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David Chang's Bāng Bar Now Serving Korean Wraps In Time Warner Center
By
Scott Lynch
Published Nov 7, 2018
Modified Nov 7, 2018
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Scott Lynch / Gothamist
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By
Scott Lynch
Published Nov 7, 2018
Modified Nov 7, 2018
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One of the best, most exciting new restaurants to open in New York City this season is located down a depressingly shiny corridor on the third floor of a Midtown mall. There's no place to sit, they don't serve booze, and there are only about six things on the menu (three for breakfast, three for lunch). But since Bāng Bar is a David Chang joint, and the first of its kind for the Momofuku empire, there have been long lines in the Time Warner Center since opening, and even with strictly enforced limits on order size—think you can pop over and grab lunch for the rest of the office? think again my man—pretty much everything has sold out at every meal.
Bāng, which is usually spelled "bbang," means bread in Korean, and Bāng Bar is all about Korean sandwich wraps, the griddled flatbread filled with spit-roasted meats. At breakfast you can get mini, taco-sized Bāngs, one stuffed with sliced-off chunks of hot, lardo-basted, gloriously greasy Mortadella, melted American cheese, and spicy mustard; the other featuring Smoked Salmon from Zabar's, cream cheese, and a nice tomato. There's also Chang and crew's take on the cinnamon bun, the baked and twisted Kkwabaegi, which is wonderfully sticky, sweet, and chewy.
Starting at 11 a.m. the lunch menu kicks in, and the Bāngs get bigger. The Gochujang-marinated pork shoulder goes great with the fiery green sauce; the glazed dark-meat chicken is complemented by pickled onions and a tangy mayo-based sauce. You can (and should) also get the Rip & Dip, which is basically an unwrapped flatbread with a generously-portioned crock of sauce. The creamy Chickpea is infused with toasted sesame, the Spicy Eggplant comes thick and smoky.
Among your beverage options at Bāng Bar are regular drip coffee, super-sugary Vietnamese coffee, and cans of La Croix or tart Choya Ume Soda. You can stand at couple of high tables right out front but, weather permitting, a much better plan is take your bag of bready, spit-roasted goodies outside to the benches in the center of Columbus Circle (or, of course, to Central Park beyond).
The area is about to get even more line-filled upstairs in a few weeks, when Chang opens his latest Momofuku Noodle Bar next door to Bāng.
Bāng Bar is located on the third floor of the Time Warner Center; make a left when you get off the escalator and look for the line. Breakfast starts at 8 a.m., lunch runs from 11 a.m. until it's sold out, which happened as early as 1 p.m. last week. No cash, cards only. (bangbar.xyz)
Tagged
bang bar
columbus circle
david chang
time warner center
original
Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
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