I love short and simple menus, especially when everything offered is worth ordering. It’s particularly nice when a restaurant offers a sampler plate that features a little bit of everything on the menu. I went to the Asian-fusion chicken restaurant Wing Box and, for $22.80, ordered the wing box sampler, which included two pieces of every flavor of chicken on the menu, four scoops of rice and pickled veggies. The only items not included in the sampler box were the three seemingly random side dishes: garlic noodles, fries and sweet-potato fries.

Wing Box doesn’t actually serve wings, at least not in Super Bowl finger-food sense. The place sells fried chicken: drumsticks and full-sized wings, with five different flavors, all of them Asian. Everyone at Wing Box, both in front of and behind the counter, were in their early 20s. There are a couple tables to eat at, but mostly people were ordering to go. Even my order was packaged to go, and no word was every mentioned on the subject. Granted, I did order enough food for four people, so maybe “to go” was a safe assumption on their part.

The chicken, regardless of flavor, was very succulent. It was greasy, but not in a KFC or Popeye’s way, though it was actually messier than those chains due to the sticky sauces that covered the wings. Each piece of chicken came with a complexity of flavors not found in traditional American fried chicken, which made the experience one that pleased the stomach, tongue and brain alike.

I enjoyed every flavor. Even my least favorite—the Vietnamese fish sauce—was still quite good. The Korean red sticky wings, the only version advertised as spicy, wasn’t quite as spicy as its flaming-red color might signal. The Thai chili basil wings, which were actually hotter than the red sticky wings, exploded with spicy, savory and sweet flavors and were topped with chili, peanuts and basil chips. The Singaporean style was perhaps even more complex; it consisted of sweet soy, ginger, sesame and garlic.

My personal favorite, however, was the caramelized Tamarind, the only one not specifically associated with any country. It burst with tangy sweetness in the best way possible. Each flavor can be ordered as a four-piece meal with rice and pickled veggies for $9.80.

One final pleasant surprise was the beverage offerings. If you look past the soft-drink dispenser, Wings has far superior sparkling fruit drinks. The choices are Meyer lemon, guava, lychee and candied kumquat. For $3.50, they are a little bit steep, but they are still really good.

Wing Box
1715 Lundy Ave., Suite 162, San Jose; 408.437.6225