momofuku noodle, Milk bar and a bunch of other spots in NYC and abroad Chang has been causing a media storm and some very long queues for the past 10 years with his Korean inspired and very much on trend foodie genius. Fuku, unlike his other sit down restaurants is a tiny place with stools at the counter essentially serving one thing; the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. A brave move, orchestrated with perfection.

I've always strongly believed that a small menu is a sign of a good restaurant, opposed to those places with a menu the size of a telephone book offering Mexican, Indian, Italian, Chinese and Greek. Unless they've got five specialist chefs out the back you know it'll all be terrible. 

On a recent four day trip to NYC I chose to eat at Fuku. This may not seem like a particularly incredible or impressive fact, but this is New York City, in my opinion food capital of the world. So when on a short trip in NYC, which by traditional and socially accepted norms would dictate three meals a day, times by four, equals 12 meals in total. A mere 12 meals in a city with literally thousands of incredible food offerings creates the hernier inducing daily decision of where to eat. 

Luckily I've never let society dictate my food intake. I'm a fully fledged subscriber to Louis C.K.'s patented dietary philosophy known as 'bang-bang', whereby you eat a full meal and then instead of stopping when you're full (like a normal human being), you go and eat a second meal straight away afterwards. Noble prize deserving genius. 

Anyway, Fuku was the second phase of my first NYC bang-bang. The first part was a slightly disappointing bagel from Blackseed, conveniently located directly opposite Fuku on 1st street/10th ave in the East Village. 

So as you can imagine there was no time wasted considering the menu; yes there's a salad and a couple of sides, but we're not messing about here, it's all about the sandwich. A large piece of beautiful crispy/juicy fried chicken confidently protrudes from the bun two thirds it's size, dressed incredibly simply with a spread of mayo and a couple of pickles. It's a beautiful sight, pure simplicity topped with an optional squirt of  Korean chilli sauce. As it takes a couple of bites to reach the bun and pickles, the spicy, perfectly seasoned chicken takes centre stage, as it very well should. It's simply a great sandwich and when you can finish off with a slice of Crack Pie for dessert you know you're onto a winner. Now go bang-bang. 

Vietnam sandwich special: Bánh mi

Bánh mi, the general Vietnamese term for French style baguette sandwiches, are found on literally every street corner in Vietnam. The baguette, introduced by the French during its colonial period has become a staple of the national diet, combined with Vietnamese flavours it comes together as one of the best street foods snacks you can get your greasy little mitts on.  And costing as little as 5000 Dong (about 15p) a pop, your greasy little mitts, if anything like my greasy little mitts, will find their way to quite a few. 

The most common bánh mi sandwich and the one most similar to those found in the West is the bánh mì đặc biệt. The contents vary slightly from stall to stall but basically it comes rammed with various pork based meaty treats consisting of steamed pork, roasted pork, pork liver pâté and something delectably known as 'head cheese', which looks as delightful as it sounds. On top of the meat goes a whole bunch of veggies, most notably pickled carrot and radishes as well as sliced cucumber, coriander, fresh chillies and finished off with a variety of hot and sweet sauces. The various cuts of pork each bring something different to the table. The roasted pork offers a rich flavour and a sweet caramelised edge, while the pâté brings a lovely smoothness complimenting the crunchy bread and veggies, and the hot sauce, which often turns out to be very hot sauce, brings the fire to the equation.  All in all its a veritable taste sensation, a party in your mouth, a carnival for your canines, basically it's a flipping banger of a sandwich. 

Like all street food in Vietnam as well as being super cheap and super delicious half the fun is in the eating on the street, sitting on a tiny little plastic chair with a bunch of locals watching the insane traffic go by, trying to work out how you can fit an entire family of four, a pig, four chickens and a wardrobe onto a single motorbike.

So next time you're in Vietnam, why not pop down to your local street corner and munch down on a straight up belter of a sandwich. If you're in London go to Panda Panda in Deptford or Keu! in shoreditch. They might cost more than 15p.