British and American "Food Wars" hosts Harry Kersh and Joe Avella swapped places to try each other’s Wingstop menu items and find all the differences. This is "Food Wars: Foreign Exchange."
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00:00A Brit and an American swap countries to try each other's Wingstop.
00:04This is Food Wars Foreign Exchange.
00:09All right, let's start by comparing the classic wings.
00:13Over here is the plain, unflavored classic wing.
00:19Looks smaller than what I'm used to in America.
00:23For a sauceless wing, this is better than I was expecting.
00:27I guess going in plain, I thought I was going to taste anything, but yeah.
00:30Not bad.
00:31Here is a 10-piece from a U.S. Wingstop.
00:33These ones are not plain, I think they're buffalo.
00:35I gotta say, I was expecting bigger wings.
00:38I thought American farming was all about, like, pumping your animals with as many chemicals as possible to make them enormous.
00:43But no, this is kind of a tiny, scrawny, scrawny little wing.
00:48We'll give it a try anyway.
00:50There's pretty good flavor to it.
00:51Quite crispy on the outside, which is nice.
00:53Although, maybe slightly overcooked.
00:55A little bit dry on that.
00:56I have no interest in sitting here and eating just plain wings from Wingstop.
01:00So, let's take a look at some of the flavors you can get in both countries, starting with lemon pepper and garlic parmesan.
01:08You know, lemon pepper, I'm going to be honest, not my first choice.
01:11It's just okay.
01:15Personally, I like my wings to be a little saucier.
01:18Seems like if you pay for the flavors, they give you the bigger wings.
01:22Because that's more like what I was expecting.
01:23That was a hefty drum.
01:24Good amount of seasoning on there.
01:25Like a big dosage of lemon pepper.
01:28I know it's lemon pepper, but it should be more like lemon salt because, my God, it's an aggressively salty wing.
01:36Here's my thing with American lemon pepper wings.
01:38Compared to the ones I've had in the UK, is that I don't think in the US you guys are actually putting much lemon in there.
01:43I think the lemon is much more of a lemon flavoring.
01:47And it tends to remind me more of like an artificial cleaning product that's lemon scented.
01:54Like a lemon scented spray or cleaning wipes.
01:57Rather than actual lemon.
01:58I feel the garlic parmesan in the US, the flavor is very overwhelming.
02:02So, what do we got here in the UK?
02:05Not overly garlicky or parmesan-y.
02:08I feel like you guys have subdued the flavors on yours knowing that we were going to, or we should be, dipping our wings in sauce.
02:17Weaker than what I would expect in America, but it's been a minute since I've had wings stopped.
02:20So, let's see how Harry's reacting.
02:23Next up, we got the garlic palm wing.
02:24Again, like, you've not skimped on the seasoning.
02:29I'm not actually getting a ton of parmesan flavor, despite the fact that it's covered in the powder.
02:34These are much, like, crispier than any wings that I've had in the UK from Wingstop.
02:39And I do like that.
02:40You get, like, a real crunch on the outside.
02:42And the chicken on the inside isn't too bad.
02:44Now, the last time we shot a Wingstop episode, Joe kind of made fun of the tenders, and I really like them.
02:48So, I want to see if the US ones are any good.
02:54UK tenders are better.
02:55They're just better.
02:57I don't know what it is about these.
02:58They're not very crunchy.
03:00I bit into these, and it almost made, like, a squeaking noise on my teeth.
03:04I don't know what's going on there.
03:05I thought you guys were better at fried chicken, but...
03:07Here are those tenders that Harry was so fond of.
03:11See how these taste.
03:14That is a fantastic tender.
03:15Really crispy, right?
03:16You picked up that crunch, right?
03:18Wow.
03:18And, of course, when you got tenders, you know you need to dip it in something.
03:22So, we got ranch.
03:24Ranch is in the UK.
03:26Here it is, everybody.
03:29See how your ranch tastes.
03:32Our ranch has way more flavor.
03:36It has more intensity to it than yours.
03:38Which I think is a reoccurring theme with US versus UK.
03:41Portion sizes at Wingstop.
03:46If we exclude the combos and the platters, the biggest portion of wings you can get in
03:50the UK is a 12-piece.
03:52However, let's give them a bring the boxes.
03:55Bring them all up.
03:56Bring them the boxes.
03:57Let's go.
03:57There is an online combo in the UK called the Crowd Pleaser, which comes with 50 regular
04:03boned wings and 50 boneless wings and three large fries.
04:07It's meant to be shared between five people.
04:08So, excuse me, it's meant to be enjoyed by at least five people.
04:14In the US, excluding combos, the biggest portion of wings you can order is a 100-piece.
04:18Yeah, it's just funny to me that you can order that many wings not explicitly as part of a
04:22sharing platter.
04:23Like, feasibly, that could just be kind of them saying, hey, you want 100 wings?
04:26Have 100 wings.
04:28Don't worry about sharing.
04:29When it comes to drinks, Wingstop in the UK offers Coke products, and you can get them
04:32in a 22-ounce cup.
