Best of New York 2015 • Eating

• Mission Chinese Food

  171 E. Broadway, nr. Pike St.; 212-432-0300

  You’d expect Danny Bowien’s version of fried chicken to be a gut-busting fusion cross between Popeye’s, say, and General Tso’s. But like many things on the menu at the new, much improved reboot of his Mission Chinese franchise, there’s a welcome lightness to this deceptively sophisticated dish. The key might be the fermented, umami-rich koji rice, in which the bird is brined. Or maybe it’s the garnish, which is heavy on citrus, in the southern-Chinese Hainanese style. But our vote goes to the chicken itself, which has the perfect combination of tenderness and salty, addictive, just-fried crunch.

From the 2015 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine