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What is your favorite karaoke song? And have you considered what you would like to eat while doing it? Karaoke clubs are not usually the type of places one would associate with good food. But with the arrival of a new wave of upscale karaoke clubs, so has an elevated menu.
Moyagi is a karaoke concept that launched in Stockholm in 2020. It now has rooms in Malmö and London. The original Stockholm branch includes a full-scale restaurant with in-room menus offering katsu sando (made with ribeye), bao, spring rolls, chicken karaage (breaded nuggets), and miso fries, the kind of pan-Asian bites to share what Swedish customers expect. Japanese-themed karaoke. In BAM karaoke box – a Paris-based company that operates six locations in France, two in Madrid and one in London – the food offering has evolved to suit regional tastes. When it launched in Paris in 2014, there was no food available. Packaged options were then introduced, followed by a menu of healthy dishes devised by the chef. However, in the end, French customers preferred the traditional bar snacks they were used to elsewhere, such as cheese and charcuterie boards. In Spain, the fusion menu includes gyoza, cheesecake, tiramisu, ham and mochi.
Erchen Chang is the creative director and co-founder of beam group of restaurants in London. Growing up in Taiwan, where karaoke is very popular, I regularly went to karaoke (or KTV) on Saturday afternoons with friends. “It was the perfect outing to have fun and release the stress of school,” he says. For most adults, karaoke requires alcohol. And a lot. But in Taiwan, where the drinking culture is less pronounced, food is a much bigger part of the experience. Chang says, “The goal is to sing and eat almost in equal measure.”
The choice is wide. At New CB Party in Taipei, for example, the selection includes everything from stir-fries and assorted lu wei (braised dishes) to “American fried food” platters and assorted platters of fresh fruit. “There are also throat-friendly herbal soft drinks that taste a little like menthol and help you sing better.” Certain establishments like Cash Box Party KTV are known for their beef noodles, while high-end karaoke bar ONCOR serves a menu devised by André Chiang from two Michelin-starred restaurants. Rawincluding black truffle cold noodles, sanbei chicken, and five hotpot variations.
BAO opened its first KTV room at its London Borough branch in 2019, followed by others in Marylebone and Shoreditch. Its latest opening at Bloomberg Arcade features two KTV rooms with a food offering including xiao chi dishes (dumplings, shrimp song shia, French fries), mini bao and Taiwanese fried chicken. The dumplings are fried (not soft like in Taiwan), so they are less messy and can be held in your hand. Bao are smaller than restaurant ones (“one or two bites instead of three or four”), making them quicker to eat and less likely to sit around getting cold. According to Chang, fried chicken is the ideal karaoke snack because it’s a well-seasoned comfort food that stays hot longer.
For the London branch of BAM Karaoke Box (the largest yet with 22 private rooms, two bars and a terrace), British chef Sabrina Gidda created two separate menus. The first was designed to not include any sticky or overly spicy elements to avoid too much mess. “But we soon realized that everyone wanted to order whatever they wanted in the rooms,” says founder Arnaud Studer. Among the most popular dishes now offered are Merguez sausage hot dogs, pear and radicchio salad, fried chicken, and (from the current holiday menu) wild mushroom mac and cheese and turkey-cranberry toast. The star dish remains the aged double cheese burger made from HG Walter patties, which Gidda insists “is as good as any burger in London”.
On a recent visit to BAO City’s Taipei Lounge (inspired by the movie “Taipei Story” and dominated by an LED screen like a neon billboard), me and a dozen HTSI The staff tested our voices and the food. Several things came to light, including how many people knew the lyrics to “Teenage Dirtbag.” Pao tsai pickles and smashed cucumber were peppy antidotes to greasy dishes. The takeout mini pork and daikon bao can be dipped in hot sauce and eaten with one hand while holding a microphone with the other. And the Taiwanese fried chicken with soy-garlic glaze and lemon mayonnaise was snack nirvana. So much so that the singing seemed to take a backseat. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant when ABBA appeared for the umpteenth time.