Pure Poultry Love @ Hill Country Chicken

Ahh!  Oh the time!  I've been traveling to Dallas for a bit of late, and Diana and I also took a lovely jaunt to the Northwest to eat our stomachs out (food babies left and right!), hence the sad recent silence.

I finally made it back to NYC and managed to grab some new eats!

My new-new favorite is a spot I had always passed by when walking near Madison Square Park and noted because the window had my initials!

Hill Country Chicken, a new offshoot of the popular Hill Country BBQ, specializing in comfort food a la fried chicken made with humanely raised chickens!

Food is served up cafeteria style where you are served food along an assembly line.  There is nothing prettier than the words "Homemade pies and ice cream," right?

Lovely trays of chicken.  Hill Country sells chicken by the piece, ranging from wings ($1.75) to thighs ($3.50) to breasts topping the chart ($5.50)

Sides include fresh cut fries, pickles, corn salad and the above: cheesy fried mashed potatoes, which I just had to have, naturally

Look at that overloaded cheesy goodness!  The potatoes were really tasty.  Super creamy mashed potatoes were topped with french fries (!! I know!  Potatoes on top of potatoes!  Brill!!), bacon and sharp cheddar cheese.  I ate more of this than I would like to admit.  A small is definitely more than enough of a proper serving.

There are two ways in which the chicken is prepared: Hill Country classic (double breaded and finished with some house seasoning) and Mama El's (skinless (whaa?!) and breaded with a crunchy batter.  Both types are brined in buttermilk.  I opted for the Hill Country classic (you know I need that skin!) and of course a biscuit, for research purposes!

The buttermilk brine is a thing of beauty because the chicken was ridiculously moist and juicy, like succulent in every possible, conceivable way.  I couldn't get over every gorgeous bite.  The batter was thin, but sufficiently crispy with a touch of sweetness as well as saltiness.  Perfectly flavored.

This shot of biscuit and honey is specifically for Diana.  Everyone else can start craving it too though!  The biscuit was fine, not great but not bad.  It was heavy on the butter and tasted fantastic with honey.

I grabbed a mini pie ($3) to go; they had a variety of options ranging from coconut cream to banana cream to something called the Texas Billionaire which was described like a decadent candy bar pie (that's how we roll!).  However, the clerk let me in on his current favorite, the monthly special that was unlisted (I love eating secret pies!), which was a peanut butter banana cream chocolate ganache pie.  Uhm.  How could that pie have every single ingredient that I love in life?

Needless to say, the pie was delightful.  The perfect size, light yet indulgent and satisfying.  Ever since our Northwest trip, I am kind of loving banana cream pies!

By the next morning, as I was headed to the airport back to Kansas City, I was still thinking about that unbelievably juicy thigh from Hill Country.  I still think about it now.  I am obsessed!  Sure the chicken is pricey, but it's really worth it!  I am definitely heading back there my next weekend in New York; I gotta try their pie shake, a milkshake made with their pie of the day.  Oh, be still my heart!

Hill Country Chicken

1123 Broadway

New York, NY 10010

(212) 257-6446