Fried Chicken

[DonRocks]

the downtown place with the hard descending steps and reputation for the best fried chicken in town

Your reference to Boss Shepherd's made me realize (to my surprise) that we had no thread for Fried Chicken. I think people are always up to hear about who is currently doing a good job with this American classic.

So let me begin by throwing one out for you: Hong Kong Palace.

Sheila: "Did he say 'Hong Kong Palace?'"

Carla: "I think he did!"

The other evening, I ordered the Fried Chicken with Spicy Potato ($11.95, item C19 on their carryout menu), and got some of the best fried chicken I've had in a long, long time. Cut into bite-sized morsels and served mixed in with bite-sized cubes of potato, this is a spicy dish, but not excessively spicy, and not oily in the least - in fact, it's quite dry in terms of presentation, and that's exactly the way you want it. The chicken itself was about as perfect as fried chicken can be - with wonderful seasoning and a perfect chew (dare I say it's toothsome?) - and most of the spice lies in the potato rub which you can eat around (but you won't want to).

Try this dish, and you'll be both shocked and addicted. If you want a well-balanced meal, add a green; if you want great fried chicken, this will do you.

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[The following posts have been split into separate threads:

Blue & White Carryout  (Hunter)]

[darkstar965]

Great topic.

I miss Gillian Clark. Will she ever fry again?

 

[Simul Parikh]

Wow, totally agree with HKP fried chicken and potato dish. Went on V-Day, my friends made me go instead of continuing to mope the whole weekend.

That dish is fantastic, and used to be a substitute when they didn't have the fried chicken with sesame stuffed chili peppers, but now it's a premier dish. So full of flavor, spicy but not overpowering, and just looks really lovely on the plate.

I also had Linda get us something new. She gave us a different lamb dish, it was stir fry with vegetables (onions, hot peppers, red peppers) and it was delicious. She didn't give a way to order it, just said "Just tell me you want that lamb dish you got last time, and I make."

The other thing we have been getting is the garlicky cucumber salad. Just freaking fantastic, we got two of those for the 4 of us.

Mama Reacher's fried chicken in Del Ray is pretty good, but pricey for what it is.

[PollyG]

A&J (Annandale, though the Rockville location tends to be remarkably consistent) does a fried chicken and rice dish (or fried chicken and noodle soup) that is dark meat chicken, lightly breaded and then sliced after frying.  It is juicy and delicious.  And I do love the HKP dish Don described, which has the added bonus of being "breaded" in corn starch and accessible to those who have to be gluten-free. 

[darkstar965]

I can't speak for her, but the last I heard, she was in California.

(Don't be shocked - Carole Greenwood was in South Africa!)

Dislike.

[DanielK]

Gillian Clark left CA at the end of the year, and is now the chef at Kitchen on George in Mobile, AL.

I'm with Polly - fried chicken at A&J > fried chicken at HKP.

Jeff Heineman does an awesome fried chicken at Grapeseed. Right now only Thursday lunch, though I heard him making noises about extending it to Thursday dinner as well.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Antonio Burrell did a righteous fried chicken (along with decadent fried Twinkies) at a Rockwell picnic a few years ago. His technique is spot on, and the results are incredible. Wherever he sets up shop, look for it....

[darkstar965]

Antonio Burrell did a righteous fried chicken (along with decadent fried Twinkies) at a Rockwell picnic a few years ago. His technique is spot on, and the results are incredible. Wherever he sets up shop, look for it....

Think I remember reading about that picnic but missed it. Then, wasn't he also doing it during a short stint at Redwood in Bethesda too? Hmmm, maybe his next time will be the charm for me. :-)

[weezy]

I was at that picnic and that fried chicken was damned good.  He brought at least two ginormous hotel pans of it and it was obliterated in just a few minutes.  An outsider looking at that crowd that day would have thought it was Shark Week and someone had just thrown chum in the water.

[lion]

Really liked Gillian Clark's General Store and the fried chicken in that era.

Since no one mentioned it in this thread, would suggest King's Barbeque at Lancaster County Dutch Market.

[zorro]

Best fried chicken in Montgomery County: Hershey's Restaurant in Gaithersburg.

[bookluvingbabe]

On 2/19/2015 at 11:46 PM, DanielK said:

Gillian Clark left CA at the end of the year, and is now the chef at Kitchen on George in Mobile, AL.

I'm with Polly - fried chicken at A&J > fried chicken at HKP.

Jeff Heineman does an awesome fried chicken at Grapeseed. Right now only Thursday lunch, though I heard him making noises about extending it to Thursday dinner as well.

Gillian Clark is now the executive chef at The Gentry in Brooklyn.

[Lydia R]

2 hours ago, bookluvingbabe said:

Gillian Clark is now the executive chef at The Gentry in Brooklyn.

She recently posted on FB a photo of the dining room at Colorado Kitchen and I realized how much I missed it (didn't even know I liked greens, but always knew I loved pie).

I think she's on a short sabbatical right now and will return to cooking next month - not sure if it'll still be in Brooklyn.