Friedman's Lunch

...is located inside NYC's Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue. I had a craving for fried chicken, but one of their fryers was being cleaned so the waiter offered me their gluten free fried chicken - using rice flour. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised - it was very crispy and I couldn't tell it was gluten free. The mac n cheese was not.

Neither was the delicious chocolate bread pudding a la mode. This generous serving was served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Gus' World Famous Hot N Spicy Fried Chicken - Memphis

...is located in downtown Memphis at 310 Front Street. This tiny restaurant is swamped with locals and visitors vying for its delicious fried chicken. The chicken is very crisp and juicy...and indeed hot and spicy!

Peels

Peels is located in NYC's Lower East Side at 325 Bowery. If you can't stand the wait for a table (and there usually is a long wait) then you can order take out.

I ordered a biscuit ($3) and fried chicken breast ($6) which made a tasty meal. It was ready in a few minutes.

Kyedong Chicken

Thanks "M" for recommending Kyedong Chicken in Flushing, Queens.

I was driving down Northern Blvd. looking for this small store front when I spotted their delivery car and followed it.

The Medium order of wings and drumsticks with soy garlic sauce was only $11.95. But it's cooked to order so I had to wait 35 minutes.

The reward was hot, crispy, flavorful chicken.

Red Rooster

Red Rooster recently opened in NYC's Harlem at 310 Lenox Ave.

"M", "SE" and "SN" and I went there for Sunday brunch. Although they don't accept reservations for brunch the wait was only 15 minutes versus the 45 minutes the hostess originally estimated. The front room was crowded with it's U-shaped bar. And a duet accompanied by an electric keyboard player served as the "Gospel Brunch" entertainment.

We started out with a serving of corn bread ($5) with clarified butter and tomato jam. The bread was sliced like pound cake and was light and sweet.

"M" and I both had the Nuggets and Toast ($14) - fried chicken nuggets with French Toast. The nuggets were good, but the toast was swimming in watery maple syrup.

Both "SE" and "SN" had the Fried Yard Bird ($18) - two pieces of fried chicken with collard greens. The chicken was good, but not great.

The atmosphere and decor would be reason enough for a return visit to try out some other dishes.

Lowcountry

...is located in NYC's Greenwich Village at 142 West 10th Street and features Carolina fare.

"M", "S" and I started with fried pickles with Green Goddess dressing ($5). These sweet pickle discs were perfectly fried in cornmeal and the dressing gave them a little zing.

"M" had the skirt steak with creamed brussel sprouts ($22) , "S" had the baby back ribs with pimento macaroni salad ($19) and I had the fried chicken biscuit with gravy ($17). We also shared an order of mac n cheese with bacon and jalapeno ($9).

"S" said her ribs were oversauced, but liked the pimento macaroni salad.

"M" was very happy with her medium rare steak and brussel sprouts.

My fried chicken was not crispy, but it was a juicy chicken breast and the biscuit was good. We all liked the mac n cheese.

We shared the apple pear cobbler with ginger ice cream ($8) for dessert. The homemade ice cream was a unanimous hit!

Food Gallery 32

Thanks "S" for treating me to lunch at the new NYC Koreatown food court called Food Court 32 at 11 West 32nd Street.

Our first stop was at Bia Diang for Taiwanese style fried chicken over rice with pork sauce ($7.95). It was a very generous serving - one large piece of chicken (very juicy) over a mound of rice covered in sauce with large chunks of ground pork. Neither of us finished the entire meal. We also went next door to the neighboring counter for Seafood Pajun ($6.95) which was small, but good.

Then off to Red Mango for frozen yogurt ($0.49/oz) - I had a mix of Original Vanilla, Dulce de Leche and Dark Chocolate with coconut, chocolate sprinkles and crushed oreos.

We want to return to this tri-level food court to try out the Korean food vendors.

Burger and Barrel

"M", "S" and I went to Burger and Barrel in NYC's SoHo located at 25 West Houston Street.

It's a nice casual place for dinner and drinks. "M" and "S" both had the Bash Burger ($14) with french fries. I had the fried chicken with mashed potatoes ($19). Although the chicken was moist the coating was too thick.

We topped it off with a salted caramel brownie sundae ($10). We were disappointed the brownies and caramel sauce were not warm.

Husk - Charleston

...is relatively new and located at 76 Queen Street. Chef Sean Brock is known for his famous his local ingredients and cornbread - Anson Mills cornmeal, Happy Cow Creamery buttermilk, Thornhill Farms eggs and Benton's bacon. The cornbread is baked and served in a 6 inch cast iron skillet along with smoked pimento infused butter.

I ordered the corn bread ($7) along with Crispy Chicken Skins ($7) - which is just the skins fried to crispy perfection and served with honey - to start along with a glass of sweet tea ($2.25).

Then creamy Sweet Potato Soup ($9) served with duck confit. And finally, Heirloom Bread Pudding ($7).

Everything was delicious!