International Chicken Wing Day is around the corner (July 29) — and here’s a new wacky menu item worth a bite: 24-karat gold-coated wings.
American sports bar franchise Hooters, which claims to be the first in Thailand serving such a dish, recently launched its “24k Wings” coated in gold flakes. Even the blue cheese dip that comes with the chicken is sparkly gold.
It’s as fancy as it all sounds: The dish, which includes 10 chicken drumsticks and wings along with that golden dipping sauce, costs THB999 (US$33).
So last night we went to Hooters’ Silom branch to try the wings. The first bite was crispy and surprisingly delicious, with a slight, gentle dusting of gold … flavor? We’re not sure what to call it, but yes, you can taste it — something just a little bit metal-y. Ultimately, though, that finger-lickin’-goodness is thanks to the honey, dijon mustard and “secret ingredient” (the restaurant staff wouldn’t divulge) flavor mix that goes into the outer coating of the wings.
The restaurant staff did tell us, however, that since their debut at the Silom branch on Monday, there have been 11 tables that ordered the special shiny wings.
“Customers are thrilled at the fact they’re eating gold – and equally surprised that gold is edible and our recipe is pretty damn delicious!” said Keith Edward Baird, marketing director of Destination Eats, the company that operates Hooters.
“Now you can check [that] off the list. You can tell people now you’ve eaten gold,” Baird said.
The new menu item is available at Hooters nationwide: Silom, Nana, Soi Sukhumvit 15, Pattaya, Koh Samui and Phuket. Outside of Thailand, it’s also served at Hooters in Jakarta.
Created by Destination Eats CEO Edmund Lowman, Hooters’ twenty-four karat gold wings drew inspiration from NYC-based restaurant The Ainsworth, where gold-dusted wings come in a basket of 10 pieces (US$45), 20 pieces and up to US$1,000 — that’s THB30,770 — for 50 pieces that are served with a bottle of champagne).
Also check out our video on Hooters in Bangkok:
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