I fancy myself a bit of a fried chicken aficionado. I fry up my own at home on a regular basis, and I seek it out at restaurants around the city. Yes, I’m still partial to the fried chicken of the South, but I’ve found some good places here in New York City, too. So when a friend gushed over the fried chicken at East Side Poultry, I just had to get a delivery one chilly evening.
It’s nondescript deli-looking place on the Upper East Side, near a bunch of inexpensive eateries of wildly varying cuisines. It’s rather large, however, with two distinct areas. There’s a lot of cooking going on in that storefront!
I ordered online via SeamlessWeb, and decided on the fried chicken meal at $26. Why not? It’s a whole fried chicken (yes, in parts) and two large sides, for which I chose garlic roasted potatoes and macaroni and cheese. I fancy myself a bit of a mac and cheese aficionado too, or at least like to try others’ attempts in order to improve my own. After a reasonably short wait, the intercom buzzed and I was in possession of my dinner.
This is much of the whole fried chicken. Eight reasonably-sized pieces, the skin covered in a coating of flour and deep-fried. There was nothing greasy about the chicken, and it was still warm when I opened its tin.
Something was missing, though. First, it wasn’t salted, and honestly I’m not sure it was a flavored coating at all. It was just fried breading, little bits here and there melding with the egg or milk they used to help the breading stick to the bird, but overall, not humming with flavor on its own. Hopefully, East Side Poultry has a fairly good idea of how to deep-fry a bird, yes?
The garlic roasted potatoes were likewise hot, and were soft enough to yield to a fork. The scent of toasted garlic, like a good bagel, filled the room. The potatoes were otherwise perfectly ordinary, and plenty were packed into the tin for two meals. Other than the garlic, however, these were fairly bland, almost acting solely as a vehicle for the garlic flavor.
The mac and cheese was packed in the standard plastic pint-of-soup container (very unphotogenically, I might add). I was a little concerned about how a pint of mac and cheese constituted a “large” side item, but no matter, that was plenty. It wasn’t gummy pasta, but like the potatoes, it wasn’t bursting with flavor. I like a little something extra in my mac and cheese, I guess, and this didn’t deliver on that front.
Plate #1, a little of everything. I love the dark meat chicken parts, but those will be tasty even a couple days old, so I started with that demon piece, the breast. I figured if they could succeed with this huge chunk of white meat, it would bode well for the remainder of the food.
Well, it was a bit of a hit, a bit of a miss. I don’t know if this conveys how juicy that breast meat came out, but it was plenty juicy. Trouble is, well, the average chicken breast has very little flavor on its own, this one included, and I really needed the coating to provide some reason to eat this whole piece. It failed to do so.
At any rate, I went through a thigh and wing as well; I don’t judge a fried chicken place by its wings, as they’re all but useless filler pieces, but these wings had a little heft, so that was a bonus. The thigh was really quite good, and I believe a subsequent visit might entail sticking to the dark meat.
I recommend the dark-meat chicken at East Side Poultry, though you’ll probably be reaching for the salt as I did. The menu boasts an impressive array of foods from which to choose, including standard Jewish deli staples like matzo ball soup and hot pastrami sandwiches, so next time I’ll try new dishes to replace, or more likely supplement, my chicken feast. For $26, I did receive an awful lot of food, so I’d consider it worth the money. Often SeamlessWeb seems to offer East Side Poultry at a 20% discount, so keep your eyes peeled for that deal, too. It’s definitely worth a shot.
Feisty Foodie says
I get very sad when people forget to salt my food. One of my biggest sticking points is not adding salt to things in a restaurant – I believe food served to me should be served as it’s meant to be eaten (with minor exceptions related to cuisine, like dipping sauces for frites or bbq sauce for certain foods – with which I know you disagree), so if I have to add salt, it’s automatic FAIL. At least you looked on the bright side though, bully for you, I’m not that forgiving.
Feisty Foodie says
PS Did you tell your friend who recommended it? What did s/he say about your experience – an off night, perhaps/hopefully?
Noah says
I went a couple times when I lived up there. Nothing special and kinda bland. I’d go to Chicken Circus (I think that’s what it’s called– on 83d and 1st) or Pio Pio for a whole chicken fix.
BeerBoor says
I know the place of which you speak, and of course of Pio Pio – but I really wanted fried chicken, and both those places excel at roasted chicken.
My friend had a better opinion of East Side, but then I don’t think she appreciates salt as much, say, you or me, Yvo. I’ll retry, but not a whole chicken.
T.C. says
Mmm fried chicken. Too bad about the evil breast with lack of seasoning. I would have reacehd for ketchup.
DARK MEAT = winning!
Hungry says
Have you ever fried your own organic free range chicken? Just wondering if the blandness is truly a natural occurrence or due to the American bastardization of chicken by making the breasts huge.
BeerBoor says
The chicken itself is rather juicy and has a lot of “chickeny” flavor — but dangit, season the coating.
Also, what’s wrong with huge American breasts?
skippymom says
With my condition we don’t salt food because I really can’t have it, so when I make my fried chicken we use paprika, garlic, oregano and pepper in the flour mix. It is amazing [if I do say so myself :D] but I would be sad if they didn’t use any seasoning in this – because the crust looks delicious and if the breast is moist then they are cooking it well.
Still, if I could get fried chicken delivered [!] I would be in heaven. Living in the suburbs sucks. 😀