Bang Bar to Replace Pok Pok Wing at Cosmo’s Food Court

Pok Pok Wing restaurant at Cosmopolitan has announced it will close on Dec. 6, 2020.

You remember 2020, right? The worst year for restaurants and pretty much everything, ever.

Pok Pok Tweeted: “It was a very fun ride, with great partners but it was a licensed deal that had an end date. Thanks for all your support and be sure to stop by before Sunday to get all the wings you can.”

Pok Pok
Goodbye, delicious and underrated wings.

We were hoping for a little more juicy drama around the closure of Pok Pok, but it seems COVID is the likely culprit in the closure of Pok Pok, as the chain’s other outlets have struggled.

If there is any drama, we look forward to you sharing it with us. Ahem.

A day after the announced closure of Pok Pok in its Block 16 food court (sorry, “urban food hall”), Cosmo announced its replacement, Bang Bar.

The news release for Bang Bar says it is a new concept from chef David Chang. The same news release references there’s a Bang Bar that opened in New York in 2018. So, upon further reflection, let’s go with “new-ish.”

Bang Bar
How did a restaurant get this name before a brothel nabbed it?

Chef David Chang, of course, is also the force behind Cosmo’s Momofuku restaurant and has consistently been voted one of the least pleasant chefs to work with, divawise.

Oh, wait, “It’s perfectionism!” Just have to stay one step ahead of the folks in public relations. We trust “bad boy” also works, as it has a romantic ring to it.

Chang is also the guy who donated a million dollars he won on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to hospitality workers. His Netflix series, “Ugly Delicious,” is worth a look. Fun fact: Chang’s father originally wanted him to be a pro golfer, because it was seen as more stable than being a restaurateur.

Thankfully, “celebrity” chefs are rarely in their restaurants, so we can focus on the food.

Bang Bar will feature “spit-roasted meats wrapped in freshly griddled bang bread.” Which sounds delicious.

“Bang” means “bread” in Korean, so we’d better damn well get some great bread at Bang Bar.

Bang Bar bread
With bread this pretty, we don’t actually care that much about David Chang’s personality quirks.

The news release says, “In New York, menu favorites include The U Wrap, featuring bang bread filled and rolled with a choice of spicy pork, chicken or spicy eggplant and the Rice Bowl, made with rice, pickles, cabbage and a choice of spicy pork, chicken or spicy eggplant.”

We are not an eggplant person (nor should anyone be), but again, this sounds really good and we can’t wait to try it.

Bang Bar is expected to open in spring 2021.