One More Bite has branding now! Major kudos to my dear friend Anika for the snazzy logo. <3
Three weeks ago, I celebrated one year of One More Bite, and due to a planned vacation and an unplanned sickness I took some time off; It feels good to be back in your inbox. To those of you that have been along for the whole ride, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading. And new subscribers… you haven’t missed much, but a year’s worth of content is archived on Substack if you ever want more of me. (Who wouldn’t!)
During the planned part of my hiatus, I had a lovely time away from screens and in the great big outdoors with my parents in Canada. I probably won’t ever dedicate a full newsletter to it—there are parts of my life that feel too precious to farm for content—but we had fantastic dinners at Alta Bistro and Wild Blue, so do give them a visit if you’re ever in Whistler!
During one of our dinners, probably at one of the aforementioned restaurants, I had an interesting conversation about this newsletter, one that perhaps inhibited my ability to sit down and write the next issue (apart from me being horribly sick, of course). The question posed to me was, to summarize, by only writing about expensive, luxurious dining experiences, isn’t One More Bite horribly pretentious?
… Well, yes.
I’m just kidding! Kind of! Now I’m a bit scared of what you all think! But it’s an interesting question, and one that I’m still struggling with. I love dining in all shapes and price points, but especially since I’ve transitioned to writing about only one restaurant per newsletter, only the most interesting, newsworthy of what I actually eat makes it into print. I’m also endlessly fascinated by the latest and greatest in the New York restaurant scene, and most of the time, that means dining at expensive-ass places. I’m very, very lucky that I’m able to do so, and I love being able to share these experiences with the void, because maybe it’ll help someone else make a more informed decision about how to spend their money, or at the very least, entertain. Rest assured, I have no impending plans to change the content of OMB, but maybe one day I’ll discuss Woorijip or finally stop gatekeeping my sushi burrito spot…
With that discussion under our belt, to demonstrate that I’ve taken the accusations of pretension under consideration, I’ve gathered us all here today to discuss Coqodaq, the headline-making, TikTok sensation from the team behind Cote. Oh yes, and I should mention, it’s a Korean fried chicken restaurant, and it’s unnecessarily, exceedingly fancy.
A bit like Disneyland, the entire experience feels meticulously designed and themed, except in this case the theme is like a cross between a nightclub and a supervillain’s lair or something. My favorite part of the restaurant: an extensive hand washing station that features an unreasonably large selection of luxury soap. (I cannot stress enough how insane the soap selection is.) As someone who washes their hands obsessively, this was very exciting. If you must know, I went for the Loewe Tomato Leaves soap; glad I can confirm now that it’s probably not worth its sticker price and I don’t need to buy it for my own apartment.
The star of the show is of course the fried chicken, which is (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) reasonably priced at $38 per person. However, before chowing down on The Bucket List, my friend Jess (who secured the reservation!) and I were intrigued by some of the other menu items, and we started the meal with amberjack tartare and The Golden Nugget—a chicken nugget topped with ocean trout roe. (No, we didn’t splurge on the caviar option.)
The amberjack tartare, which had horseradish with yuja and trout roe, was very good. Honestly, I’d go back to spend more time with the raw bar portion of the menu, but that feels like a waste of a hard-earned reservation. I’m very sorry to report but absolutely do not order The Golden Nugget for any reason other than the vibes. I don’t know how it’s possible, but my nugget was too juicy? It was weird. And, the trout roe added absolutely nothing to the experience. Maybe it was our mistake to not pay the extra $12 each for the caviar.
However, the signature fried chicken feast, aka The Bucket List, is absolutely worth every penny, and is probably the only thing (aside from some drinks!) that one should order at Coqodaq for a complete and wonderful meal. When ordering, you get the choice between a soy sauce garlic or gochujang glaze; we went for the former.
The chicken is truly, truly excellent. I really wanted to hate this restaurant, because an upscale fried chicken restaurant is a bit silly… dare I say dumb. But, I’ve been proven wrong, and perhaps that’s better, since I am the one still shelling out the money for it despite low expectations. The fry on the chicken is incredible, which is really experienced in the first chicken course, where it’s served plain with a selection of sauces in squeeze bottles. The next round then comes with the glaze, and the chicken comes with the perfect amount, not too overpowered or drippy and yes, still very crisp.
Very much in character, my personal favorite part of the meal was cold perilla seed noodle, one of the many sides that come with The Bucket List. I don’t know why I’ve just recently discovered the joy of perilla oil (see my Hojokban review), but now I can’t get enough. It’s the perfect accompaniment to loads of fried chicken, but it’s my dream that one day I will come back to Coqodaq and devour a bowl of just that. That is, if I ever get another reservation.
Bite it!
How to get a reservation? That’s a loaded question. Reservations open 14 days in advance at 10 a.m. on Resy, but I’ve heard that they go blazingly fast. Log into your Resy account and refresh right on the hour for your best shot, but even with speedy fingers it seems like it’s not a guarantee. Note that they also take reservations for parties of 2-3 only in their first or last seating, similar to Cote. You could always try for bar seating, which is walk-in only, but I’d be prepared for a long wait. Good luck.