Firstly, apologies to all friends of the Rav B for the silence on this page. Not that I’m so arrogant I think anyone gives a shit there hasn’t been a post in almost a month, but I thought I’d provide an explanation to be polite. Having recently moved into what was supposed to be a furnished flat equipped with lovely flashy kitchen things only to find the landlady had cleared it all out, is not good when you write a food blog. The first week of inhabiting said flat was spent having liquid Fosters dinner intermingled with many bags of crisps and cursing estate agents for being the evil muppets they are. A week later, the beast escaped to the concrete jungle of New York City, home to obscenely massive quantities of food that cater to the greedy American public.

Here’s some musings of the beast’s adventures:

Sweet Chick, 164 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211, United States

I wouldn’t normally venture to Brooklyn for anything really, but since my lovely little niece and nephew reside there I decided to venture out there. If I’m 100% honest, it’s also because I read this place served damn good fried chicken and waffles. Located in the quirky hipster area of Williamsburg, Sweet Chick’s menu consists of classic Southern Comfort dishes with what I would call is a slight New York twist. Serving up items such as macaroni and cheese topped with crumbled Ritz crackers and fried chick(en) with choices of rosemary and mushroom waffles or bacon and cheddar waffles.

This would be a good point to note that I did in fact order the bacon and cheddar waffles and there were raisins in it. This was extremely odd. The waiter didn’t seem to think it was weird — in fact when I asked him what was in the waffles his response was ‘bacon, cheddar and… flour’. But there’s raisins in here sir… ‘Oh yeah I always forget there are raisins in there. Right. Okay.

The buttermilk biscuits were particularly fluffy and delicious as was the fried chicken — very crispy coating and tender chicken meat. Cornbread a bit too dry and mealy — needs to be moist. The bacon cheddar and surprise raisin waffles were too weird for words. I would have been better off with the plain waffles. Macaroni and cheese didn’t really need the ‘creative’ Ritz cracker topping. Regular breadcrumbs would have been sufficient and just as satisfying.

The menu also boasts vegetarian fried chicken. I didn’t even ask..

Also amusing are several of the cocktails such as The Tiger Tiger Woods Y’all drink which is a grown-up version of sweet tea.

Next fried chicken stop in NYC will have to be Pies-n-Thighs which is apparently quite a competitor to this joint.

Parm, 248 Mulberry St  Manhattan, NY 10012

One of the things I do not understand about British people (okay there are many things) is why they do not have chicken parm, meatball parm, or any parm for that matter on any of their menus — Italian or other. I could write an entire book called ‘Why do british people not eat chicken parmigiana?’ I think it would be quite insightful and generate a lot of thought on the important food topic of parm.

Once again, I digress. Back to Parm with a capital P.

The food is simple yet classic, and absolutely delicious. Hands down the best meatball parm I have ever had. The chicken parm was amazing too but the meatball parm was just on a whole different level of food orgasmicness. Let’s face it, any kind of meat drenched in rich sauce topped with hot melted cheese is effing fantastic. Even the charred broccoli side dish was amazing.

The too small dining room proves difficult and problematic as queues can be out the door for this NoLIta gem and wait time can be unbearable. It is best to go for lunch or before a long holiday weekend when people are clearing out of the city. Otherwise, be prepared to wait.

I have also just read that Parm has unleashed a football menu for the new season that feeds eight to ten people and consists of meatballs, buffalo wings done up agrodolce style, and also a large-format hero of your choosing: chicken cutlet, Italian combo, or roast turkey. And it only costs $99. This is probably a reason to move to New York. NYC peeps, get involved.