Fried chicken sandwiches continue to pop up in unexpected venues across South Philly. Following a smoky beer-and-shot dive in the micro-trend is an Indonesian dessert shop on 18th and Washington, with its own special spin.
After five years serving a daytime menu of sweet and savory pancakes, Martabak OK is spicing things up with OK Hot Chicken, an evenings-only venture operating out of the same storefront and offering window-service, pick-up, and delivery.
The expanded menu will feature wings by the half dozen and tenders — individually or in brioche rolls, slider buns, or wraps, where they come topped with pickles and house made coleslaw, and slathered in a secret sauce.
The chicken, “hotter than you can imagine,” the menu promises, is tiered in four levels of spiciness from mild to “insane.” It’s Nashville-style, and halal.
For the owners, Indonesian brothers Beddy Sonie and Berry The, the expansion was a result of a desire to break into American cuisine while appealing to the mostly Indonesian customer base that patronizes Martabak OK, as well as Sonie’s Djakarta Cafe on 16th and Ritner.
“We have our Indonesian cuisine, and Indonesian dessert,” The told Billy Penn, adding that the next step of the plan had always been to tackle a “popular American food, specifically sandwiches.”
Initial plans for a range of smash burgers were scrapped when the brothers realized that hot chicken “is hot everywhere right now.”
Burger spots, they noticed during a recent trip across the East Coast, were going out of their way to promote new hot chicken sandwiches on their menus; a trend that still hadn’t found a home in South Philly despite being popular in other areas of the city, according to The.
In retrospect, it was an obvious entry point. “Everybody loves chicken, [and] Indonesian people love spicy food,” The said, pointing out the ease of finding new ways to approach fried chicken recipes.
“Maybe we’ll even add an Indonesian-style hot chicken,” he said.
For now, however, the menu will be styled around the Nashville variety, something “everybody knows, but every store has a different taste. We have our own secret recipe.”
Items can be ordered in a range of combos ($10-$14) or separately; sliders and rolls both cost $8, wings come in orders of six ($8) up to 24 ($31), and there’s an intimidating loaded fries and chopped tenders option lurking at the bottom of the menu ($12). Simpler fries, plain or cheese-covered are available as sides ($4-$5), and there’s a selection of flavored lemonades ($4) as well.
An expansion is already in the works; a second, standalone location being scouted for launch later this year, and branding brought to life in the forms of snazzy new kits for the local Indonesian soccer team now sponsored by Ok Hot Chicken.
The grand opening date is still to be set — the team is raring to go but waiting on a final delivery of packaging.
In the meantime, a three-day soft opening will begin at 6 p.m. on Aug. 10, with free sliders for the first 25 customers on each day.
1801 Washington Ave. | 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday-Sunday — starting mid-August.
