Short and sweet for the fine fried chicken at Sweet Chick

I wanted to just write something quick for one of my new favorite fried chicken places in the city - Sweet Chick! I never made it to the Williamsburg location when I lived in that neighborhood, but finally, I could not resist the lure of their chicken and waffles any longer after finding their LES spot.

THREE delicious flavored butters come with your waffle order (our flavors were lemon - my favorite, berry and herb), and it is well worth your while to try each and every one of them with your waffle.

But Han! Please tell me about the chicken!

Okay, bossy (just kidding, I love you very much)! The chicken is good!! Nice and crispy, a little thin on the batter but plenty crunchy, and well-seasoned.

But the real perk is the waffle. Crispy and light and perfect to soak up all that BUTTERRRRR. I put a little pat in each cube and then drench all that in syrup, but you feel free to eat it however you like (just make sure you use all that BUTTERRRR).

And definitely! Save room for dessert !! !!! ! !!

The toffee pudding is the best - a jarful of HOT HEAVEN drenched in toffee caramel and oozy goozy yumminess.

The peanut butter pie is a healthy portion of love in a bowl also, but gets quickly outshined by the toffee pudding. Please. eat. that. now.

I've since been to both locations of Sweet Chick (LES one takes reservations!) and love them both, because the chicken is consistent, the butters remain amazing, and the toffee pudding keeps me going on in life, because just knowing it is always there is all I need in life.

Han's Nonsensical Rating: Solid fried chicken, perfect waffles, and incredible toffee pudding.

Sweet Chick

178 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002

One of New York's Best Brunches: Root & Bone

Whoops.  It's somehow almost February.  

I blame holidays.  Working in Buffalo.  And.  Good ol' laziness.

To be honest, I am not sure if anyone reads this anymore, which is sad.  Because no one will see the glory of the brunch at Root & Bone.

A few months after my initial enamoration with the restaurant, Diana and Greeshma came through New York, and we shared my current favorite fried chicken along with half of the rest of the brunch menu.

I am so glad we went.  It was even better than I had remembered.

One of the most amazing things we discovered is the beauty of the gooey cheesy corn bread.  It comes overflowing in this freakishly adorable cast iron skillet.

Each spoonful elicits moans of pleasure - tang from the buttermilk whip and cheddar and sweetened with fresh corn niblets - the result just creamy wonder.

The biscuits were remarkably improved since my first visit, golden and gorgeous,

with beautifully tender interior, perfect for sopping up that chicken au jus and toasted sesame seeds.

The winter citrus and melon salad was beautiful - chunks of grapefruit, orange and tangerine tossed with melon and snips of basil.  The acidity chosen carefully to cut

the fat from the awesomely tender bacon drizzled with maple syrup.  Thick, salty and sweet.  Delicious.

We shared a basket of fried chicken among the four of us which was plenty,

though the thighs remain the absolute best cut and would just recommend getting an entire basket of thighs if you could - such flavorful succulence with every bite !

We also checked out their desserts for your sake, and can confidently confirm that they are amazing.  The chocolate pecan pie is served warm, and is studded with huge pecans and just enough chocolatey goo to keep the whole pie together.

My hands-down favorite was the toffee pudding with its praline ice cream.  Just look at it.  It's swimming in caramel, the pudding is warm and melts in your mouth, and there's nothing else you can really want after this except a nap.

Han's Nonsensical Rating: One of my favoritest brunches ever in all of New York.  Just get everything and love yourself and the new food baby you'll conceive afterwards.

Root & Bone
200 East 3rd Street, New York, NY 10009

Gotham West Market: Ivan's Slurp Shop, Genuine Roadside and Jeni's

Gotham West Market is a newish foodie mecca open to lure the likes of those who get hungry after they tour the Intrepid (it is a big boat!).

There's more than a handful of eateries and drinkeries housed in the airy, upscale warehouse.  The layout is simple, shops along the edges, cafeteria style seating in the middles, restrooms downstairs and free, bountiful water (nice touch!).

Every place looks popular, but Ivan's Slurp Shop is probably one of the top, serving a handful of different types of extravagantly priced ramen bowls - which isn't quite fair to say, because everything is pretty extravagant in Gotham West.

The 5 second story of Ivan is that he was a white guy who majored in Japanese, got a degree from the Culinary Institute, moved to Japan for a period of time, learned the tricks of the ramen trade, opened up a ramen shop in Tokyo, and now has brought his noodle-making expertise here to New York where he has set up a couple slurp shops.

