Best of East Bay Eats: fried chicken sandwich edition
I've been spending a lot of time in the East Bay, with school and work. And included in this time is eating time.
Tied for my favorite fried chicken sandwich of the East Bay, is Gregoire's "fried buttermilk chicken filet with spicy cole slaw." My hopes weren't high when they told met hat their deep fryer was broken so they'd be making it on the stove - apparently hot enough to fry chicken but not hot enough to make their crispy potato puffs which I tried to order. Then they took forever toasting the bread, and putting the fried chicken inside of the oven. I was certain that everything would turn out dry, having waited 20 minutes for my food to be ready. Instead, I was surprised that the chicken was moist, and the mayonnaise based sauce and spicy cole slaw were just so indulgently rich, tangy, and savory all at once. Served with couscous salad. You can find Gregoire in both Berkeley and the Piedmont neighborhood of Oakland.
If Gregoire's chicken was moist, the fried chicken po'boy at Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen near Downtown Berkeley BART was downright juicy. Here, my order came out only a few minutes after ordering. Here the main event is the chicken. Boneless chicken breast was piled two-deep onto the bread, and each bite yielded a burst of juice coming out. Impressive not just for chicken, but for chicken breast. The other components of the po'boy could have used a bit more seasoning, but maybe if they did have more presence the chicken wouldn't have been so revelatory. Served with potato salad.
A disappointment was my fried chicken sandwich at Bakesale Betty's. I had high hopes for it as quite a few people recommended it. The lines also stretched down a few storefronts - that should be a good sign right? With taking so long to get your sandwich, you'd expect it to either be made to order or fresh off the assembly line because turnover is so high. Instead, the chicken was soggy and lukewarm, and the slaw was not tangy enough to offset the oiliness, while being wet enough to make the bread soggy. The scones and cookies here are exemplary, so I'd stick with those.
