NY Eats: Fried Chicken mini-roundup
I went to an Asian buffet restaurant with my family in San Diego. It was one of those that you can find across the US - a variety of stir-fried standards, sushi, crab claws, etc. I was looking forward to some fried chicken wings, since it's something I'd never make for myself. Unfortunately, these turned out to be overly doughy and not crispy.
So when I went to New York, I felt an urge to have more fried chicken to "erase" the earlier taste. By coincidence, one evening my sister suggested Umi Nom in Brooklyn. I had read about their fried chicken before in this New York Times article, so I was excited to try it. The chicken was well fried - crispy but not too greasy. I wish the tangy sauce (the yellow puddle on the bottom, in the picture) and the spicy chili taste could have infused the breading and meat a bit more.
For lunch one day I chose Tebaya, a very informal Japanese eatery in Chelsea. There was a constant stream of big to-go orders while we waited and ate, which is a good sign. I tried two kinds of fried chicken: chicken karaage (in the front of this picture) and the Nagoya-style sesame wings (in the back). The wings were quite good - sweet but not too sweet and just the right amount of sauce. The karaage was nicely fried, but the single lemon slice was not sufficient acidity to cut the grease and add flavor. Adding both my and my sister's leftover salad dressing improved things greatly.
Tebaya's food was good, but I wouldn't make a special trip out to have it again. I think partly it's because the interior is seriously dingy, with the floor matted in black dirt, the tables unwiped, and the trash can crusted with previous refuse. It's one of the few times interior cleanliness has so detracted from the experience.