One of the intriguing ramen options is the roasted garlic mazemen which comes with a couple slices of pork chashu, a nice handful of julienned scallions, black sesame and option to add egg, more chashu and spicy oil to your heart's delight.  The options are what puts the extra in extravagant.

The noodles are springy, and the thick sauce full of so much garlicky love, you won't want to make out with someone for at least a week.  It's comforting, but quite decadent - half a bowl was more than enough for me to have an ample taste.

We then stepped next door to Genuine Roadside, hawking griddled hamburgers and chicken sandwiches.

Not just any kind of chicken sandwiches.  Fried chicken sandwiches.  (Duh, you know.)

The chicken sandwiches come with a very healthy slab of apple / celeriac coleslaw and sambal mayo.  The chicken is nice and moist, with a good crackly crust, but the slaw was nothing worth writing to you about.

The wait situation is a bit of a disaster at Genuine - I think our sandwich took over 25 minutes, which yielded us a complimentary batch of fries that were cold and also nothing worth writing to you about.

What is worth writing to you about is Jeni's summer pop-up shop.  A small little cart with several of Jeni's seasonal and signature flavors right in the heart of the market!  I couldn't help but stay true to my heart's favorite with a cone of the dark chocolate.  It is every bit as good as it was as my first bite in Columbus, the rich truffle-smooth texture just embraces every tastebud with a happy hug.  Thanks for answering my dreams, Jeni, and being everywhere I want you to be.

The market is cute.  You should check it out.  Before September (cause you'll want to get Jeni's - don't live a life of regrets).

Han's Nonsensical Rating: I'd prolly skip the $15 ramen bowl at Ivan, the $10 fried chicken sandwich at Genuine Roadside, and maybe try your hand at the other eateries in the market and hope you fare better.  However, there's nothing better than Jeni's though, and it should be your destination after any meal you do decide upon.

Gotham West Market
600 11th Ave
New York, NY

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop


Genuine Roadside

The Fried Chicken at Root & Bone & National Ice Cream Day

Last Sunday, I had the best day ever.  I'm pretty sure it was a lot better than yours.  And yours.  And yes, you too.

It began at Root & Bone, in the most letter-friendly part of the city (Alphabet City ! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!).

I met up with Jean and David who diligently put our names down for a table and patiently waited around for 1.5 hours until the table was ready.  True friendship, guys.

The restaurant is rustic and adorable - whitewashed, wood furniture and biscuit smells everywhere. 

So of course I had to get some.

The biscuits come three to an order with a side of chicken au jus sauce and a pile of sesame seeds that always make everything extra delicious.

The biscuits are a bit on the harder side, dense and flat, but soften up well in the sauce.  I'd probably skip these and just eat a lot more of everything else.

Because, let me just get it out of the way - Root & Bone is some of the best fried chicken I've ever had.  

It's a bold statement.  I want to doubt myself for saying it - I feel your incredulity already, but it's true !

Root & Bone is flexible with how you order the chicken - you can do half baskets (4 pieces), full baskets or any kind of baskets, which is what I did, cause it's all about the thighs, baby.

Just look at that lusty, lusty crust, lightly sprinkled with soft sugar flakes, because chicken skin makes the best kind of dessert you can ever have.

The chicken itself is incredibly succulent, brined overnight in sweet tea (which you should also order here because it's the right amount of tasty) and oh so flavorful.  Coupled with that crisp skin, each bite is absolute perfection, though most of us liked to peel the skin off to eat at the end, savoring the very best for last.

Jean and David did the noble thing of sharing two plates - a half basket of chicken in addition to the shrimp and grits, which looked freakin' spectacular.

They also shared a side of cheddar cheese waffles with whiskey syrup because they're madmen.

The boy had the impressive chicken and waffles sandwich - juicy chicken breast pieces and green tomatoes hugged by two cheddary waffles.

While the chicken was impeccable in sandwich form, the waffles are surprisingly dense - thick, doughy, and super filling - so choose your carbs carefully if you want more room for that sweet, sweet chicken.

Heather, Harry and Anne showed up later, nabbing three seats at the window.

The best part of the window seats is that we can continue the eating experience from the outside!

Jean contemplating more bites of chicken or mac 'n cheese.

I think these happy faces reflect all the glory that is Root & Bone!

