Fried chicken is a simple dish that shouldn’t change very much. And while different chefs might use varying spice blends and marination techniques, the final product should largely look the same from one restaurant to another. But this being said, high-quality fried chicken is surprisingly hard to come by. This semester, Arts & Culture is sampling all of what the area has to offer in the search for the best fried chicken in Binghamton.
In order to more objectively evaluate each restaurant’s offerings, we judged using the following criteria.
Crispiness: Fried chicken should be crispy. This is pretty easy to get right, but if the chicken isn’t properly drained after frying or isn’t served promptly, the breading absorbs oil and gets soft.
Cragginess: This describes the texture of the breading. Crags are the uneven bumps and flakes of breading on the surface of the chicken that contain bunches of seasoning.
Unity between the meat and skin: The skin on fried chicken should effortlessly sever and be free of air pockets. It should never rip away with the first bite.
Tenderness and juiciness: Good fried chicken should be tender all the way through and abundantly juicy, rather than stringy and dry.
— The Night Kitchen — 721 Upper Court St., Binghamton
Opened in mid-2015, The Night Kitchen is a soul food restaurant offering a Southern-inspired menu designed to feel like traditional home cooking.
The Night Kitchen’s fried chicken was impressive, leaving little to be desired. On visual inspection, the chicken had an excellent color and its surface was full of crags. A tap on the crust with my fork yielded a pleasant clicking noise, indicating a properly crisp chicken.
My first bite confirmed what my eyes observed; the crisp crags on the outside released many small bursts of seasoning while adding interest to the texture. The chicken was tender to the bone and palatably juicy. The skin also remained largely intact and did not peel away from the meat.
But, this chicken was not flawless. First, as someone who does not like salty dishes, I appreciated that the seasoning mixture in the crust was not very salt-forward. However, it was, dare I suggest, under-salted to its own detriment. A little extra salt would have made the seasoning bursts from the well-formed crags more effective.
— Country Pride — 753 Upper Court St., Binghamton
A little-known chain diner to Binghamton students, Country Pride is a truck stop off of Exit 3 on I-81. Unfortunately, its fried chicken left a lot to be desired. Its appearance was quite unappetizing — its color was pale, its texture was flat and the skin was shiny from all the grease on the surface.
When biting in, the predominant flavor on the tongue was oil — something I’m not sure is desirable in any dish, let alone fried chicken. The skin was totally smooth and crag-free, but it might not have even mattered much considering how under-seasoned it was. It was difficult to get a clean bite because of how dry and stringy the meat was. Once severed, practically all of the skin came off cleanly. While some of Country Pride’s other menu items looked promising, the fried chicken was an extreme disappointment.
— Jrama’s Soul Food Grille & BBQ Pit — 1237 Front St, Binghamton
Opened by BU alum Jamar Johnson, ‘03, last June, this tiny barbecue joint is a little-known gem in the community. You can smell the scent of its outdoor smokers and barbecue pits from the parking lot.
Jrama’s has two fried chicken offerings — a buttermilk chicken breast and a dry-rubbed fried chicken quarter. I was a little underwhelmed by the chicken quarter. Though dry-rubbed overnight, the seasoning was not very prevalent in its flavor. The skin also, because it was not marinated in buttermilk, had the tendency to peel from the meat while eating. But, it was juicy and tender all the way though.
The star of the show was Jrama’s fried buttermilk chicken breast. In appearance, it had remarkably stiff crags, a sure-sign it was prepped with a properly moistened flour. Its seasoning was fragrant and appropriately primed the nose long before the first bite. Upon biting in, my ear was met with a crisp crunch. It was surprisingly juicy, especially for a breast, which is a very lean cut. The seasoning took a front seat on the tongue, leaving a lingering kick and the skin broke cleanly at the bite mark.
Overall, the chicken was excellent. My only gripe is that it could have been drained a little better after frying. This would help prevent the underside of the chicken breast from losing its crispiness.
Verdict
So, which restaurant should you visit if you’re in the mood for excellent fried chicken? It depends. Both The Night Kitchen and Jrama’s have great offerings. If you prefer your chicken to be heavier on the seasoning, Jrama’s is where you should go, so long as you get the buttermilk chicken breast. But, if you prefer your fried chicken to have more of an emphasis on the meat itself, head down to The Night Kitchen. For me personally, I’ll be going back to Jrama’s in the near future.
Do you think we should have covered your restaurant? Let us know: arts@bupipedream.com.