A while back, I got it in my head that on my way home from school some nights, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility for me to swing by places in Flushing to grab a bite. So one night after my Wednesday class, I picked two of my classmates from my group and we headed over to Debasaki behind Flushing High School.
It turns out that Debasaki is an awful lot like a lounge/club… the booths are extremely private and cozy… and it’s a bit odd in there. But I shrugged and soldiered on, despite a few mishaps along the way, because Debasaki had something I wanted: stuffed wings.
After we’d ordered, this platter of cole slaw-ish appeared. ZL and CL both liked it quite a bit… I think I was much less enamored of it since it’s pretty standard at lots of Korean fried chicken places. (Oh, did I mention: don’t be fooled by the name and the subname of “Japanese style chicken” – Debasaki is Korean owned and operated.)
Along with our food came cubes of daikon radish and pickled jalapenos. A nice refreshing crunch (the daikon!) between bites.
ZL’s choice was the seafood fried rice (which has the option of cheese or no cheese… CL and I both immediately said NO CHEESE… just because it sounded a little, well, odd). I think they both liked it; I found it on the blander side but inoffensive all the same.
CL ordered seafood dduk and asked how spicy was the spicy… let’s just say, we were convinced to get the mild. Which was still way too spicy for me! I guess it was good though because both ZL and CL enjoyed it and finished it up.
And the main event!!! Regular wings 1/2 order and ‘gyoza’ wings 1/2 order… the ‘gyoza’ are on the bottom. Each wing was deboned and stuffed with something different. The first one I picked up was filled with creamed corn and pretty damn tasty. Unfortunately, my next go-round, I bit into one that was filled with chopped chiles. That was a real kick in the mouth as I gulped the strawberry soju we’d ordered.
The regular wings were sweet glazed but still spicy. Oh, we also ordered a small pitcher of strawberry soju, which came looking like strawberry daiquiris (ie, totally frozen) and hard to drink.
Yvo says: I didn’t get a chance to look at the bill, but my feeling is that it wasn’t quite cheap enough to be worth the trek (for those of you coming from other boroughs and taking public transportation). It was tasty and a nice place to hang out, chatting and eating, but none of the food really impressed me – I REALLY did not like being surprised by the green chiles in the stuffed wing, why can’t I pick all of my fillings?! – and nothing else was particularly ooh yummy. I daresay I won’t be back again unless someone really wants to go here… but it’s kind of out of the way, so I doubt that will happen.
middle of the road…
Sile says
I agree with you. They should let you choose what your wings are filled with, or at least tell you (were the descriptions on the menu at least?).
Yvo says
Whoops – good point Sile – nope, the menu just says “gyoza wings” – they don’t even tell you what that means, I only knew because I read another review on the place that described them as being stuffed wings. It came like 6-7 wings on the platter, and each filled with something different, so you get what you get, basically, which I don’t like, I would have liked to be able to choose the corn one. ZL or CL had one stuffed with shrimp, another one filled with kimchi, etc. I don’t mind random grab-bag except in this case when my face caught on fire from the diced chili peppers 😛 🙂
SkippyMom says
The minute you said you bit into one with green chiles I winced on your behalf. I know better than to think that was going over well with you 🙂 I agree you should be able to pick what they are stuff with [kimchi would rock!]
Hey – I know you are busy, but you need to read my post from last night [very, very short – picture heavy] and see why I have been dancing around the house all day today. It is pretty GREAT!
Hugs.
Aimee S. says
This sounds very interesting. Stuffed wings! Wow. I’m not a wing person but I’d eat this.
Ambitious says
The decor is pretty nice, a good drinking place. 🙂 I agree that it’s not cheap to go there.
I had their boodae jjigae and the wings. I loved the wings! And the jjigae was delicious but SUPER spicy, even for me, and that was AFTER we asked them to make it mild!
Pinky says
Hi I read this review and it was so helpful. I have been looking around for the menu. I have had the fried chicken wings which were at the bottom of my list since I have tried most of the others in NY. I am allergic to shrimp so because of your review I know I cant try to the stuffed chicken wings. I thought I could order the flavor I wanted if I order all of them I could get sick even if I dont eat the shrimp just because they are close to the other wings. So thanks!