04:34But we got this delivered, so we didn't get found drinks, just the 500-milliliter bottles.
04:38And in the US, drinks come in sizes of 20 ounces or 32 ounces.
04:45Here is everything you can find at Wingstop in the US that we can't get in the UK.
04:49Here's everything at the UK Wingstop I can't get in the US.
04:52In the US, they have a few exclusive wing flavors, three to be exact.
04:56First up, we have mild wings.
04:57As far as I can tell, these are just like a milder version of kind of buffalo wings.
05:01Yeah, that's pretty good.
05:03It's got that, like, buffalo sauce vinegary kick to it, but somehow with almost none of
05:09the heat.
05:10Then in this box, we have the other two flavors.
05:12We have Cajun and Original Hot.
05:15So here is the Original Hot Wing.
05:17I imagine, as the name suggests, it'll just be a hotter version of the mild wing.
05:20Yeah, it's Original Hot for a reason.
05:24It's basically just a buffalo wing.
05:25And then finally, we have Cajun Wings.
05:27Lovely color on this, like a really deep orangey red color.
05:30I don't love, like, buffalo wings that much.
05:36I think particularly when they're coated in, like, a vinegar-based hot sauce.
05:40For me, I just get too much of that kind of vinegary acid tang to it.
05:44Whereas with a wing like this one, with a Cajun wing, you still get the heat.
05:48But it's not that sort of, like, say, acidic tang.
05:52I think you just get a bit more depth of flavor.
05:54I really like this.
05:54This is great.
05:55One thing that I do find funny is that we have Cajun fries at the UK Wingstop.
05:59So I'm not really sure why they don't just take that seasoning and put it back on the wings.
06:02Because I think it would work.
06:04Two exclusive wing flavors here at the UK Wingstop.
06:08First is the original, which I feel is probably what we would call the Buffalo Mild.
06:15Some decent heat to it.
06:16All right, Brazilian citrus pepper.
06:22Citrusy.
06:23Some pepper flavor to it.
06:24Not bad.
06:25Nothing's jumping out at me on the flavor, I would say, personally.
06:27One other thing that's worth mentioning with the wings is that you can get a bunch of different combos on the menus.
06:32In both the US and the UK, they even have a wing calculator on the website to figure out how hungry you are and how many wings you should order.
06:38A funny thing is that the recommended portions from the calculator vary depending on where you are, and it's exactly in the way you'd expect.
06:43On the website for Wingstop, we asked them to recommend what would be good for one person who is hungry, and they recommended, for me, here in the UK, eight wings.
06:52On the US website, the recommended order for one hungry person is 10 wings.
06:56You guys have sandwiches, aka burgers.
06:59Just the one, the big flavor burger.
07:01So this is slaw, pickles, ranch, and also, of course, chicken, and any sauce or flavor that you want.
07:07We went for a barbecue.
07:09Let's go.
07:09Wow, this is great.
07:13Slaw is really good.
07:14UK Wingstop, let's go.
07:15The US version is the chicken sandwich.
07:18This comes with pickles, but no slaw.
07:20And also, it's one big piece of chicken rather than chicken tenders.
07:24Also, look at the funny distribution of pickles there.
07:27We'll quickly reorganize these.
07:28It seems like this one's been tossed in the original hot sauce.
07:32I like the look of the bun, very shiny bun.
07:35That's really good.
07:37The chicken is really juicy.
07:38I like the amount of heat that you get from the piece being tossed in the sauce.
07:42Pickles are good.
07:42I love pickles.
07:43Happy to see them included pretty much anywhere.
07:45This might actually benefit from the UK's slaw, because I think it's just a little bit dry.
07:49Some kind of slaw or like mayo or some kind of sauce on the bottom, I think would go a long way here.
07:55But pretty good.
07:57Not bad.
07:57The US has a few exclusive sides that we can't find in the UK.
08:00First up, we have these Louisiana voodoo fries.
08:03So these are fries, which are covered in cheese sauce, ranch, and Cajun seasoning.
08:10They're not terrible.
08:11Yeah, they're not too bad.
08:12I quite like the Cajun seasoning.
08:13I like them on the wings.
08:14I like it now.
08:15I think maybe the cheese sauce and the ranch might be slightly overkill.
08:19Next up, we have Cajun fried corn.
08:21Which part of this is fried?
08:23Fried corn, not just pop up like popcorn.
08:27That's pretty good.
08:28Yeah, I think texturally, I was expecting maybe something different from the frying, but don't really get too much of that.
08:33I do like the seasoning, though.
08:35Quite salty.
08:36A little bit of heat, a little bit of smoke.
08:38Works well with the sweetness of the corn.
08:39I like it.
08:40And finally, on the US menu, you will find veggie sticks.
08:42The veggies in question here, obviously, are celery and carrots.
08:46I think these are pretty commonly found alongside wings in like bars and diners.
08:50Yeah, I wasn't sure if people actually ate this stuff when it was served with wings, but I'm now being told by the crew that they do.
