‘What The Fung?! – S1E1’ Review From The Editor

From YouTube to TV, The Fung Bros have been able to reach their love for entertaining the fanbase they have for years. You would think that their love of basketball and rapping would push them over the edge into the TV (although it has), but their love for food has been the last straw.

Debuting this past Thursday The Fungs and FYI team up to bring you a brand new food-traveling show known simply as “What The Fung” — you have to love the play on words here — Andrew and David Fung see if their passions for comedy, food and travel can work on the small screen like it has for their YouTube channel. Think of a ‘Diners, Drive-in, & Dives’ with an appeal to the younger audience and a mixture of comedy/education at times. It’s been done on YouTube and surely it can be brought here on their new series.

Each episode follows the Fungs in a different city, showing viewers “how to eat and drink like ballers on a budget.” Quick cuts, pulsating background music and the Fungs’ high-octane commentary keep the pace flowing like, well, a smartly edited YouTube video.

The premiere features Andrew and David on their home turf in Los Angeles, asking attractive locals about great eats and sampling lobster rolls, pork belly tacos and ice cream that utilizes molecular gastronomy. These guys aren’t necessarily seeking out the tastiest dishes as much as the trendiest ones; their choices may not be practical, but they make for good television — and Instagram posts.

Their “Fung Bros Food” videos have taken viewers to restaurants at home and abroad to showcase a variety of Asian cuisines, from Japanese street food to Hainanese chicken to classic dim sum. Which is said to be, one that’s perfected har gow shrimp dumplings and chicken feet.

The Fungs aren’t chefs, and they don’t pretend to be. In fact, perhaps the weakest moments of What the Fung?! are when the brothers try to describe the food. As is often true in the Internet world, the highlights occur when the brothers seem to go off script and, for example, do a freestyle rap on the street or chat with one of their favorite restaurant owners in Chinese.

Though there are no immediate plans to begin filming the second season, the two hope to expand their “eat-ventures” abroad someday, citing India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Laos as countries that top their travel list.

Through What the Fung?!, the Fung brothers hope to use food as a means of introducing viewers to a “new America” made up of diverse cultures–cultures they find themselves learning more about on each leg of their own journeys, which have propelled them to encourage others to do the same.

Viewers looking for serious, well-researched travel tips or expert reviews won’t find them here, but, hey, that’s not part of the Fung Bros.’ promise. The Cultures they find themselves learning more about with each visit to one just give for a great venture for the viewers and themselves. The Fungs do things for fun, for the simple pleasure of trying something new. They want us to do that, too.

‘What the Fung?!’ catch new episodes on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on FYI.