BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition December 2018

FRIED CHICKEN CRAWL
WHERE TO FIND THE CITY’S JUICIEST BIRDS
JORDAN YEAGER
FOOD & DRINK
From time-tested staples like Church’s to artisan spots like DownLow, Vancouver is all about that funky chicken.
Vancouver is known for many things:
being rainy, being boring, and being
expensive are amongst its most
commonly reputed traits. While
Montreal and Toronto garner their
reputations on burgeoning art and
food scenes, Vancouver tends to fall
by the wayside, the last kid picked in
gym class for every game other than
hiking, skiing and wakeboarding. But
quietly, Vancouver’s food scene has
been bulking up, hitting the gym after
school. And lately, she’s been looking
thicc. It’s winter, and we need comfort
food to make it through unscathed.
Fried chicken is a go-to comfort food
classic, and when it comes with sides
like macaroni, potato salad, and fries, it
doesn’t get juicier. Here’s a roundup of
the best fried chicken Van City has to
offer. You’re welcome.
Juke Fried Chicken
182 Keefer St.
When you think of fried chicken in
Vancouver, you think of Juke. It’s the
stalwart of the city’s scene – in 2016,
co-owners Justin Tisdall and Cord Jarvie
14
along with sous chef Bryan Satterford
noticed a gap in the market and made
it their mission to fill it. There were
places to get fried chicken, sure. But
they wanted to turn frying chicken into
a craft. Since opening their flagship
location in Chinatown, they’ve also
recently expanded to include a second
space on Davie Street, affectionately
dubbed Little Juke.
Juke’s chicken stands out for several
reasons – their chicken and many
of their sides are gluten-free – but
what really sets it apart is the level of
knowledge and passion the team brings
to the table. Tisdall and Satterford
came to the venture from Chambar
and Hawksworth respectively, and
their cumulative years of experience
in the fine dining world has translated
beautifully to the world of comfort
food. At Juke, expert craftsmanship
is evident – each piece consistently
boasts the signature crunchy skin and
juicy meat you expect – nay, demand –
from a quality breast or thigh.
“We wanted a place where you could
just have really good food and have a
good time, but not have to pay a ton
of money,” says Tisdall. “Comfort food,
especially in a city that rains a lot.”
The Juke menu is extensive, with
obvious standouts being the spicy fried
chicken and the sandwich (available at
both locations), the nuoc cham ribs,
and the mac and cheese poppers (both
available at Little Juke). Whether you’re
gluten-free or not, Juke is a must-try.
DownLow Chicken Shack
905 Commercial Dr.
DownLow is another example of
restaurateurs with backgrounds in fine
dining deciding to dedicate themselves
to refining comfort food. Owners
Doug Stephen and Lindsey Mann
were the brains behind Merchants
Workshop, which until recently was
located a few blocks up Commercial
Drive from where DL stands now. In
June, they decided to focus entirely
on the Nashville hot chicken they’d
been serving as their Sunday special
at Merchants, and DownLow Chicken
Shack was born.
With spice levels including classic,
mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and
“side of milk,” it’s safe to say Stephen
and Mann’s years of commitment to
perfecting their recipe have paid off.
Bite into a “keep it light” breast, a “take
it easy” thigh or an “on a bun” sando
(fried chicken breast on a potato bun
with sweet and sour slaw, pickles, and
special sauce – careful, she’s messy)
and you’ll see why they often sell out of
product entirely.
Sides are essential here. Go for the
fries (there’s a secret menu version
topped with chicken, slaw, and pickles),
the corn bread, or the macaroni salad.
They also offer weekly specials, like
(beef) burgers on Mondays, tenders on
Tuesdays, rib sandwiches on Thursdays,
and chicken and waffles on weekends,
plus a whole secret menu you’ll have to
learn for yourself.
Phnom Penh
244 E Georgia St.
While Phnom Penh stands out on this
list as being the only place that doesn’t
specialize entirely in fried chicken, their
deep-fried chicken wings simply cannot
be excluded. If you’re embarking on
a fried chicken crawl across the city,
you would be remiss to skip out on
the dish, which has gone on to make a
questionable name for itself as “crack
wings.” Some pieces boast more meat
than others, but honestly, the heavily
peppered, lemony, crispy batter would
be enough to hold up on its own.
Douse them in the accompanying
lemon and black pepper dipping sauce
and pile on some chillies and sautéed
garlic bits, and you’ll entirely forget the
lineup you just stood in for upwards of
an hour.
The Frying Pan
505 Burrard St.
Not far from the intersection of Burrard
and Pender Street is a smattering of
food trucks, and amongst them, from
11:00 to 2:45 Monday through Friday,
is The Frying Pan. Their best seller is
the spicy chicken burger, which comes
topped with pickles, slaw, and a mayobased
sauce on a soft, squished-looking
bun that holds up to its task well. The
chicken itself is perfectly cooked and
towards the milder side in terms of
spice – their standard is medium, but
there is an option to go spicier, which
you probably should. It’s well-seasoned
and well-packaged, so it doesn’t get
messy until the very end.
The Frying Pan also has the added
task of making their sandwiches (which
range from “no heat” to “feel the burn”
and “fire starter”) easily portable, so if
you’re in between meetings and need a
quick bite, this is your best bet.
Church’s Chicken
2304 E Hastings St.
Walk into Church’s Chicken and
you might not have the highest
expectations for your forthcoming
culinary experience. Open 24 hours
a day at all of its Vancouver locations
(save for two in Richmond), Church’s
is the quintessential fast food fried
chicken joint. It doesn’t try to dress
itself up as anything other than what it
is through décor, either. And you know
what? It’s respectable that they let
the food speak for itself. With options
for regular or spicy thighs, wings and
tenders, plus sides like macaroni, fries,
onion rings and potato salad, it’s easy
to fill up here without breaking the
bank.
It’s not Vancouver’s best fried chicken,
but it’s affordable and tasty; when it’s
3:30 a.m. and the drunk munchies set in,
there’s literally no better (and no other)
option. Make sure you try the gravy.
December 2018