El Pollo Rey

1101 Kansas Ave
Kansas City, KS 66105
(913) 371-4243

If you are wondering where to look for the best grilled chicken in Kansas City, El Pollo Rey is the place you are looking for.
This place is small, run by only two people (when I went there). They spoke little English, actually only one person (the cashier) who understood what I wanted. :)
I saw only few tables were set since the place is very small and right in the corner of S. 11th Street and Kansas Ave. It's right in front of Firestone Autocare. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the restaurant, so the one on the right is taken from "Neal1960", who put the picture on his flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/neal1960/3543438471/).

No menu is necessary, because all they sell in there is grilled chicken. You either want it half or whole chicken. Half chicken costs $6.50 and whole is $12. They also do chicken wings with, I believe, their own creation of buffalo sauce. They accept CASH only. ;)

I did not order the chicken wings, so I won't comment on that.
However, the grilled chicken is absolutely delicious. It came with a small cup of Mexican rice, bean soup, salsa, tortillas, and sliced pickled red onion.
They know how to grill a perfect chicken, let's leave it at that.
It was smoky, tasty, and wonderful!

It actually reminded me of home. No, I wasn't born in South America. But, somehow the taste of the chicken was similar to the ones we have in South East Asia.
The tortillas that came with the chicken were different than what I would have gotten from chained restaurants. I may not be 100% in this, but I think they made their own tortillas or may be got them from an authentic Mexican supplier. It was freshly made!

Anyway, the Mexican rice was salty to my taste (because I only ate it like that). Until I put some chicken on the tortilla with the rice, red onion, and salsa. Absolutely delicious!!
I am not a big fan of pickled onion, so I did not eat a lot of them.
The bean soup was wonderful, as well. It had bacon in it and that made it different, I think. I could see the whole pinto beans, but they were very tender and tasty.

I loved just to eat the chicken and dip it in salsa. It's very addictive!
I could taste the sourness in the salsa, as well as the sweetness and not too overbearing spiciness. All in all, El Pollo Rey is now my number one favorite chicken place. You just can't get enough of them!

Ajam Lombok Ijo

Jl. Gajah Mada 158
Semarang

Ajam Lombok Ijo is basically traditional fried chicken served with green chilies. It's very crowded, especially during lunch or dinner hours. The prices are cheap and reasonable. Thus, making this eatery the number one choice for people with restricted budgets.

Entering the restaurant, patrons will be forced to leave the present time to the past era. The writings of the menu are all based on old edition of Indonesian language. There is no air conditioner here, but the sprays of water actually toned down the heat.

I went here with my husband and we quickly ordered their best selling food. The food came out really fast and fresh.

1. Es Sedjuk (cool ice)
This was basically orange juice, selasih (basil seeds), and sugars. The orange was freshly squeezed and the sweetness was not overpowering. This drink was perfect for the hot day!

2. Balado Terong (eggplant with sambal)
The eggplant was tender and not greasy. The key to this dish was in the sambal. The sambal was made of red chilies, shrimp paste (belacan), sugar, and kaffir lime juice. It was spicy and sweet and complimented the tasteless eggplant with a kick!

3. Tempe penyet & sambal terasi
The sambal was similar to the Balado Terong, but not as sweet. Again, the lime juice here held everything together. The tempe (made of soybeans) was crispy and perfectly cooked.

4. Ajam Goreng Lombok Ijo
The dish included fried chicken, green chilies, boiled cassava leaves, and cucumber. The chicken tasted good, but since they used 'male' chicken, the size was really small compared to the free range chicken. The boiled cassava leaves were tasteless. The green chilies were OK, although they could have made it better.

Overall, with only Rp. 7500 (about USD $0.75) per chicken piece (leg quarter or breast with wing), I would come back to this place at any given time.
It's very cheap, so I won't complain. :)

Granny's Chicken Ranch

1340 Village West Parkway
Kansas City, KS 66111
http://www.grannyschickenranch.com

June 6th was the National day of daughters (not official, I guessed). So after my daughter got a make over as a princess in The Legends shopping mall, she suggested fried chicken for dinner.
I saw an ad for Granny's Chicken Ranch in the Restaurant Guide of Kansas City (http://www.kcrestaurantguide.com/). I thought it was worth a try.

The restaurant was clean and the greeters were very nice. We were seated in the "family room" which was farther from the bar. I liked the idea that they sit all the families in one place. That way the kids will not bother the other patrons who just wanted a nice quiet dinner.

The menu had a lot of varieties, but I decided to choose the fried chicken with its ALL you can eat side dishes. :) My husband chose chicken fried steak.
By the way, side dishes included green beans, biscuits, chicken gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, and cinnamon rolls with sweet butter.

The fried chicken was crispy and very tasty. My daughter was very happy with it, too. The chicken was tender and the seasonings were perfect.
The chicken fried steak was good, too. However, I preferred the fried chicken than the chicken fried steak.

OK let's talk about the side dishes. The salad came with our choice of Ranch dressing, which I thought was great. The green beans were ordinary, needed more salt, though. The biscuits were warm and tasted good, especially with the sweet butter. The mashed potatoes were great, no complains there.
The one thing I really liked about the gravy was its richness. It went well with the chicken or the mashed potatoes.
The last thing that came out was the cinnamon rolls. They were warm and sweet. Although I thought they could have done better with the dough. They were not as soft as I thought they would be.

Overall experience at Granny's was great. They beat the other competitor in town, Stroud's fried chicken. I will surely come back there again. :)

PS: My husband said the sweet butter was great!

Surabaya Fried Chicken

Ayam goreng Citra Pemuda
Various locations, Surabaya

I went to eat "Ayam goreng Citra Pemuda" (Citra Pemuda fried chicken) with my sisters and my brother-in-law at the G-Walk, Citraland location. I don't remember when the last time I ate this chicken. They offered a variety range of menu, from fried chicken to sauteed squids. The list of tropical drinks was overwhelming, but understandably important.
This restaurant has become one of a must-to-eat places in Surabaya.

The chicken was perfectly seasoned with turmeric, coconut milk, and other spices. They used 'ayam kampung' (free-range chicken) to get the full flavor. It was very tasty!
Also, eating them with hot steamed rice and 'sambal' (chilies) with sweet soy sauce made this experience even more fabulous.








Ayam goreng penyet Bu Kris
Various locations, Surabaya

One of my favorites fried chicken in Surabaya is Bu Kris'. I believed they used coconut water instead of coconut milk to cook the chicken. The chicken was tender and flavorful. The 'sambal' was spicy and unbelivably delicious!
They offered some varieties other than chicken. The 'rawon' (blackened beef stew) was awesome! The beef was cooked tenderly and the seasonings were not overwhelming.
I loved their grass jelly drink. It was both sweet and refreshing, especially in the hot Surabayan weather.