Midtown Lunch

When Rotisseur opened for lunch this summer, I wondered if it would fall under the ML under $10 budget. The claims of “cage-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-free” chicken and sides made me skeptical it might not. Then I found out that the entire menu, unless I was craving a whole chicken for lunch, would be ML affordable.

On my trip there, I admired the way the small space was decorated with just the right ratio of modern to homeyness. The counter of magazines and newspapers to read while you wait was a nice touch, though I preferred people watching at the big window facing 21st Street.

There are about a million banh mis out there these days, some authentic, some far from it. I might just have to risk losing all my street cred in proclaiming that Rotisseur’s trendy, photogenic,completely-devoid-of-that-Vietnamese-counter-sketchiness version of the banh mi might be my favorite of all time. It wasn’t the mildly pickled cucumber, the bright pink picked cabbage,  the sprinkling of cilantro, or the clean pieces of that Lancaster white chicken meat that won me over, though I enjoyed each of those high quality components. It was the addition of the thin piece of crispy chicken skin that had me swooning. It wasn’t covered in a gross layer of fat and it wasn’t too crispy to bit in to like pig skin can be. Just like when Ben Franklin added a key to his kite, the addition of this skin is shockingly good. Even crazier is the fact that this skin is not fried. The sandwich costs $6.

My side of mac and cheese was insanely cheesey, and it was the good kind of cheese, I just wish it would have been warmer.

Other lunch options include combos of rotisserie chicken meat and super fresh sides, like the  baked kale or succotash.  I wish I knew how to bake kale like that, mine always comes out brown, too dry, and yet still not completely crispy.

From their rotating pickle selection, I was introduced to the first piece of okra I actually liked.

To end with a touch of sweet, mini cornbreads are just as cute and moist a cupcake.

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

• Healthy, cruelty free, local food
• Crazy awesome banh mis made more awesome with chicken skin

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

• I am sick of banh mi bastardizations

Rotiseur, 100 South 21st St (btw Sansom and Chestnut St), 215 496 9494