08:55Not that much of a celery guy, but carrot sticks, I do love.
08:59Here's your guys, sweet potato fries.
09:01You guys and your chips.
09:02By the way, you call them sweet potato fries here.
09:04I thought you called them chips.
09:04Sweet potato chips?
09:08One of the sweet potatoes are always soggy.
09:11The honey mustard slaw.
09:12I had some of this slaw and that burger a second ago, and I loved it.
09:17So just solo slaw?
09:20Not good.
09:21What happened?
09:22I guess the slaw only works with the topping and not on its own.
09:25One other thing to note is that we actually can get the cheese sauce that's found on the fries as a separate menu item here in the US.
09:31Obviously, in the UK, we do have the cheese fries, so I'm not sure why they can't just give you the sauce on the side.
09:36But in the US, they do do that.
09:37Both countries have their own exclusive desserts.
09:40In the UK, they have two exclusive churro flavors.
09:44We have Oreo crumb and Lotus Biscoff crumb.
09:47What is this?
09:48Oreo.
09:49Oreo.
09:51Fantastic.
09:51Lotus Biscoff.
09:54It's very good.
09:55Wow, these are awesome.
09:56These are really good.
09:57Yes to these.
09:58Wow.
09:58Then we're on to the desserts, where in the US, you will find this triple chocolate chunk brownie.
10:04That's really good.
10:05That's gooey.
10:06Chocolaty.
10:07All right, moving on to drinks.
10:09If you're eating in-store, you can have all of these beverages.
10:13You know what you can get at the Wingstop in the UK?
10:16That we did get.
10:18Couple of brewskis, baby!
10:20Camden Pale and Camden Hell's Lager are available at the Wingstop in the UK.
10:27Cold, frosty brew with your wings.
10:31Sounds good to me.
10:31Then finally, we're on to the drink options from US Wingstop.
10:34First up, we have an unsweetened tea.
10:37Obviously, I'm from the UK and I'm very passionate about my tea, so I'm going to have to try this
10:40out and check that you guys aren't butchering it too badly.
10:45That has no flavor whatsoever.
10:48Apprehensive to try this now, but this is the sweet version of the tea.
10:53It's just sugar water.
10:54There's no tea flavor to either of these.
10:57What the hell is going on?
10:58That's just like syrup.
11:00That's not tea.
11:01You're drinking effectively just water with sugar in it.
11:04In the US, they can also get Dr. Pepper and Blue Powerade.
11:07Finally, we have this enormous container of Simply Lemonade.
11:11This is US-style lemonade.
11:13So for the Brits out there, Americans consider lemonade this cloudy, still lemon-flavored
11:18beverage, whereas we consider lemonade much more like a Sprite, like a clear, carbonated
11:23lemony beverage.
11:24There are also two more teas on the menu at a US Wingstop, but we didn't get them today.
11:28These are a Gold Peak Sweetened Green Tea and a Gold Peak Raspberry Tea.
11:32Although, if these two teas are anything to go by, those will also be bad.
11:36I know I was dogging to some of the wings earlier, but I liked the sandwich a lot.
11:44The churros, both churro things are great.
11:46The Lotus Biscoff churros, absolutely loved.
11:48Oreo one's great too.
11:49Really wish those would come back to the US.
11:51You guys got beer, so good on you, UK.
11:54Your Wingstop, very nice.
11:55Your garlic Parmesan, not garlicky and Parmigian-y enough.
12:00Definitely had the smell, but the taste?
12:03Having now tried the US and the UK Wingstop, I think broadly they're pretty similar.
12:07I think the UK does a pretty good job of replicating the American version.
12:10I think one thing that the UK might actually be doing better is maybe balancing some of
12:14those wing flavors.
12:15I think, for example, the lemon pepper over here was aggressively salty, and again, I
12:21think the lemon flavor was just a bit too artificial and a bit too harsh, whereas the UK version,
12:25I actually think was probably better and a bit more balanced.
12:28I think if there was one thing I could take back from the US menu and put on the UK menu,
12:32it would probably be the Cajun Wings.
12:34I think compared to the classic hot sauce wings, I just preferred the flavor.
12:38I think it was more of a deep flavor.
12:40The heat was there, but it was like balanced.
12:42It wasn't just kind of the acid in your face, on your tongue, the smoky flavor to it from
12:47the paprika.
12:48Yeah, I think it was just a very well balanced, delicious wing.
12:51If I could cut one thing from this menu and all menus around the world, I think it would
12:56have to be that god-awful attempt at tea.
12:58Both the unsweetened and the sweetened tea were kind of equally bad.
13:01The unsweetened one just didn't taste of anything.
13:03The sweetened one just tasted of sugar.
13:05I think you guys are really, really underusing tea.
13:08It's so good.
13:09It isn't just me being a biased Brit.
13:10Well, it kind of is, but you know, tea is excellent.
13:12You guys are currently messing it up big time.
13:15Get rid of it until you can figure it out.
13:17It's been a long week, man.
13:20It's also $230.