Best Fried Chicken in NYC | Eating With Ziggy

Posts Tagged With: Best Fried Chicken in NYC

Pecking House – Birds of Paradise

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Ziggy

I feel like sharing with you something very few know about me. You may want to sit down for this one. In 36 years of living in NYC I’ve never been to the Statue of Liberty. Tried once off the NJ side, saw the line and turned around. I figured since I live here I have all the time in the world to do it and she and I are not going anywhere. For the same reason it took me three years to try the Cronut. I was just passing by one day, saw no line, popped in and just bought one.

The FOMO thing just doesnt really work for me in NYC. Hype is often just that, a product of a marketing collaboration very few can afford. Maybe if I had lived in Bologna, I could see myself getting anxious to try a new Sichuan joint, and maybe miss an intimate Tortellini in Brodo filled evening. But NYC is the city of a million options, no matter the Borough. Yes dear friends, even on the island of Staten, I can now have decent Thai, Ramen, Filipino, best Sri Lankan, and maybe even the best Taquerias in NYC.

Pecking House, yet another product from an Eleven Madison Park alumni (see Milu) has spent three years as a pop-up in three boroughs before finding a permanent home in Park Slope. By that point the chili coated fried chicken already reached legendary status in NYC. A pop-up in this case doesnt mean the traditional kind. You had to add your name on a waiting list that meant waiting weeks sometimes. At some point there were close to 10,000 waiting for a crack at the bird. When your turn came you were assigned a day and time where you could pick up your order.

After one too many “Best Fried Chicken in NYC” calls, I’ll be lying if there wasnt any FOMO at all in this rare case. After a few years of hearing about it, I finally put my name on the list. But when my lovebird was ready I didnt make the effort to cancel all my plans for this. Over time FOMO evaporated and I forgot all about it. Even when the news of a permanent brick and mortar opening in Park Slope, I figured I’ll wait a few months and let the lines subside. But since Winter is Coming I couldnt wait too long.

It was almost disappointing when there was no line at all last Sunday, and I was able to easily snatch a table for two. Like at Milu you order up front, take a number and wait a few minutes that feel like hours for your order. The best way I can describe the chicken is this. They offer it naked (lightly seasoned, not spicy at all), Salted egg, and Chili flavor. The Chili was so satisfying, I may never try the other two, ever. It matches my taste like your old Nike shoes you still wear even though they have holes in them. Crispy without being too crispy, spicy without being too spicy, and just juicy enough.

Pecking House essentially perfected what the former colleagues at Milu do best. But that’s not all. Take the sides of a fast food place like Popeyes and see what Eleven Madison Park cooks can do with them. Most order the Dirty Fried Rice (dirty due to the rich chicken liver bits), and Mashed Potatoes with Duck Heart Gravy, rightfully so. But dont underestimate the Butter Bean Salad with an addictive sesame vinaigrette. The perfect order here for two is two two piece orders (one side each) and an extra side. Even the drinks here are elevated like the Elderflower Soda. If you enjoy putting Elderflower liquor on anything (good with bud light lime) you will enjoy this.

Pecking House
244 Flatbush Ave (Park Slope, Brooklyn)

Categories: Brooklyn, New York City | Tags: Best Fried Chicken in NYC, food, NYC restaurants, Pecking House, Pecking House NYC, restaurants | Leave a comment

Root and Bone – As Simple as ABC

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Ziggy

Before I tell you more about this gem in Alphabet City (the last of the Manhattan neighborhoods that hasn’t received a hip name), there are a few developments in my personal life I would like to share with you. Well, more like events really, not so much developments and not so interesting to the average reader Really. Two milestones in one day (yesterday) that are fairly significant in one’s growth as a parent and more importantly as an American parent. The first event was taking my youngest daughter, who is suddenly obsessed with hockey, to her first Islanders game. Only those readers who experienced this can understand the magnitude of this thrill. Especially those sport fans who never produced sons experiencing this a bit later on.

One can argue that the second event is even more significant, as it made me connect with the American people like never before. Everyone, including tourists should do it at least one time during the holidays to show solidarity and patriotism. We are Americans! Some of the strange things we do, like tipping and brunch, may seem different to some foreigners but this is who we are, and this our culture. You dont question it, just like I dont question taking my shoes off in other countries, and not assuming that all those wonderful little plates they give you in Portugal when you sit down at a restaurant are free. I’m talking about, you guessed it because what else could it be, wearing my first Ugly Christmas Sweater. Although all I have is a spray of Poo Pourri to show for as my consolation prize in the ugliest Sweater contest, it felt great I tell ya. You see I realized that there’s really no such thing as a fashion failure anymore. Any fashion faux pas is either brought back by hipsters at some point or makes a big comeback once everyone in the world agrees that its ugly. Or like in this case, its both! I’m thinking perhaps I should hold on to those 80’s Hawaiian shirts after all, before Mrs Ziggy cleans the ‘hers and hers’ closet again.

Remember that little girl I was talking about earlier? Other than hockey, she particularly likes mac and cheese and fried chicken. So when I was looking for a place that serves both last Sunday, a return to Root and Bone was a no brainer. I first tried their much hyped bird in the summer, not too long after they opened, but I may have been under some heavy Barolo influence which makes me like everything. This time it was for brunch, affectionately called in my house and every other country, lunch! But we don’t question, remember? Southern homey soul food by two Top Chef veterans that look more like “The Bachelor” veterans, via Miami. Famed Miami Beach Yarbird’s lose is NYC gain. Well, Yardbird probably didn’t lose anything, its just an expression people.

We started with Grandma Daisy’s Angel Biscuits. If you ever see something called Grandma Daisy’s Angel Biscuits on a menu and neglect to order it, you are an enemy of America! These were light, airy and awesome, and once dipped in the gravy-like Honey Chicken jus, awesomer. Benne seeds (fancy for sesame) and salt on the side for you to dip may be there purely for esthetic reasons, as I didnt feel the need. Terrific Mac ‘n’ Cheese topped with more biscuit and featuring elbow pastas that will make you donate the elbow pastas in your kitchen cabinet to charity.

I feel like there’s some sort of a chicken renaissance going on in NYC at the moment with both Rotissarie and the fried kind. You got the new Bird and Bubbles, The Habanero in Ma Peche, Somtum Der’s version, and so many other notables all over town. The fried chicken here should at least be mentioned in the same discussion. Its sweet tea brined, and dusted with dehydrated lemon magic powder that gives it that extra zesty tone. Although, the dusting was more liberal the first time around (perhaps too liberal) there was no flavor lose this time. The chicken, featuring no greasiness whatsoever is just a solid, juicy fried chicken, with flavors enhanced by the accompanying spiked tabasco honey sauce. I preferred to sprinkle it on the white meat only. And in true southern style we paired it with the Buckwheat Waffle that came with Cheddar and Whiskey Maple Syrup

Having eaten the chicken before, perhaps the most interesting item for me was the so called Trumansburg N .Y. Stone Ground Cheese Grits (top). They came loaded with corn and ‘pimento cheese’, a spreadable hybrid of cheese and Pimiento (cherry) peppers. The entire dish is a beautiful medley of textures and flavors. And in a city filled with mediocre desserts as it seems as of late, the sticky toffee pudding with whiskey sauce and beer flavored ice cream was perhaps the best finish I’ve had this year.