CSD Again and Again!

Korean-Style Fried Chicken

If you’ve experienced Korean-style fried chicken, Mochiko chicken, Garlic chicken, or any of the various and sundry spin-offs of the theme, then the version they make at Cooke Street Diner will probably surprise you. The serving is predominantly meat, and the amount on skin and fat is minimal. There is enough skin represented so you get a nice crispy crunch once in a while, but it isn’t all skin like at some other places. The chicken was cooked just about right, so it was still moist and soft on the inside. A couple of the smaller pieces were on the dry side though – that counted for a half-point deduction on the rating. The sauce is moderately thick and actually has a bit of a spicy burn that comes through the sweetness. As in the past, I ordered it with brown rice and a tossed salad with a creamy dressing. $6.23 USD including tax.

Recommended

Three grinning monkeys out of four.

Chicken Adobo

I’m used to having adobo, whether it be pork or chicken, as chunks. In general, at local plate lunch places, chicken adobo is whole pieces of chicken. This usually yields chicken that is vinegary and seasoned on the outside surface, but plain on the inside. CSD danced the culinary edge and compromised by cleavering the chicken pieces into segments similar in size to what you get when you order cold ginger chicken at a Chinese restaurant. This exposed the end grain of the meat to the vinegar and spices, so the flavor was even throughout. Personally, I didn’t appreciate the bone, the bone shrapnel, and the gristly joint cartilage. Granted it does take a lot of dull, menial labor to debone and cut the chicken into bite size pieces, and time and manpower constraints prevent most plate lunch places from doing this, so I appreciate and understand the compromise. The resulting taste is good. I didn’t find a bay leaf (laurel) in my plate, but the coarse cracked black peppercorns were present. $6.23 USD including tax

Recommended

Three grinning monkeys out of four.