Hell's Chicken, Hell's Kitchen, NYC -- food and restaruant reviews - food blog

Sung, the owner of Hell’s Chicken, wrote to me about his Korean-style restaurant, known for their gluten-free fried chicken wanting me to cover it. I decided to sample it one night on my way to seeing the revival of Fiddler on the Roof, staring the amazingly talented Danny Burnstean as Tevya and Jessica Hecht as Goldie. The show remains a tearjerker that’s as relevant today as when it was first produced in the ’60s. Don’t miss it.

Not very familiar with Korean foods, Sung assisted us, suggesting the kimchi jeon ($10) a Korean-style spicy cabbage pancake served on a hot platter with soy sauce for dipping. It’s sort of a piquant Korean pizza that’s not to be missed.

We also sampled the japche, stir fried sweet potato glass noodle with vegetables. The dish was tasty, but had a tad too much sesame oil for my taste. With this we sipped a new German Riesling – not a new wine but one new to Hell’s Chicken — the Rapp Latitude 50 Sunshine Nahe 2014 that was a not-too-sweet match for the sometimes spicy food.

We had to try their namesake, the Korean-style fried chicken (available as wings, drumsticks or a combo). The chicken is free-range, antibiotic free from Pennsylvania ($12 for 4 wings and 3 drumsticks with one sauce plus $.50 per each additional). It’s batter-fried first at a low temperature, cooled slightly, then deep-fried again at a higher temp. Crispy outside, juicy in. We sampled all three spicy sauces: a spicy soy garlic, spicy soy ginger (with crystallized ginger) and spicy hell’s. We both liked the spicy hell’s sauce best.

The dish we liked best is the Dolsot Bibimbap ($16), classic Korean dish of mixed vegetables (bean sprouts, aster, bracken (flower stem) and shredded radish and zucchini), diced chicken and a raw egg over white rice brought to the table in sizzling hot stone bowl. As you toss it together with some chili paste, the egg cooks and the rice becomes crunchier from the heat. It’s not to be missed. Banchan (the side dishes) comes with this classic dish including housemade kimchi, pickled garlic stems, fish cakes and — to drink if our mouth got dry — a side of miso broth.

Sung tried to dissuade us from ordering the authentic denjank jjige, as he said it was more for an Asian palate because of the miso paste used in the dish. We loved the soybean paste stew with tofu, onion and zucchini served with white rice ($15).