Bobwhite Lunch and Supper Counter Visited 10/18/2012 3 Forks

Bobwhite Lunch and Supper Counter 94 Ave C., New York, NY 10009

I was so excited to try this place because it's been written up in a lot of blogs as having great fried chicken and other heart stopping food.  While the food wasn't bad (more on that later), something went awry with the fryer and Jenn and Kristen and I literally waited over 30 minutes for our food, and waiting that long for food kind of soured me to the whole dinner (even though they were very polite about it and I'm sure they were stressing out about it too).

The restaurant itself is very casual and small.  There are about 4 tables and then 4-5 seats at the bar.  You order at the counter and they then bring your food to you, so there's no waitstaff or any formal dining experience.  I ordered the fried chicken dinner ($11.50) which came with 3 pieces of chicken, a biscuit and a side salad.  Kristen had mentioned that our friend Mike said the portions were small and that it would be worth getting a side, so I also ordered the mac and cheese ($4.50).   Jenn also got the fried chicken dinner and Kristen got the buffalo chicken sandwich and a side of grits.  And then we waited and waited until the point Jenn mentioned that we all might be on the verge of turning into the Incredible Hulk if we didn't get fed soon.  Finally the guy behind the counter comes over and apologizes that something went wrong with the fryer and that they were working as hard as they could to get the chicken out.  But in the meantime, would we be interested in a free side of chicken pot pie? Umm, yes please!  Sadly, I didn't think the pie was all that jazz.  The crust could have been flakier and more buttery and I usually expect the inside of pot pies to be very hearty but this was very soupy and thin.  You could actually barely eat it any of it with a fork.  But I did appreciate that they tried to do something nice for us.  Finally, after what seemed like 10 years, the chicken comes out.  You could tell it was just from the fryer too and it smelled delicious.  The first cut into the chicken was great.  Super moist and very juicy.  I was a big fan so far.  Every subsequent bite was also pretty good but my one compliant would be that there was too much fried skin.  I like a nice thin crispy skin, but some parts of the chicken had too much batter and friedness to it.  However, I did think it was a solid fried chicken dish.  I also really enjoyed the biscuit and thought it was pillowy and made with buttery goodness.  As for the salad, I could have totally done without it.  It was overdressed with a honey mustard dressing and it was just a bunch of lettuce and nothing else. 

I really could have ended the meal there as there was plenty of chicken to go around and the biscuit was very filling.  I had no business eating a side of mac and cheese on top of it.  I didn't finish the mac and cheese and to be honest, it wasn't very good.  It was dry and there wasn't an ounce of gooey-ness to it. Very disappointing.  I also tried Kristen's grits and there was an overwhelming spring onion taste to it.  I mean, I really like spring onions but this was just out of control.  I felt like I had bitten into a giant spring onion and could barely taste the grits.

I  liked the concept of the place and would be interested in trying other things on the menu (heard good things about the catfish), but I would definitely avoid any sides in the future.  I would come back but maybe just not immediately.  Total bill: $19 with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp