Genesis Bar and Restaurant

Upper East Side

Genesis Restaurant and Bar
1708 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10128
212-348-5500
www.genesisbar.com

After reading through some of our reviews, lately, it seems that we are a bunch of homers that love every place we have been to.  And the truth is, we go to places that you, the Wingmen Faithful, suggest because you love those places.  So of course the wings are good.  We have not been blindly just stopping in a place and testing out their wings.  Well, Jody and I stopped at Genesis Bar and Restaurant the other night without any recommendations, without knowing what the place was like and not knowing if their wings would be any good.  This is what happened...

We were on the upper east side and decided to look for wings.  We saw the menu outisde of the restaurant and liked what Genesis promised: Genesis Jumbo Chicken Wings- Buffalo, BBQ, Bourbon Street, Korean Style and Bayou (their to-go menu has Southwestern on there as well, but the restaurant did not offer this selection).  We were stoked, starting planning what we'd try and went inside.

After sitting down and ordering our beer, we finally decised on Buffalo because we had to, Korean Style because Jody loves the Asian flavors and Bayou because I love Cajun wings.  We stayed away from BBQ and Bourbon Street because they seemed similar and too sweet. 

Here is what was GOOD about the wings: They were jumbo, they were cooked well, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

Hot Wings?

Here is what was BAD about the wings:  EVERYTHING ELSE!  I mean, honestly, how do you fuck up buffalo sauce?  It is clarified butter and hot sauce.  That is it!  They were sweet and had zero heat to them.  Buffalo wings should not be sweet.  The Korean Style wings were even sweeter, sickly sweet.  Authentic chili and garlic sauce my ass!  It tasted like Karo syrup with a sweet soy sauce.  They were, in my opinion, disgusting.  The Bayou wings were fried chicken wings.  They were described as a dry rub by the waitress, but there was no rub.  They were bland fried chicken wings.  They even came with a bland sauce that did nothing to the taste excpet make them wetter.  Kentucky Fried Chicken wings are worlds better than these were.  They were also $8.00 per plate of 8 wings, so not only were they horrible, but they cost $1.00 each.

 

KFC?

The place itself was nice and had a good beer selection, but I cannot recommend this place's wings.  Just horrid.  This place is NOT Wingmen Approved.




On a funny note, as our wings arrived, the women sitting at the table next to ours looked over and said "I think I'm going to throw up," and we are not sure if they knew the wings were bad, thought three plates of wings were just plain disgusting, or just didn't like Jody and I.  I guess we'll never know.

Something clever about bad Korean Style wings?

Canz a City Roadhouse

40-11 30th Ave

Astoria, NY 11103

Website

For those of you who read this blog often, you know we already visited the Canz out in Westbury. Recently, they also opened a location in Astoria, Queens and we had to give it a try.

Right off the bat I liked this location better. First of all, it's in Astoria which means I didn't have to drive anywhere. I'm a fan of public transportation, especially when drinking is involved. Second, it has one of those storefronts that completely opens up - giving you the feel of sitting outside without having to bake in the sun. There was also another outdoor section in the back (sans TV's though). It was a perfect day for Wings Al Fresco. One odd similarity was the waitress. What are the chances of having the same waitress the only two times you go to two different locations? Probably pretty low, but we had the same girl as last time. I believe Steve called her "less than polite" in the earlier review. I'm happy to report that she was a little happier this time around - a bit frazzled at times, but friendly none-the-less.

The open, airy eating area in the back.

We ordered two different flavors from the last visit - Asian and BBQ - and made sure to stay away from the Dirty Canz wings. Hey, I'm willing to try a lot for this site, but I'm not dumb.

The Asian was ok. They were cooked really well and had a nice amount of meat but were a little on the dry side. They were really similar to the Teriyaki, which I guess makes some sense. Overall, pretty forgettable.

