Roasted Chicken w/Arugula & Grilled Ramps from Mado
Item Purchased: Roasted Chicken w/Arugula & Grilled Ramps
Location Purchased: Mado / 1647 N. Milwaukee Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $16.00 + tax
Purchased on: 05/02/08
Review: Chicken, chef rockstar Anthony Bourdain asserts, is the dinner choice for people who don’t know what they want to eat. I do enjoy a good dirty bird, but I side with Bourdain most of the time simply because… well… most chicken served at restaurants around the U.S. just isn’t that good. So often, the finished bird tends to be dry and veiny. Not so under the watchful eye of Mado’s Rob Levitt. Bourdain, this dish just might make you change your mind.
The power of this roasted half chicken lies not in its dress or complexities, but rather in its absolute simplicity. Copy this next equation down and write it on the blackboard at your local chicken shack. Trust me, they need to learn this. Organic and local ingredients + brining of unbelievable competency = a mouthful of flavor and a few clean bones clinking on the plate. Mado’s brining of their fowl enhances its natural flavors while the time that the bird spends in the oven turns the skin into something to be savored instead of battered and fried. I going to go out on a limb here and say that Mado’s roasted chicken is the best chicken I have ever tasted in my life (sorry, Mom!). It even tasted freshly cooked straight from the takeout bag the next morning!
In fact, my only complaint and point loss on the dish’s score pertains to the arugula and ramp mixture served as a modest side. While the vegetables were both in season, crisp and fresh, there was an abundance of salt sprinkled throughout. I like salt. I like a lot of salt. The arugula made me cough from all the salt that was on top. Despite this small annoyance (which I will chalk up as an opening-week mistake), this dish is wholly satisfying and worth every penny.
At $16.00 for a plain chicken dish, that’s saying a lot! I will return for another, Mado. Just you wait!
Rating: 4.25 / 5
May 7th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
It was even better than the curry chicken I made??