Debasaki

KOREA 🇰🇷

A guess might be ventured that most people that come to Debasaki are doing so to imbibe, and convincingly the pages offering drinks on the menu are more plentiful than those with food. But in Korean and most far eastern drinking cultures, you do not go out just to drink. There must also be plenty of food to soak up the alcohol.

Debasaki is known around town for its fried chicken wings, even listed on Google Maps as a "Japanese fried chicken spot." While the country is off, the wings have made a name for themselves, especially their house special gyoza stuffed wings. These unique creatures are deboned and stuffed with your choice of fillings.

The table wanted more and opted for the half & half combo ($25, below), which gives you the choice of two styles.

Our choice of filling was kimchi and cheese, two ingredients paired together only when there is heavy drinking involved. Biting hard into a chicken wing without the fear of hitting bone is a weird experience in itself, but the wing failed to live up to expectations despite its superb exterior crisp. The spicy sweet soy garlic (right) were better and very spicy just as the staff warned.

A longtime favorite Korean drinking food has been budae jjigae ($27, below), which I think translates to "hot dog soup" in English. That is a lie, but hot dogs make up a good volume underneath the vibrant red broth along with Spam, kimchi, recently unpackaged dry ramen noodles, and chewy rice cakes.

The history of this dish is well worth a read, but the short version of it is Koreans making American foods more palatable with their own spices. There were plenty of hot dogs and Spam tins left behind on army bases after the Korean War, and it had to be used in such a time of hardship. There is even a town north of Seoul specifically known for its budae jjigae to this day.

With everyone in the mood for as many rice cakes as possible, the seafood tteokbokki & noodle ($21, below) was also ordered. We found it to be a little on the sticky sweet side, the sauce tasty but too heavy on the corn starch. The rice cakes used are great though, and the dish has a good portion of squid to enjoy.

As you can probably guess by the photos and prices, the portions here are very large and meant to be shared by big groups. The dining room is laid out with this in mind, and booths accommodate six people comfortably with high backs for privacy. Each table is like a small room for you and your group and even has a call button since waving down the staff is impossible when you cannot see them.

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FLUSHING Queens

33-67 Farrington Street