The BBQ was totally surprising. By now you probably know about our indifference towards BBQ wings. It's pretty well documented. Most of the time we just stay away from them, unless we're out of flavors to try. Well these were, by far, the best I've had yet. I loved them. They were plump, well cooked and coated in a nice, thick and gooey sauce. They weren't overly sweet like most BBQ tend to be. They actually reminded me a lot of the BBQ chicken I grew up eating off the grill in my back yard. Steve wasn't able to make this outing, but I texted him to tell him I actually liked a BBQ wing. He didn't believe me. He'll just have to make the trip and try them out for himself. If anything, these wings inspired me to expand my horizons in the BBQ category. I'm now looking forward to places like Virgil's and Dinosaur BBQ, which I'm sure will blow Canz away.

If you're looking at what I like to call the "full spread photo", you may be asking yourself, "what are those things in the middle?" They are the Canz Buffalo Bitez, a boneless chicken "wing". I know, I know... it's not a wing if it doesn't have a bone in it. Steve, Jeremy and I actually had a talk about these guys and decided to ban them from the site. We just didn't feel right about them. However, BJ (a friend of ours that I was with this night) ordered them kind of spur of the moment. I didn't know they were coming. But, with apologies to the traditionalists, I liked them. They're crispy, tasty and obviously their meat to bone ratio is unbeatable. I'd eat them again and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The full spread shot. Yeah, those are boneless "bitez" in the middle.

So yeah, maybe this place is a little schticky. A modern day Hooters. But the wings are actually pretty good and worth giving a shot. They also have all the games on and a huge selection of beers both on tap and in cans, er, canz. It rides the line between chain-y franchise and cool neighborhood hangout, but I like Canz and I'll probably be back.

Mooncake Foods

28 Watts St.

New York, NY 10013

mooncakefoods.com

A soggy view across Watts St. at Mooncake.

Purists will say this isn't a true Buffalo wing. They'll point out the undivided wing. They'll complain about the lack of cayenne hot sauce. They may even say it doesn't even look like a real buffalo wing. Well purists be damned. If these wings are wrong, I don't want to be right!

Mooncake is a place I've been going to pretty regularly for lunch lately. I've tried a bunch of their dishes, from grilled chicken to beef shins, miso glazed salmon to pulled pork sandwiches - and I have yet to be disappointed. I never thought to order their wings because it's a much different establishment than the pubs and sports bars we usually chow down in. Its just a tiny, trendy-ish bistro dishing out solid Asian fusion comfort food.

Well this week I decided to give their honey and soy chicken wings a try and I'm really glad I did. I don't think I've ever eaten a wing that was cooked better than these. They were fall-off-the-bone tender as if they'd been slow-cooked for hours, but had a great grill char on the outside. Normally I'm not a fan of wings with honey based sauces, but the flavor of these things was terrific. The honey mixed with the soy gave these a unique taste that doesn't really compare to anything we've had so far. They also came with a citrus dipping sauce (which was great in it's own right) in lieu of the traditional ranch or bleu cheese.

The order only comes with four pieces of chicken for $6.50... but wait. Before you dismiss this as a terrible deal you should know that the wing itself is not divided into a wingette and drumette. Instead, it's served as a whole wing. So really, it's like getting an order of 8 wings anywhere else. Not to mention (and I'm not sure if you can tell this by the picture) they are pretty large pieces of chicken. The drumettes are almost the equivalent of a full size drumstick.

After I devoured my lunch (they stood no chance) I had to get up to wash my hands. I came back to find that my whole office smelled like honey & soy wings. I have to say, this made me happy. In fact, and I probably shouldn't be admitting this, I gave the bones one last sniff before I tossed them in the trash. Yes, I liked them that much. I definitely have them in my top five right now, and they're in strong contention for the top spot. The only thing bad I can really say is that I'm sorry this was a solo mission and Jeremy and Steve have to hear about it through this review instead of tasting them for themselves. Well, it's not like I would have shared anyway.

So if you're in the mood to try something a little different, or just want some solid Asian fusion, give Mooncake Foods a try. The service is fast and friendly and the food will not disappoint.