Oops! Sorry Whole Foods… I posted a few weeks ago about the rotisserie chicken at the newly opened Brassierie Cognac Boulangerie (B’way btw. 55+56th), totally forgetting that you have a much cheaper option at your location on 8th Ave. & 58th St. in the basement of the Time Warner Center. A whole chicken in the prepared foods section is just $7.99 (compared to $13.95 at Cognac) and half is just $4.99 (compared to $7.99), plus there’s money left over to fill up on sides at their by the lb. buffet.  Damn that’s a good deal (and makes eating an entire chicken, well within your Midtown Lunch price boundaries!)

Related: Whole Foods is Hands Down the Best Generic Midtown Deli

Then, for some reason, and who knows how or why (but thankfully it happened), another guy said, “What it we take that same chicken, cover it in egg and flour, and drop it into this incredibly hot oil.” And he did. And what came out, was pure magic. Nobody had any reason to eat that other kind of chicken anymore. Why bother? (Nobody cared about being healthy when all this was going on.) This newfangled “fried chicken” was the greatest invention in the history of man. (Yes- better than even the wheel, whose sole purpose, as far as I can tell, is to get us from our homes, to somewhere where we can buy fried chicken.)

So then, the original guy, who put the chicken over the fire (I’m sure he was still alive, or maybe it was one of his great grand-kids), was like “Nobody is eating my chicken anymore! I’ve got to come up with something better! What if I stacked all the chickens on top of each other, and then, as they cooked over the fire, all the chicken fat from the top chickens will drip down onto the ones below. Then, we’ll turn this whole contraption (with that wheel thing mentioned before), so the grease, and fat will just keep moving from chicken to chicken.” And that is why fried chicken isn’t the only chicken we eat today.  Oh to be alive when these magical things happened in our worlds history!

And now, you can get a slightly overpriced, Midtown version, on Broadway btw. 55+56th. 

The boulangerie doesn’t really have much in the way of other lunch items. There are breads and pastries, plus a couple of sandwiches and salads (all for take out only), but none of it looked that special. The chicken is what you came for, and the chicken is what you’ll want. Stuffed with lemon and rosemary (and basted in it’s own fat) the flavor is outstanding, and the half I got, was perfectly cooked on the inside (that is to say, not too dry). I would have liked the skin to be crispier, but they’ve only been open a week, so maybe it’s something they’ll end up fixing (it also doesn’t help that you take the whole thing to go in a bag.)

$7.95 gets you half a chicken, $13.95 for the whole, and there are no sides, so it’s a little pricey depending on how much chicken you can eat. For example, if you are say… like me- half a chicken is no problem, meaning my lunch is already $8 and I don’t even get rice or beans or nothing else with it. If you are a quarter chicken kind of lunch’er, you can find a friend and it’s only $4 apiece, leaving you plenty of room under the $10 cap to round out your meal.

The best deal is probably to gather up 3-4 friends, and get the whole chicken, maybe one of the salads, and a baguette. Altogether it will end up being only about $25 or $6-8 depending on how many people you end up sharing with. Not bad at all.  Yet, for all the refinement of this place (the price, the fancy restaurant it’s connected to, the fancy desserts), all that goes away when you try to eat takeout rotisserie chicken.  It is a mess.  Just getting it out of the bag, should probably be followed with a shower, if you plan on going back to work afterwards. Asking them to cut it up into normal serving sizes will definitely help, even if you are planning on eating the half chicken yourself (I’m sure they’d be willing to do it).

I don’t know if I’d choose it over Tio Pio West on 36th btw. 5+6th (even though their chicken is drier, I love me my side dishes), but if you work in Midtown North, that place is far, and Boulangerie Cognac is plenty good enough. Just ask for extra napkins.

THE +

• Quality rotisserie chicken in Midtown North
• If you are looking to share a “picnic” lunch with some co-workers, this would be a fun stop.
• The chickens are stuffed with lemon and rosemary, so the flavor is delicious

THE -

• It’s a little expensive for what it is
• There are no side dishes!
• There are better, cheaper places to get baked chicken, plus side dishes, in Midtown
• It is ridiculously messy, and with no plates, or a place to sit, you must come prepared. Ask them to cut it up into individual serving sizes, and be sure to ask for extra napkins.

Brasserie Cognac: Boulangerie, 1740 Broadway (btw. 55+56th), 212-757-3600

Golden brown skin is the key to what makes rotisserie chicken so great, but once you add super cheap prices, Latin style side dishes, and Peruvian aji (green sauce), you’ve got a real winner. Sound good? Well then head to Tio Pio West (the original is in Brooklyn) on 36th btw. 5+6th, where $7.50 will buy you half a chicken, rice, beans, and plantains. Oh, and not to mention a fairly big cup of aji.

What I got and a +/1 after the jump…

So you’re probably saying to yourself, “Zach, what gives? That doesn’t look like half a chicken to me!” And my only reply is to say, I screwed up. That’s right. I ordered the 1/4 chicken combo, with rice beans and plantains (at the equally cheap price of $5.50) thinking to myself, I could write just as informed a post of Tio Pio having eaten a 1/4 of a chicken, as eating 1/2 a chicken- so why not go for less chicken and supplement my lunch with some Treats Truck action on the way back to work.

Halfway through my lunch I realized what a huge error I had made. I ordered the white meat, because rotisserie wings are like a gift from god- but the breast meat is always going to be drier than dark meat. It was still pretty delicious, but after polishing off my wing, I couldn’t help but think I could have kept going (if for no other reason than to have something to dip into my aji, which despite being more watery than I’m used to, still managed to hit the spot with its spicy green goodness.) 

The rice, beans and plantains were fine, but if you’re not into the Latin sides, they have got a steam table full of others to choose from, including pasta, veggies, french fries, and a decent looking mixed salad. The steam table also had fried shrimp, fried chicken, fish, and meat stews- which I may go back and try, but it will be hard to walk into Tio Pio and not order the chicken.  Combos will run you $5.50 to $9 depending on what you order (and how much of it), but the chicken is by far the best deal (and the most delicious).

THE + (What somebody who likes this place will say)

• Um… it’s rotisserie chicken.  And it’s cheap.
• A lot of good side dish options
• I love to eat alot, and you can’t get more food for cheaper anywhere in Midtown.  ($7.50 for half a chicken, and side dishes.  Come on!)

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place will say)

• The white meat can be a little dry
• You can get better latin food in Midtown at places like Margon & Sophie’s Cuban
• The Peruvian green sauce is way too watery (and not spicy enough)

Tio Pio West, 46 W. 36th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-239-6633