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davis_square2008-09-05 06:47 pm
jamiesquared.livejournal.com) wrote in davis_square2008-09-05 06:47 pm
Fried chicken
Where is the best fried chicken around here? I have a craving for it and KFC just wont do!
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When Bob the Chef's closed, they took perhaps the best f.c. in the area with them; it was also available with waffles, which was an extremely pleasant nutritional train wreck.
But all is not lost - the Summer Shack over by Alewife offers Jasper's Fried Chicken, which is darn good stuff, better than all but the absolute elite. I've tried it at the Back Bay Summer Shack and it's not as good; the Alewife location is better all around in my experience.
Also - in the Porter Exchange building, one of the Japanese stalls makes an excellent boneless fried chicken; the Japanese like to use boneless thighs and coat them with a batter that's very much in line with American fried chicken. It's served with mayonnaise for dipping, which you're free to ignore if you want, and potato salad; I've found that it can definitely satisfy a craving. I don't remember the name of the stall, but if you go in the Mass Ave entrance, and go to the central corridor with Citibank behind you and the sushi place in front of you, it's the one just to your left that fronts on the central corridor.
Good for you for seeking out the real thing! And I, too, am eager to know the whereabouts of Mrs. Jones in Dorchester!
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You were right...
It *is* Cafe Mami - I had confused them with the Cafe Ittyo or whatever it is around the corner.
All this talk had put me in the mood, so to speak, so I stopped in tonight and had the Tatsuta Set - best darn $8.99 plate in the area if you ask me!
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Here's more info on Mrs. Jones
I am off to check it out right now for lunch.
Re: Here's more info on Mrs. Jones
Re: Here's more info on Mrs. Jones in DORCHESTER
Mrs. Jones was delicious, but a bit wacky. If you do go all the way down to Dorchester, have a little bit of patience -- it's worth it!
First off, it's cash-only and take-out only. They have a few stools at a narrow counter along the side, but it doesn't look very comfortable. Be prepared to travel. Don't worry, the fryliciousness does not suffer for it.
We went for fried chicken, so I ordered fried chicken. It was all wings, no other parts. And this is not KFC, so don't be expecting a thick crispy (or soggy) skin. It was delicious! Savory, good seasoning, not too heavy and not at all greasy. I don't regret my choice at all.
That said, I saw a lot of people ordering the catfish special of the day, and OMFG, that looked amazing. Definitely going to try that next time, with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of one of the many hot sauces lined up along that counter (interspersed with canisters of hand wipes!)
My coworker got smothered pork chops, fresh out of the oven. In these pig-tastic times, this might sound sacrilegious, but I'm not such a fan of the pork. But he made me try a bite, and it was so good I ended up having a half a chop!
As my coworker also wanted to try the chicken, he asked for a small portion., What they gave him was a fried chicken "sandwich," a full order of wings with two slices of bread, and no sides. I have no idea how you'd ever eat that as a sandwich, and it was a whole lot of food. A good way to save a couple of bucks if you don't want any sides.
Which would be a valid choice. The collards were good with a little kick of spice, but the mac and cheese was gloppy, the coleslaw was really heavy with mayo, and the corn bread stuffing was grainy and mealy, made with raw corn flour instead of bread. They have like a dozen other sides we haven't tried yet, and based on the strength of the collards, I'd say you'd have more luck with traditional southern sides like black-eyed peas. Get a side of gravy with everything, you'll want more of that yumminess!
Now, the wackiness. Mrs. Jones runs the counter, with her husband and another guy filling orders in the kitchen. She writes all the orders on a notebook, instead of on slips that she sends back. So it takes a long time to fill orders, with all the back and forth to the counter everyone has to do to check this one notebook. When we were there, someone had called in a big order and hadn't picked it up yet, so she was having a lot of trouble keeping everything straight, and we had trouble holding her attention while we ordered. For example, the coworker ordered all that food because she said they didn't have a combo plate available, but then later she made a similar combo for another customer.
In sum, leave some time, make your order simple, have patience, stay away from the gloppier sides in favor of the healthier stuff, and get extra gravy. And make sure to go for a walk afterwards, else you might sleep all afternoon!
Re: Here's more info on Mrs. Jones in DORCHESTER
I think I get the picture, and I like what I see - the best food places are built around someone's personal vision and skills (and, yes, idiosyncracies), and it sounds like the Joneses have it going on.
I'm going to start looking for reasons to head south....in the meantime, I'm going to ponder the thought process that led to the fried chicken wing sandwich. That has to be one of the funkiest menu items in the area, and one I'm eager to try.
Thanks so much for sharing!