Monday, August 20, 2007

The Chicken Place is Dead...

...long live the new chicken place! Another Paul Johnson find was the "Chicken Place," or the L'viv Chicken restaurant. Not surprisingly, it primarily served chicken: expertly prepared, succulent, and drop-off-the-bone tender. We have been searching for it with no success. The address associated with the Chicken Place - 3 Katedralna Square - is now occupied by an Armenian restaurant. Unless it is hidden away in a corner somewhere, it seems to be gone. [Note - after this was posted, Alex Tsiovkh confirmed the Chicken Place's untimely demise.]

Adrian Erlinger, a graduate of the REES program, recommended the Old L'viv restaurant to us before we arrived. After a pre-dinner stroll to (of course) feed birds and to try to find the puppet theater, we stumbled upon the Old L'viv and decided to have a bite. The menu was simple: various salads and pickled vegetables, chicken soup, grilled chicken, and beverages. We ordered what we thought was a modest amount of food and had a feast delivered to our table. We plowed through delicious pickled tomatoes (an Eastern European treat that everyone should sample. Pickled tomatoes explode in your mouth and have a tangy flavor and soft texture), fried potatoes with dill and parsley, some dense white bread, and half a chicken. We watched the chicken turn in the rotisserie, and impatiently awaited our meal's arrival. The chicken was lightly coated with a sauce that permeated the parchment-thin, crunchy, crackly skin. We also had an extra bowl of the sauce for dipping (which seemed to be made of paprika, tomatoes, and vinegar - a savory but not hot sauce). The meat was extremely tender and soft, dripping with juices. All this with two large beers and a generous tip totaled less than $9. Sorry we don't have pictures (although our vegetarian friends are probably pleased and also probably stopped reading a while ago). Old L'viv also sells whole chickens for takeout. It was funny to see this, as it seems very American to pick up rotisserie chicken on the way home from work.

Erik leaves for Kyiv tonight. He was asked to participate in Fulbright interviews for Ukrainian students and faculty applying to visit the US. He returns on Friday.

P.S. Lea made applesauce on Apple Spas.

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