Bao spot expands to downtown Phoenix
No, my beat hasn’t changed from dining criticism to cetacean mating habits, but whatever species Deez Buns is feeding at Killer Whale Sex Club, it sounds like it should be a good time.
The food certainly is.
Colorful on the outside and jet black on the inside, Killer Whale Sex Club is the latest project from Sam Olguin and Brenon Stuart. Olguin and Stuart are descendants of the Barter & Shake family tree who most recently opened, in succession, a pair of bars at The Churchill, Roosevelt Row’s shipping container food court.
A few blocks down the road, Killer Whale’s launch didn’t quite go as planned — whose plans did in March? — but while Olguin and Stuart await the right time to reopen the room, the duo they’ve partnered with to run the kitchen is slinging some tasty takeout.
Don’t be surprised that it’s good. You’ve heard of these fellas before.
How Deez Buns ended up at KWSC
Justin Jin Park of Drunken Tiger and Kevin Rosales of itinerant pop-up Good Fortune Kitchen teamed up last year to launch contemporary Korean-Filipino crossover joint Deez Buns, and the creative bun/burger/sandwich shop was falling into a nice, smooth rhythm right about the time the surrounding office buildings cleared out for the lockdown.
Fortunately, before that happened, their collaboration had found a fan in one of Olguin and Stuart’s partners, who suggested they bring their food to downtown Phoenix.
“I’m familiar with the downtown neighborhood,” Rosales says. “I’ve worked at The Dressing Room, I love the community, I love Phoenix, I love the diversity and I think it was a good opportunity to say yes.”
To complement Olguin and Stuart’s cocktails, Park and Rosales brought along a few of their buns, adding some starters, substantial mains and some vegan options to round out a satellite Deez Buns menu that’s taken up residence in Killer Whale’s kitchen.
“It’s almost like an experimental thing where everyone’s kind of just having fun doing what we want,” Park explains. “And then once we figure it out through this whole corona thing, I think then we’ll probably have a more solidified, steady menu.”
I dunno. The menu seems pretty steady to me.
What to expect on the Deez Buns menu
Park and Rosales are mashing together cultural heritage right out of the gate.
There are traditional lumpia Shanghai — crisp, meaty little pork-filled spring rolls the size of your middle finger. But a larger version, the size of a Churchill cigar, goes the way of Korean drinking food, stuffed with corn cheese — a gooey mix of sweet corn and mozzarella — and drizzled with a gochujang-laced fire sauce.
Deez Buns at Killer Whale Sex Club
922 N. Sixth St., Phoenix.
Takeout.
5 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
Snacks $5.50-$8; sandwiches $8-$9.50; plates $10.50-$12; cocktails $27 for 16 ounces, $48 for 32 ounces.
Instagram.com/killerwhalesexclub.
The veggie pancakes, Park explained, started conceptually as okonomiyaki, drifted into Korean pajeon territory and finally got a splash of coconut milk from Rosales. By the time they were done, what was left was a thin, tender root vegetable affair that’s pan-fried to a deep chocolate brown, earthy and robust, loaded with scallions and dipped in a tart Korean-style sauce.
Being downtown means a lot more vegan diners, Rosales says, and in addition to the pancake, they’re auditioning a vegetable-based take on kinilaw, the Filipino ceviche analogue. In place of the seafood, however, Rosales has substituted thick slices of sturdy mushrooms, bathing in a bright and heavily vinegared coconut marinade.
Mains include a banging sisig built on cubed pork jowl, stir fried to the iconic Filipino dish’s signature sizzle along with an abundance of garlic, ginger and onions and topped with a crumbly dusting of crushed chicharrones. The menu’s subject to the kitchen’s whims at the moment, so Park’s rich, almost caramelized galbijjim is on the way out, but tagging in this week, I’m told, is an adobo fried rice.
Not going to lie, I’m a little mad I missed it. But I’m pretty thrilled with the sandwiches I scored.
Yes, you can get Deez Buns’ signature siopao
Before fans of Deez Buns lose their minds, fear not. Park and Rosales have brought their signature sliced, burger-esque siopao sandwiches along for the ride.
In keeping with the bar’s décor and lending a nod to a tradition of ingredients that aid digestion, the buns at Killer Whale are laced with coconut charcoal, lending them a deep black color. Stuffed inside of them are some old favorites and some new creations as well.
The KFC bun (Korean, not Kentucky) is popular enough that Deez Buns’ fans would probably revolt if they didn’t make the jump, but honestly, you’re missing out if you don’t dive into the TFC — Thai Fried Chicken.
“I wanted to go with the crazy, in your face, salty, sour, spicy, sweet,” Rosales says. “So we made a fish caramel that we just dunk the whole piece of chicken into.”
It’s a screaming pile of crispy, hot, juicy fish saucesmothered chicken all right, perked up (as if it needed any perking) with a tangle of green papaya salad. But while the menu is almost exclusively Asian-influenced, another newcomer to the lineup reveals that there’s a Chicagoan in the house.
“I’m originally from Chicago. I’m from the north side, in Rogers Park,” Rosales confesses. “I’ve been kind of wanting to bring in something of my roots. On the menu beside the Italian beef torta, I put ‘Chicago, Arizona.’”
Just as you’d predict, it’s a mash-up of a Mexican sandwich and the beefy pride of Chicago — beef cheeks braised barbacoa-style with Italian seasoning to a melting soft texture, smooshed into pressed telera with oodles of mozzarella and a punchy, sharp giardiniera, drowned in a salty beef consommé.
This is the second prominent Arizona chef in so many years to sing an ode to the Italian beef. I might plotz.
Of course, Killer Whale Sex Club is first and foremost a bar, and it’s clear the kitchen crew and the bar crew are playing off one another. I brought home a bottled cocktail — complete with dragon-clad mug — that couldn’t have been a more perfect companion for the TFC. Light and a little sweet with a smooth, boozy punch, it blends orange gin and shochu with a little whiff of tea and apple, and it’s topped with an orange marmalade-smeared rice chip.
What’s it called?
The Iron Chef, natch.