Chicky's: 100 Chicken Wings!

I haven't blogged for a while: partly because I've been swamped in work and partly because I haven't really found anything worth blogging about. Until now that is. The establishment in question is Chicky's, a burger delivery place competing with the likes of Simply Burgers, Burgering House etc. Only thing is, there is no competition. Chicky's wins hands down without even breaking a sweat! On size, on quality and on value!

First time I came across Chicky's was a while back on Onemans Blog, as a side note to another burger place I was looking into. I made a note of it; a ToDo if you like, and that was as far as it went. To be honest, its sixty's diner décor put me off a bit, and the photos of towering burgers seemed too good to be true. A month later I get an e-mail from a burger loving friend about this place, same blog, telling me we should try it.I thought to my self, 'same blog?... not too much media coverage out there... how good can it be?', and that's as far as that went. Until, that is, by some perverse twist of fate, that friend of mine and I happened to be hungry on the same day, at the same time, and craving the same kind of food! Ok, I was going for drama there, it's actually not uncommon for that to occur: we're always hungry, and any time is burger time, the twist however was that my friend called me to suggest trying the new burger item on the New York Sandwiches menu.

Long story short, on the way there I remembered that Chicky's was close by so suggested trying that. My friend went one step further by raising the question 'Why can't we do both?'. A valid point, and so we did. Problem was we got carried away at NYS and ordered two burgers and two sandwiches between us. By the time we were done, we were more stuffed than a turkey on Thanksgiving! But, that wasn't going to stop us! We promptly made our way to Chicky's, telling ourselves that the walk was going help us work up an appetite. (On a small side note, after the NYS meal, my opinion of the place hasn't changed a bit since I first went: nice but well overpriced!)

We soon arrived at Chicky's and started going through the menu. First impressions, not really the sort of place you'd go out to eat. Effort has clearly been made on the décor but it doesn't really have that warm inviting 'sit here' feel. The fact that there was nobody else eating in didn't really help that anyway. We went though the menu and decided on chicken (given the name of the place). I went for the Spicy Louisianna and I believe my friend went for the Chicky's Classic. We went to the counter, ordered and waited. Not long after, the food arrived.

The Décor 

The Menu

Towering above the counter, monuments of glorious burgers 

Oh my god! Now, baring in mind that I was stuffed, the burger went down like it was custom made to navigate effortlessly through my mouth and down my oesophagus! Not to say that it was small - because it wasn't - but eating it was easy sailing. After a few bites I was left wondering why this was. I had to put some conscious thought into it. Like riding a bike: it's easy to do so you don't really think about what you are doing, but try to become conscious of your unconscious and you realise that you're making tens or hundreds of tiny adjustments in order to keep the bike balanced.

I first slowed down my chewing. That's when I realised that every bite I could feel the crunch of the chicken crust. Then I looked into the burger. It was clear why it went down so easily: thick hearty slice of tomato, similarly the onion: as if to make a bold statement. The condiments were part of the burger, they were put there to make a difference, not just something to claim is in there and for which to charge more. The tomato added the juicy lubrication that made swallowing so easy. The same with the onion coupled with a pleasant 'crunch'. And then I looked at the chicken: juices oozing out of it, screaming, 'I've been cooked to perfection and not a second longer'.

My friend concurred and we made a point to say that we have to come again when we are actually hungry and try more stuff. To that end, we went back to the menu to ponder what we'll be trying next time we visit. Clearly we had to try the beef burgers, but two more things stood out. One was a couple of their burgers that used Texas toast. If not for novelty value alone that had to be tried (and when it was tried, novelty value wasn't the only thing we got!). The other interesting thing was the chicken wings. The interest was twofold. On the one hand the they offer a choice from ten different sauces to go with the wings. More interesting however was their choice of how many you could get. Six, twelve, twenty, thirty, fifty or one hundred! One hundred wings! I was drooling just thinking about a mountain of chicken wings in front of me. Of course they would have to be served in one container (which has not been confirmed yet), but just imagine!

This was all about a month ago and since then I've been again and again and verified the delicious goodness of the beef burgers too. In particular I tried the western burger (onion straws: amazing!), and the mushroom burger (I could sooo taste the mushrooms: they were as if I'd made sautéed them myself - the real thing - none of that canned crap I've had one too many times before). So why has it taken me one month to spill the beans on this place? Because just last night I went there again, but this time I had my camera with me!

Texas Burger

Texas Chicken

Chicken Burger

Popcorn Chicken

Twenty wings with Hot Sauce

And where, you say, can I find these babies? Well, if you live in the centre of Athens and are lucky enough to be close by (unfortunately I'm not) you can get them delivered from the Ilissia store (210 7772463), but if you're keen on going there as I did so that you can have everything straight off the grill, here's the map. 

View Chicky's in a larger map

There's also a Pireus store that only does take out and delivery in case you live round there (210 4125119). 

