On Wednesday night the air with thick – not with smoke, but thick with the excitement of a chicken wing challenge at Smoque in Civic.
For the uninitiated, the Chicken Wing Challenge has been a hallmark of the highly successful American-inspired diner since it opened in 2012. All-in-all, some 300 people have sat down and asked themselves, “Can I eat 50 spicy, succulent, slow-cooked wings in just 30 minutes?” Of all those, only 14 have passed the test.
Canberra’s latest extreme eater, Miguel Hambriento, was determined to pass the test. Accompanied by six mates, he led the charge as the group sat down to consume (potentially) 350 wings between them.
After a warm-up shot of tequila, the enthusiasm of the team hit its peak. The orders were placed, the cutlery arrived, and all that was needed was the wings. After ten minutes the giant baskets arrived…
…and the clock started.
Suddenly, the room went quiet. A hush settled over the table of eaters and onlookers, as Miguel focussed heavily on getting ahead of the required rate of one wing every 36 seconds.
Yep, you read that correctly. One wing. Thirty-six seconds.
So, how did it play out? Here’s a blow-by-blow account of the effort.
5.00 mins. Miguel has put away around 15 wings. It’s an impressive start – setting a pace of one every 20 seconds. The focussed look on his face is extraordinary. The question is: can he keep this up for another five minutes to really put a dent in the challenge?
12.00 minutes. It looks as though Miguel has broken the back of this gastronomic test. During a rare moment of mouth-wiping, we had the chance to how he was feeling. “Chickened” was his simple response. Nice.
20.00 minutes. By our read, he’s got 19 or 20 more to go. As the waiter walks by, we ask him for his opinion and, with a look and a couple of nods, he simply says, “That’s a good pace.”
There’s only one thing that can stop him now: the 30 chicken wings he’s already consumed. Game on!
25.00mins. He’s slowed down. So much so he appears to now be chewing in slow motion. It’s a long way from where he was 20 minutes ago, and it’s now a very long way to victory. When asked how he was feeling between long, painful chews, he just said, “Ouch.”
29.00 mins. “I actually can’t chew anymore.”
30.00mins. The clock stops and Miguel Hambriento has put in a valiant effort. 36 of the 50 wings were devoured. He looks pretty happy to stop. Fortunately, there was hungry cheer-squad happy to make sure they didn’t go to waste.
“It was the heaviness of the sauce that killed me,” Miguel observed. “I could eat more, but that sauce, which is bloody delicious, has just smashed my palate.”
Think you’ve got what it takes? Head in to Smoque in Civic or Woden today to take the challenge and defeat the efforts of the brave Miguel Hambriento!
