I stopped by the newest addition to the growing East Side King army at the Shangri-La on East Sixth for a sneak preview of their new space and new menu. Like the other two locations – Liberty Bar and The Grackle – the menu is unique to the location and features East Side King’s two chef’s spin on Asian street food.
The Shangri-La location stays true to ESK’s dive bar meets trailer food aesthetic where the bar’s jukebox adds a dose of punk rock chic and steamed buns take center stage for a sausage meets Asian comfort street food theme. And it is so tasty.
I started off with the Bao Boy (pork chopped sausage topped with kimchee, bacon, grilled pineapple, gochujang*, karashi* mayo, chicarrones, and green onion) and the Mr. Chicken (chicken chopped sausage topped with basil, mint, cilantro, onion, ESK sweet chili sauce and crispy shallots). The pineapple added a nice sweet note to the Bao Boy but my favorite was the Mr. Chicken. The cool refreshing flavors of the basil, mint and cilantro made my mouth jump and was just what I needed in the late June heat. The crispy shallots were just candy on the tongue.
Togarashi-spiced edamame, the Gyu Bao (beef chopped sausage topped with curry cabbage, tonkatsu sauce, kewpie mayo, potato crisps and green onions) and the Veggie Curry (essentially, the same as the Gyu Bao with veggie sausage instead of beef) round out the five item menu.
Oh, and everything on the menu is $3.00! Who says dinner and drinks has to cost more than ten bucks?! I’m also told they hope to add specials to the menu in the coming weeks with sausages provided by local meat shop, Salt and Time. Yum.
*gochujang: spicy sweet Korean miso sauce
*karashi: Japanese mustard
– Marshall Wright, Food Editor
