Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
There are times when I’m at a restaurant and I have to ask the waiter to explain a dish. Often the menu descriptions are lacking or not clear or full of hip adjectives that are more confusing than descriptive.
But at Spicy Village, it’s pretty clear what you are going to be getting when you order the Spicy Big Tray Chicken. No questions required.
This is probably the most popular dish at Spicy Village, a diamond in the rough when it comes to Chinese food in Chinatown. This is the only place in Manhattan’s Chinatown that specializes in the wide hand-pulled noodles and scorching chile-laced meat dishes of the Henan region
The Big Tray is just that – it’s big enough for at least two people to experience the wonders of this regional cuisine.The tender noodles, potatoes, and meaty chicken soak in a fiery red broth composed of all sorts of wonderful herbs and spices – most notably, cumin seeds and the numbing yet tangy Szechuan peppercorns. The chicken is also a marvel – crisp and tender, releasing the little bones all too easily.
Sure, this is a super spicy dish but it’s the kind that gets spicier as you go and that makes you want to eat more and more despite the heat. You pucker up and salivate and before you know it, you’ve eaten the entire tray of spicy chicken. And while the menu explains the dish perfectly, it manages to surpass all expectations. Price: $14.25
| SPICY VILLAGE |
| 68 Forsyth Street #B (between Grand and Hester Street), Chinatown (212) 625-8299 |
| spicyvillageny.com |
