I agree on most everything you have said, but I must strongly disagree on your opinion of the breading. Yes it gets crispy and is tasty, but it's way too thick. The breading does not stick to the chicken, leaving me with one piece of good tasting chicken and one piece of half crisp half soggy breading that is very unpleasant to consume by itself. And this is not just my opinion, at least three other people I have spoken to think the same.
What I would tell people is if you don't mind the crust, go ahead and enjoy. But if you like fried chicken done well, there are other options available so there no need to hurry.
The actual chicken is quite tasty and outstanding -- as said, juicy, tender white and dark meat. The breading on the other hand didn't really do it for me. Too think, too salty, not enough spice. Maybe it was the huge buildup from the hype and recommendations, but I'd rather have southern fried chicken, dry breast meat be damned. And $24 for a bird? They're $5 at costco. That's a bit much.
There is only one fried chicken in Seattle. It is Ezells / Heaven Sent (depending if you care or who you sided with in the breakup). Neither logic, nor taste buds can dissuade me from introducing, nay, FORCING this food on my children, children's unborn children, etc unto the end of the earth or myself, whichever comes first. In a town too bereft of institutions, it is my line in the sand. This is how a city's and its inhabitants are differentiated and entrenched - through sheer irrational stubbornness.
(You will pry Ezells/Heaven Sent) ... Out my coooold dead hand.
@8 beware of Mad Vegan Disease. The afflicted Mad Vegan goes into their acquaintance's refrigerators and food stores for the purpose of being offended and launching into a self-righteous squawk, or finds other afflicted sufferers and plans with them tofu-pie attacks against ex-vegans on book tours. Those ones aren't for eating, but for hazwaste disposal.
11: That is not true. The only kosher/halal rule for treating food animals is around slaughter - only allowing slitting the throat to kill it, usually hung upside down like in the photos. I'm sure this was more humane in biblical times - rather than stabbing animals or ripping their skin off. The other kosher/halal rules are around which species to eat and what to do after slaughter. Kosher/halal animals are kept in the same awful factory facilities as in the photos.
Many people, like Temple Grandin, think kosher/halal slaughter is less humane because it generally forbids stunning, gassing, or breaking the neck like Catalina describes. Grandin notes that most kosher/halal slaughtered animals likely feel more pain and breathe in blood during slaughter.
What I would tell people is if you don't mind the crust, go ahead and enjoy. But if you like fried chicken done well, there are other options available so there no need to hurry.
I guess it's a matter of persona taste, I like the thick breading. Maybe it should be an option: "heavy" or "lite"...
(You will pry Ezells/Heaven Sent) ... Out my coooold dead hand.
I discovered chicken karaage this year and thought it was fantastic enough that I'll try it out at various Japanese restaurants now.
Debeaking:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/turkey-hatch-mut-08.jpg
Millions in cages:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-egg-05.jpg
Dead chickens lying on manure pits:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-egg-11.jpg
Chicken grown into its cage:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-egg-16.jpg
Disease and covered in manure:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-egg-23.jpg
Trapped in cage for life:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-egg-48.jpg
"Free range" chickens:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-broiler-02.jpg
Overfed and underexercised:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-broiler-04.jpg
Transported to slaughter:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-trans-03.jpg
Hung upside alive and throat cut until the chickens bleed out:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken-slaughter-02.jpg
But of all the animals that I've seen slaughtered, chicken bothered me the least. Most of them are dreadful. And most roosters are real assholes.
http://www.examiner.com/article/is-koshe…
http://oukosher.org/the-kosher-primer/
Many people, like Temple Grandin, think kosher/halal slaughter is less humane because it generally forbids stunning, gassing, or breaking the neck like Catalina describes. Grandin notes that most kosher/halal slaughtered animals likely feel more pain and breathe in blood during slaughter.
http://www.grandin.com/ritual/slaughter.…
For me, Marco Polo has the best in town. This will be an interesting comparison.
And FWIW, Ezell's has always unimpressed the hell out of me.