YOUTUBE CREATOR REVIEW: Fung Bros.

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I still can’t quite recall how I came across the Fung Bros. channel. My YouTube creator odyssey began when the pandemic and lockdown began back in Spring 2020. I like most people was a chord never meaning I never bothered to sign up for cable television. A huge irony because not only was I privileged enough to grow up with a television, VCR, and Nintendo in my room, but I also indicated that I wouldn’t be able to survive living overseas if I couldn’t have television. Like most people when the pandemic and lockdown began, my life became very boring. And I was very bored but in a most fortunate way.

I think I was looking for fried chicken recipes and that’s how I came across a Fung Bros. video about fried chicken. And from there, I started watching more of their videos and became a fan and familiar with the channel.

The Fung Bros. are made of brothers David and Andrew Fung who are both originally from Kent, Washington. They started off their channel on the West Coast, eventually being based in Los Angeles, but in recent times, they have shifted to the East Coast and are now based in New York City. Their channel is yes, another food vlog channel with reviews and food crawls dominated by Asian cuisine and everyday eats. I spent so much time in my early Fung Bros. fan days watching their comprehensive reviews of food found at local grocery stores and fast food and convenient stores.

There’s just something fun and admirable watching a couple of guys, who are sometimes joined by good friends who pop up frequently in the vlogs, and doing all of us a favor by eating everything on the menu and letting us know what the real deal is.

What sets the Fung Bros. apart from other similar food review channels is that they really lean on their Chinese/ABC heritage. When the Fung Bros. are doing food reviews of Chinese food, they really understand the history and can give us a first person take on the authenticity of the food they are eating. Even though the brothers are born and raised in the US, they are definitely those first generation kids who grew up with an even appreciation of their immigrant family’s roots and of their family’s adopted home.

I had friends growing up and when I entered the corporate workforce who are like that in that they are fully bilingual and understood the culture and customs and the pop culture of their parents’ mother countries. What was amazing to me was that there was nothing self-conscious or weird about it for them. It was totally natural to bob and weave between the cultures and it was totally normal to drop by the “foreign” stores to buy some groceries there and then go to the one everyone else goes to to buy the rest. I learned more about my own history and background by hanging around these sorts of friends.

The Fung Bros. totally remind me of those friends and for them to be a couple of young guys and be so proud of their bilingual skills and knowledge of their culture. They’re also not so serious and precious that they, too, can poke fun of stuff only people from their culture can understand. In a way I look at the Fung Bros. as if they were a couple of long lost cousins in my own family. There’s just that same level of familiarity when I’m watching their videos.

Andrew is the more outgoing and charismatic one between the two and which is probably why he tends to do the paid promo announcements. David is a bit more wooden in his delivery, but tends to go for the more serious and straight talk when needed. Both brothers are really talented and natural in front of the camera. Their vlogging style is reminiscent of what you would get from an MTV VJ. Very energetic and talkative like a reporter/fan on the scene. They address the audience and speak to the viewer as if we’re part of their crew.

But I do have to admit that I find the videos to be more interesting and less monotonous when they feature a familiar guest like Ritchie, Nelson, or Ryan. I especially LOVED the big friend group McDonald’s in China. When I watched these during the pandemic, I totally felt like I was there with them and I remembered all the fun times I had at McDonald’s while travelling outside of Canada with my friends. That one time we all made a pit stop in Buffalo, New York and ordered and ate 50 nuggets…that was LEGENDARY. And because Asian entertainment vloggers are not that common, it’s also really cool to see some notable Asian celebs like Awkwafina, Ronny Chieng, Jimmy O. Yang, Jeremy Lin and Andrew Yang pop up in some videos.

Although the channel is primarily focused on food vlogs, there are also videos that aren’t all about food. The brothers sometimes veer into other topics like fashion and social topics that may be of more interest to young people and/or young people of Chinese descent. I did like when there was a short time where they did start giving their thoughts on more serious things going on with their podcast-like vlogs, but those seem to have been paused on the channel (or at least I don’t see them on the YouTube channel).

I do think this is a lost opportunity as the Fung Bros. do talk about how Chinese people often have problems breaking the bamboo ceiling and through their work, they are trying to show that Asians like them do have a voice and a strong one at that. But then, they are careful to not toss their two cents into the ring when it comes to even more high level serious but political topics like voters’ rights and the Great Resignation which do affect young people and Asian people quite directly.

They had one video that talked about investments with a friend of theirs who is a wealth manager and that was a great video that touched upon the immigrant mindset of money and so it was disappointing to see that there has not been a similar video since. It would have been great to have expanded on that vlog to address more about young people and money and even first generation and immigrant ideals and ideas about money and wealth management. They also don’t really address their personal lives or personal day to day and I think that works for the channel.

In the end, if you love food, you love seeing every nook and cranny of a big city and what it has to offer in food, definitely check out the Fung Bros. If you’re a Gen Z, Millennial, or Xennial of Asian descent, you may connect with this channel even faster. All in all, if you’re having a rough day and you want to hang out with a couple of positive guys and see some cool food places, then check out the Fung Bros.