Related Links:

Chicky.gr
Chickys.com.gr
@Facebook
@Oneman
@Foursquare
@Athensmenu.gr
@FoodSpotting

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New York Sandwiches: Points for Trying.

Last Saturday started well. The usual call at elevenish for a morning coffee to get the day rolling. I sent a text informing another friend that I was going for coffee and headed to the center. We usually meet up at a little place called "Skoufa Bistro" in Kolonaki, which has very good waffles and very decent coffee.

By the time I arrived I had a reply: "Have a great day (I know it won't only be a coffee)!". In retrospect, I think I was the only person under the impression that all I was going for was coffee. As soon as we sat down, the drilling began. Where were you on Wednesday (we usually meet up on Wednesdays to try new places and have a quiet mid-week break), why didn't you came? And a whole lot more which I will not replay. However, it all came together at the end: "This is your chance to redeem yourself, we're going to New York Sandwiches for lunch after the coffee".

View New York Sandwiches in a larger map

I remembered watching about a sandwiches place on TV not too long ago and wondered if this was the place. I remembered the hugeness of the sandwiches. They made a comment on the show about the cost, but it wasn't really clear if they were saying that it was good value or not. The bottom line was that you get "a meal in between two peaces of bread".

After some cross referencing and checking, (Athinorama, Facebook, Food and the City) it turned out that not only was this the place on the show, but the guy behind the place was affiliated with guy from show. Both being involved with another restaurant ("Aneton"). "A bit of conflict of interest", I thought to myself, "Honer a friendship or uphold the credibility of the show?". It would be convenient if one could do both but unfortunately this would not be the case!

Eventually we arrived. It was really easy to find too: right next to Athens Tower.

The Entrance

You can just make out the communal table that makes up the seating. I was actually surprised at this, mainly because I remembered that the likes of Wagamamas had ditched communal seating for their Athens restaurant. I had always imagined it a result of the market not being accepting of it.

Map of New York Subway

Iconic New York Images in the Wall

Great effort put into creating a New York feel. I've never been so I couldn't really say if they've done a good job of it, but as far as a place to go in Athens I wasn't really enthusiastic.

The Counter and Kitchen Half of the Place

This is where we ordered almost everything on the menu: The Pastrami Sandwich, the Turkey Sandwich, The Meatballs Sandwich and the Veal Sandwich and a Salmon Bagel.

The Pastrami Sandwich

I'm pretty sure the mustard was French's mustard, but even if it wasn't it tasted like it. I couldn't really say about the quality of the pastrami, but there was a satisfying amount of it! Fresh bread, and lots of that too! €6.95.

The Turkey Sandwich

Hearty, deep filled turkey sandwich. Nothing special, but nothing wrong with it. Not much more to say... other than €5.95.

The Meatball Sandwich

€6.95

The Veal Sandwich

I loved the bread of both the veal and the meatball sandwich. I couldn't help but imagine it as a huge burger! Other than that, both the veal and the meatball sandwich tasted the same and that was because everything else was almost the same about them. Loads of sauce that just about covered the taste of everything else, canned mushrooms and roasted red peppers (from a jar as far as I'm concerned). The texture was slightly different: soft meatball verses slab of meat. The bread was soggy from the sauce; by design of course; but it might as well have been a cotton field on a rainy day! There were two pieces of veal; more surface area for the fried breadcrumbs to gift us with their taste and crunch; covered and saturated in the sauce too. €6.95.

The Salmon Bagel. 

I dunno how they do salmon bagels in the States, but in the UK, in the Student Union shop, we used to have roast beef and onion sandwich.The strong tasting beefiness was well complemented by the pungent onion.  And I absolutely loved their crunchiness. Now how delicate taste of smoked salmon can be paired with onion is beyond me - the texture sure - that was my thought before biting into the sandwich. Turns out the onion taste wasn't the overpowering one (maybe the onions had been boiled before (they didn't seem sautéed but weren't as crunchy - maybe they too were out of a jar?)), but the capers in the cream cheese were. The bagel was perfectly crisp. €4.95.

I felt that quality of the ingredients was low; my friend said it was in character. At five, six, and mainly seven Euro, my first though is that it was expensive. Maybe novelty value. There was nothing remotely special about any of the sandwiches that would prevent me from easily and accurately reproducing them at home for about a fifth of the cost. On the other hand, a baguette can go for around three Euro and only usually has a measly slice of ham in it. We had two sandwiches each. I felt like a I'd had a meal. No more, no less. So what would one sandwich have been? An expensive snack? Quality and price aside, the taste too was nothing great. I couldn't really taste the meat over the sauce and the acidity of the canned vegetables.

I would recommend going for the novelty value, but it's not even in a central location; maybe if you're passing by or if you work near by. To be honest, I think that's really what their target group is: yuppies working in Athens Tower that will embrace anything non-Greek for the sake of it. Good effort, novel, but not quite what it could be. For other: perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

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