Though armed with the correct address, from across the avenue I saw little sign of the restaurant.
Even after sidestepping the pizza joint at street level, getting the nod from the fellow manning the anonymous entrance to the left, and clambering up the stairs, I was operating on faith until I crossed Mad For Chicken's unmarked threshold. (At night, I'm told, the music would give more of a clue.) Inside, the gray-and-black-toned main room played host to a trio of Korean postal workers on break; here I met my dining companion, Hagan Blount (the Wandering Foodie, through whose 93 Plates project this lunch was comped).
Drumsticks and wings — deep-fried in vegetable oil, shaken free of excess for several minutes, fried again, and brushed with hot-and-spicy or soy-garlic sauce — were thin-skinned, and moist within. I would have welcomed more crunch, however, as well as seasoning not merely skin-deep. Cubes of pickled radish, and spears of celery and carrot with blue cheese dressing, sat ready as palate-refreshers. So did soju, a distilled alcoholic beverage often flavored with fruit — today, mandarin orange, with pulp. Also shown: a curry popcorn amuse-bouche; rosemary fries with ketchup and a (very) spicy mayo; a sushi-roll sampler; and, out of thin air, "Mexican corn."
Mad For Chicken
314 Fifth Ave. (31st-32nd Sts.), 2nd floor
212-221-2222
Also at 157-18 Northern Blvd., Flushing, Queens
781-321-3818
www.MadForChicken.com
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