First Look: Hill Country Chicken

So, what's the story behind Hill Country Chicken? Well, I got my first taste at about 8:30 pm on Friday night. What you're looking at are four pieces of fried chicken; a breast and thigh cooked Hill Country Classic style (skin on, breaded and seasoned with Hill Country Chicken Shake)and a leg and a thigh Mamma El Style (skinless, cracker crumb crust and seasoned with a special family recipe,) Picnic Stix (celery and carrot sticks,) Fire-n-Ice Pickles and Pimento Cheese. I also purchased a Mint Tea for me and a Creme Brulee for the wife at home.

So how's the food? I received four perfectly cooked, and I mean PERFECTLY cooked pieces of some of the most tender and juicy fried chicken I've ever had. Flavor wise, however, it was a mixed bag. The Hill Country Classic Chicken tasted as if it were rolled in Shake and Bake and then coated with another thick layer of salt. The Mamma El style - here they have something. A little sweet, a little salty, it's a perfectly balanced very tasty soft cracker coating. Beautiful. The Fire-n-Ice Pickles were sweet and spicy and a good complement to the chicken. The Pimento Cheese was a sweet, creamy orange cheese with just enough punch from the pimentos to make it interesting. Do yourself a favor and let it sit awhile before you eat it as the flavors improve as the cheese warms.

The mint tea was self-served warm with a barely noticeable hint of mint and the Creme Brulee, bruleed to order, was creamy smooth and delicious with a solid sugar crust.

Now how much does all this cost you ask? Well, frankly a lot more than I expected. A single chicken breast: $5.50, a thigh: $3,50, a leg: $2.25 and a wing (which I didn't get - they were out) is $1.75. The Picnic Stix are only $2.00 but is a complete rip off as I received one celery stalk cut into four pieces and 2 small sticks of carrot. The Pimento Cheese was an additional $1.00 with the purchase of the Stix and easily worth the cost. And finally, the Fire-n-Ice pickles were only 50 cents, but frankly I think they should have been included gratis with the meal.

The large mint tea was $2.50 and the "3 inch pie cup" Creme Brulee was $3.00.

What's the place look like? Think 50's retro dinner. Hill Country Chicken could be right at home on the set of The Andy Griffith Show. There are a couple of problems with the layout. The drinks are dispensed from a nook located off to the side. It's a small counter behind the condiment stand and really much to small to service the restaurant efficiently. The other issue I have is that the counters that line the windows are much too high for the chairs. Not a big deal, but eating at the counter was not very comfortable.

So will I be back? Probably. Hill Country Chicken has something great in Mamma El's bird and the sides I had were all very good, but the prices ($27 for 8 pieces of chicken with four biscuits, c'mon) will make me reconsider.

First Look: Joey's BBQ

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

This is not a full review, just some first impressions of Hoboken's only BBQ joint - Joey's BBQ.

I stopped in at Joey's BBQ in Hoboken, New Jersey last night. Perusing the menu, I asked the guy at the counter what was best. "Our wings" he said. I found that an interesting statement as this is a barbecue joint, but when in Rome...

So I ordered the wings. Joey's claims that their wings are smoked over hickory for 4 hours. Hard to believe as they had the consistency of boiled then lightly grilled wings with no noticeable trace of smoke. All of the wings, while a nice size, were completely over cooked.

My two sides of potato salad and baked beans were easily the stars of this meal. The potato salad was an interesting mix of potato, onion and apples, while the baked beans packed a punch with a very strong tomato based sauce laced with onions and pieces of what appeared to be pork bark and bacon.

Joey's has four different BBQ sauces available, Original Sweet, Original Spicy, Brisket and Traditional. The first three were very thin, but good and the last very thick and reminiscent of Sweet Baby Rays. All were sampled directly to the tip of my finger.

I will be back to try some of the more traditional BBQ samplings; brisket, ribs, pork shoulder. Any place that creates a special brisket sauce can't be all bad.

Sent from my Verizon Blackberry