the Fried Chicken before Cheeseburger before Beer Diet

After having some cocktails for my friend's birthday at Kemia Lounge (on 44th and 9th with $6 cocktails during happy hour, including a well balanced french martini) the next logical step to take before our 5 Napkin Burger reservation was clearly for fried chicken. We went around the corner to everyone's favorite chicken scented window, Piece of Chicken. I insisted he at least try the goodness and then I just had to join in and get a piece myself. I have sampled the mac n cheese and collard greens here but the $1 single piece of chicken is what is most worth getting here.  They manage to get the juicy, crispy thing down right. I most enjoy the simple fact that you can get one piece and I convince myself only one can't be bad for me. 

After some fried chicken it was due time for a cheeseburger and beer. I didn't really look at the menu, I knew I wanted the Original. The cheese and onion dominate the flavor cleverly, who could resist gooey cheese covered meat. Our waiter may have been hinting at something when he brought over knives, but I was determined to shove it down the old fashioned way regardless of the mess on my face and hands. There was a lot of burger meat in that soft bun and while it had some nice flavor going on, it was a wee wee bit dry. The fries were good enough to that I had to finish them despite me being way way way too full, although I shamefully did leave a bite over of the burger. 

Last stop was the Pony Bar that recently opened. They have an ever changing selection of beers on tap. They display the beer brand, type, and alcohol content on a board behind the bar and announce the changes to it as they switch kegs. I was shocked to find out the witt beer I selected was only $5. Woohoo! 

Kemia Lounge-630 9th ave 

Piece of Chicken- 362 w 45th

5 Napkin Burger-630 9th ave

The Pony Bar- 637 10th ave

Tehuitzingo Deli: gimme more al pastor

Food adventure lovers heart this place for its authentic tacos and its inside-a-deli-ooo cool factor. I headed past the dried chilies and towards the little ladies behind the window to pick up some fun tacos for my lunch the next day. I was happy to see they reheated nicely in the microwave, a minute thirty did the trick. I ordered chorizo, but got pollo. Ok fine, I still liked it. The al pastor is where its at though. Pork and pineapple is a favorite taco type of mine and their version was quite tasty. Both the pork and the chicken were shredded up, tender, and well spiced. They were even nice enough to pack up some hot sauce for me. Though this is not my scrumptious Jackson Heights two dolla tacos, at $5.25 for the two they are a nice stand in. 

 695 10th ave

Hummus Kitchen: hummus is yummus

Decided to walk up 9th to catch a bite; I wanted something on the lighter side and somewhere with outdoor seating to take advantage of the spring breezes. Hummus Kitchen fit the bill with 3 or 4 tiny tables outside the little restaurant. The lemon mint drink-lemonana is the ultimate drink for sipping outdoors in the sun, not to mention kinda gorgeous. I wanted to try out as much of the menu as possible so we chose the mixed platter. It came with a majority of the appetizers on the menu: 2 very green and tasty falafel, roasted cauliflower, a bureka with a nice feta eggplant filling, a few spoonfuls of tabouli, a small serving of the always pleasant combo-feta and beets , and a smokey babaganush (which I actually prefer over hummus, if a Babaganush Kitchen opened up, I would be first in line). The main thing that was missing from this sampler was any hummus.  Being our first visit here, ordering the hummus sampler was very necessary. I was hoping that the hummus recipe itself would be varied, maybe by having one more fava bean based, etc., but the differences in hummus were due to the toppings. Still, they are all enjoyable, with the mushroom being the favorite. I have never thought of putting together mushrooms and hummus, but I enjoyed the pairing.  

I had heard about the sabih sandwhich- eggplant, egg, pickles, and hummus- and had to try it. The pickled element was odd but not in a bad way. I wish the eggplant had more of a presence though. I was kinda hoping for something resembling the magical eggplant that Pick a Pita puts in their sandwiches. Prices are pretty reasonable and it was nice to fill up without any meat... thought I can't say I wouldn't have ordered a shish kebob if it were on the menu. 

768 9th ave