The boy and I continued our day's adventure to Hester Street Fair to celebrate one of the best days of the year, National Ice Cream Day !

The market housed about a dozen little vendors, but the chewy Turkish ice cream from Lezzetli,

drew his attention.  You should have seen his grin as he peeled back the lid to his ridiculously chewy ice cream made out of goat milk (and hence, lactose-free-friendly!).

Flavors of vanilla and herbs permeated each fun spoonful.

Never able to resist anything dreamsicle, I grabbed a popsicle from Mom & Popsicles (also who can resist a good company pun name).

The ice cream was quite tart, flecked with bits of lemon zest and slightly creamy from the low-fat yogurt - a refreshing afternoon treat after a belly full of fried chicken.

Summer days really can't get much better than this.

Han's Nonsensical Rating: I think I might start working out just to eat more fried chicken from Root & Bone. It's my new favorite-favorite that I hope you try SUPER SOON (and invite me to eat your skin! That sounds gross, and I don't care!!).

Root & Bone
200 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10009


Lezzetli Ice Cream

Mom & Popsicles
Hester Street Fair
Hester St & Essex
New York, NY

Montreal ! Nibbles at Jean-Talon Marche and Fried Chicken at Dinette Triple Crown

My favorite day in Montreal might have been the second day, in which we woke up to check out the Jean-Talon Market, a fantastic open-air farmer's market with a section of prepared food proprietors hocking things like ice cream, tacos, fresh seafood and sausages.

Immediately upon entry, we passed by a girl sorting these pastry treats out.  At $0.80, I couldn't resist.

It tasted like a cold, custard tart.  Light, not too sweet, and delicious.

My eyes were going wild, especially at this gigantic tray of pork carnitas.

But I resisted, in order to snack at the seafood end of the market.  Choice of oysters are shucked to order.

Oysters are served in wooden trays, laden with ice, wedges of lemon and freshly grated horseradish.

We grabbed a few Japanese oysters as well as a couple behemoth oysters called "Sea Angels."  The size of our fist, it was fun watching other people struggle with how to eat it, until then it was time for me to eat it, and well, there's just no elegant way of slugging it down, but boy was it briny, oh so plump and amazing.

Across the way, at the Aqua Market, seafood is fried to order.  We grabbed a plate of fried calamari to go with our oysters.

The fried calamari was absolute perfection - so fresh, tender, and beautifully battered with a touch of spice.  This was one of my most favorite eats during the trip.

To wash it all down, we grabbed some fresh smoothies from the smoothie stand, though the squeezed-to-order orange juices might have been the best bet, so vibrant in color.

After, we stared at all the beautiful fruits and vegetables.  Many of the fruit stands have plates with sliced fruits for sampling.  So many plums are in season right now !

I could just look at this produce all day!  Check out the size of these cauliflower!

A few minutes walk away from the market, we grabbed lunch at Dinette Triple Crown, a hipsteriffic spot to grab fried chicken.  You know it's a hipster place, when the first question they ask you is, "Is this for a picnic or for here?"  And if you order it for a picnic, they place everything in fantastically large picnic boxes with all the sauces and treats for fun outdoor eating.  What a great idea!

And so many sauces they had, sauces of mustard and vinegar bases, chilis and more.

The freshly made lemonades were tart, but sweet, and faintly pink (so extra lovely).

A plate of fried chicken comes with two or three pieces of fried chicken, with choice of three sides.  We grabbed mashed potatoes, hush puppies and collard greens.

The fried chicken was peppery and seasoned well, but the crust was definitely not crispy.  If it had some crunch, it would have been a great fried chicken, but with a softer crust, it does make a solid picnic poultry.

The real winner of the plate was the hush puppies.  Little hot pockets of airy, spicy fried dough topped with a creamy chive sauce.  Awesome.

After this meal, we were completely fueled for a long day of taking in all of Montreal's neverending charm!

Han's Nonsensical Rating: Jean-Talon Market is great fun - do not miss the oysters and fried calamari, or you'll live a life steeped with deep regret !  Dinette Triple Crown has decent fried chicken, but nothing worth traveling out of your way for, unless you love a cute picnic basket.

Jean-Talon Market
7070 Avenue Henri Julien  Montreal, QC H2S 3S3, Canada

Dinette Triple Crown
6704 Rue Clark Montréal, QC H2S 3G2