NYCReview
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Wenwen
Included In
Sometimes you’re really in the mood for comfort food that you’d normally eat on your couch. But you actually want to be anywhere but your apartment because your roommate just started dating somebody, and they’re being disgustingly happy. Head to Wenwen at times like these. The homestyle Taiwanese food coming out of the kitchen makes you feel like you should be firmly planted in front of your TV, but you’re actually sitting in a fun and playful restaurant in Greenpoint.
Wenwen is sister restaurant to 886 but unlike that East Village spot, there’s real furniture here, and it won't seem like most of the diners are NYU students who have keg stands in their immediate future. This Taiwanese restaurant still feels fun though, especially when you see four people simultaneously sipping from cartoonishly large, flaming youtiao-topped cocktails and find the disco ball hanging in the dark bathroom. You might come to Wenwen with plans to go elsewhere after, only to discover you’re having such a good time that this place becomes your whole night out.
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Nothing on the menu feels precious—instead, the mostly-hearty dishes are the best versions of comfort foods that typically come straight out of a home kitchen in Taipei. You’ll see some things that are also served at 886 like the lo ba beng with its thick, minced pork gravy over rice and cold noodles with spicy sesame peanut sauce. But there are plenty of new items, such as the warming 886 noodles covered in fried garlic and the cuttlefish with pork belly which has layers of fat that disintegrate on your tongue like little chunks of butter.
photo credit: Emily Schindler
The best savory item on the menu is the BDSM chicken, which, on its face, sounds unsanitary, but in this case, the acronym stands for “brined deboned soy milk.” Just be aware that the kitchen only makes five of these juicy, subtly sweet and spicy whole fried chickens a night, and they usually sell out in less than half an hour.
Chances are generally slim that you’ll get to try the BDSM chicken, but when you inevitably have to keep escaping the annoying giddiness emanating from the newly-formed couple living with you, you might as well come to Wenwen and camp out for that hard-to-get dish. It’s worth it. After you and your friends go through a bunch of cocktails while listening to old-school Asian pop songs, you’ll hardly notice that several hours have passed. So order another round and try to figure out if anyone at your table wants to get a new apartment with you.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Fried Tangyuan with Ice Cream
photo credit: Kenny Yang
Whole BDSM Fried Chicken
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Crispy Fried Tofu with Garlic Soy Paste
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Pea Shoots with Tofu Skin
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Shrimp Floss Lettuce Cup
886 Noodle
photo credit: Emily Schindler