Neighborhood: Jackson Heights, Queens





When it comes to food, New York is a city that has it all—many times over. French bistros on every corner. Sushi wherever and whenever a hankering hits. And pizza beyond any kid's wildest fantasy. Even cuisines that would be fresh or exotic to many Americans are, to New Yorkers, just another stained take-out menu forgotten at the bottom of a kitchen drawer.

It's true: we are spoiled beyond belief, even in unhip Queens. Here, in the borough of Archie Bunker and George Costanza's parents, you'll find amazing Columbian, old-time Greek, real-deal Sichuan, Bukharian (Central Asian Jewish), and the best Thai on the planet (well, in New York City, anyway). And Korean food? Old hat. Or so we thought.

We've been chowing on Korean barbecue and bi bim bap for years. But only recently did another marvel of the Korean kitchen pop up on the radar of the city we thought had it all.

Folks, there's a new KFC in town—and it beats the pants off that other KFC.

According to an article in The New York Times, fried chicken joints have been hugely popular in South Korea for years, but restaurants serving this distinctly Korean-style chicken are just now opening in American cities. One of the pioneers of this new-to-America trend happens to be in Jackson Heights, just a short trip on the "E" train from my home in Forest Hills.

Unidentified Flying Chicken (I'll admit: the name alone made me want to visit the place) is located on dingy Roosevelt Avenue, in the shadow of the elevated "7" train. With the upstairs portion of the restaurant, they seem to be going for a sort of space-shippy/futuristic/fast-food aesthetic—lots of silver, white, and bright lights. The darker, wood-paneled downstairs room is much more appealing.
 
The menu is simple. First you choose your parts: a whole cut-up chicken, drumsticks, wings, or a combination of drumsticks and wings (the latter three come in small and large sizes). Next up's the sauce: soy-garlic, hot, or spicy mustard.

The chicken is fried to order, and takes a good 15-20 minutes to reach the table. It is worth the wait. According to the Times article, UFC utilizes a double-frying technique, and the chicken is dipped into the sauce after cooking. The result is amazing: the crust is crisp and paper thin, and not at all bready or greasy.





Brian, our friend Randall, who accompanied us on one of our visits, and I deemed the sweet, mildly garlicky soy-garlic and fiery hot sauces our favorites—largely because they adhered to the crust much better than the messier mustard sauce, which coated our fingers with a sticky yellow glaze.

Cold, crunchy daikon pickles, with their vinegary bite, are the perfect accompaniment to the chicken, and the creamy macaroni salad isn't bad, either. Apparently, the cooks' frying prowess doesn't extend to potatoes—our fries were surprisingly flavorless and greasy. The sweet potato fries were a bit of an improvement. But who needs fries? Come to UFC for the chicken. And those pickles.

As of this posting, UFC is still in liquor-license limbo. They plan to serve draft beers when they receive their license. Until then, it's BYO.



Dorky Chicken Video


UNIDENTIFIED FLYING CHICKEN
71-22 Roosevelt Avenue
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
718-205-6662
718-205-6662
http://www.UFChicken.com

"E," "F," "7," "R," or "V" trains to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue. For more detailed directions, visit http://www.hopstop.com .

Category: Outer-Borough Eats
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