Finding The Best Chicken And Rice In NYC

Ahmed, give me three mix over spicy rice, three mix over yellow rice. Bro, I'm done with this. Bro. What are you... Chicken and rice is the most popular street food in New York City of all time. In today's video, we're going to be exploring the entire city to find the best chicken and rice. And we're starting here at Adele's. We just got here. The court isn't even here yet. And there's an absolute long ass line already. It's kind of crazy. So we're actually with the owner of Adele's. So you want to tell us a little bit about your business? I own Adele's famous halal food on West 49th Street, 6th Avenue. I've had it since 2009. Everything on the menu is homemade. Anyways, we got a mix platter over I'm assuming the yellow and the red rice. I gave you just spicy rice because I know how you like spicy rice. Harissa is your thing, you know what I mean? So I gave you that. But I did give you a plate here with yellow rice and spicy rice. So you can try it. Just so we can see it. Yeah, see the difference. Sweet. Bismillah. That's unreal. It's like really really soft and tender tandoori chicken. That's what gives it that really bright red color. The chicken is so succulent and there's so much flavor. It has a nice kick. It's giving me like Indian flair. Like there's a lot of Indian flavors here. And especially with the green chutney and the white sauce. The white sauce is just so good to just cool everything down. That is different. Oh my god. Textbook perfection. I love the chicken. It's that tandoori marinade, right? Like full on, there's nothing. No. There's a lot in there. You got yogurt. Trying to give the secrets out? What's up with this guy, bro? I thought we were good, bro. I'm gonna stop guessing. Other people are already trying to imitate, bro. Listen, the owner's here and that's cool, but he's not persuading me to say this. I thought it was heist. I thought it was like, oh it's gonna taste like the rest or as good, a little bit better. Really, this is a one of one bowl. It is so good. So good. The marinade, the chicken, the tenderness, the freshness. The rice is great. All the sauces just compliment everything. So good. And I'm not paying him to say that, by the way. You know what I mean? That's really just... Yeah, that's authentic. That's authentic. They got me messed up now. One chicken spicy rice. One chicken spicy rice, please. All right, one. One spoon rice. Yeah, I got it, I got it. Don't forget the pita bread. Yeah, pita bread right here. I need the pita bread. Oh, wait. Pita bread. Chicken, no lamb. Yo, come on. I'm hungry, bro. Came in fast. We're on the way to Mido's. Mido's chicken over rice is a classic halal cart, but they've been making their name and a lot of people in the city have said that Mido's is one of the best. Can't wait to try it. Let's go. Can we just do one chicken over rice? We'll do spicy rice, regular chicken, and then lettuce, tomato, and then white sauce and red sauce. First of all, it looks good. And he sauced it. Wallah, he sauced it so good. So we're about to try the Mido's chicken over rice. Mido's is on the cross section of 18th Street and 6th Ave. By the way, this is only $9. First bite at Mido's now. Bismillah. That is spicy. That is good. Lots of flavor going on. The chicken's a little bit on the dry side, just a tiny bit. But oh my god, I'm already sweating. It is spicy. Like actually spicy. But like in a good way. That green chutney's talking different. And he actually got some pickles going on. That's really good. Because we're fighting the best chicken and rice, I'm not gonna give this a rating. I'm gonna just tell you my honest opinion. That's really goddamn good. If you like spicy, this will hit all those notes. Really good too. We got Rasa, baby. Hainanese chicken. It's a Malaysian restaurant. I don't know why I'm just so excited for this one. Off-grid, the hospitality. He didn't care for the recording. He didn't care about anything. Super nice. I hope it's smack. They deserve the love. Excuse me, we're gonna order one thing. Hainanese chicken over rice. Ooh, thank you so much. Thank you. Well, let's guess. First of all, this is bone-in chicken. The skin on chicken breast with this ginger on top. And then it comes with some sesame seed oil and some soy sauce. A chili sauce. And then they actually make the rice in the chicken raw. So I'm gonna take off the bone. Listen, if you can't get in there with your hands, you're not doing it right. Take that bite. A little chili sauce. A little bit of soy sauce. And as always, now Bismillah. Mmm. It might not look like it, but I'm telling you it's jam-packed with flavor. The chili sauce is spot on. It's kind of giving me sambal, but it's like a little bit more, less mild. And more creamy. The rice. The rice is cooked in the broth. And you can really taste it. I will say, though, the chicken kind of tastes a little gamey. Like, in Arabic we say janakha. There's like a really, really light gaminess to it, which is not a good thing. Maybe it's from the skin, I'm not sure. But overall, flavor profile is so good. I just wish somehow the chicken skin on top can be crispy. But because of the way they cook it, it's impossible. But I just wish it was crispy. It's really hearty, it's really homey. It tastes like something you'd make at home. But the small details just add so much flavor. Again, you need that chili sauce in every bite. But the rice is flaky, it's fluffy. Really, really good. So our next stop is actually a place called Hyderabadi Zayka, which is in midtown Manhattan. This is a Hyderabadi-style chicken biryani, which is one of my favorites. And it's arguably the most popular biryanis out there. I'm very excited because this is one of my favorite foods of all time. And growing up, one of my Indian neighbors used to make us biryani all the time. As a little kid, I'd walk up to the front door and ask her to make me some. And I'd tell her, make me the spicy version. Anyways, we're about to go try it and I hope it hits. So this place is super cute. And right on the street they have one of the best biryanis in the city. We're gonna order the dum chicken biryani. It's D-U-M by the way, not dum dum. Just for the record. So in front of me is the Hyderabadi-style chicken dum biryani. So this bite looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm gonna hit it with a little bit of raita. Looks like some bone-in dark meat. And as always now, bismillah. Really good rice. I wish it had a little bit more flavor. Even the rice, every strand stands for itself. But the flavor is a little bit too mild for me. I need something to eat. I need a kick. I need a little bit more masala in there. Second bite, I'm getting a little bit more spice. This is not as spicy as I wanted it to be. It has a really, really light kick. It's really good though. Really, really good. As I get more into that, the flavor is coming out. So the first few bites might have been more mild because I wasn't getting all that flavor that's mixed in. But the flavors are spot on. And all of this for $16. It's a little bit on the hefty side, but it's still not bad. You're getting a decent portion. We made it to Halal Bro's Grill. So Halal Bro's Grill is on 5th Ave. It's right next to the Barclays Center. Gas! It's only a 30-minute ride and it's hot. Hot! We had the weather advise me to... Hello! Can we do a jerk chicken over rice, please? Alright, so we're at Halal Bro's Grill. This is on 5th Street or 5th Ave. I'm not even sure. We're in Brooklyn though. Anyways, the rice looks super, super fluffy. They've got all the fixings. We've got the veggies on the side. We topped it off with the jerk chicken. We've got the dragon sauce. We've got the white sauce. I am very, very excited for this. As always, namaste. Yo. Yo, that's money. That is ridiculously good. It's a really nice marinated piece of chicken. It is phenomenal. The sauces in there are just really good. The dragon sauce, I don't even know what it is. It's not chipotle. It's not that spicy. The rice is super fluffy. It's done really, really well. I'm so happy we made the haul here because I was a little skeptical. But the flavors are amazing. Seriously. I think you can use a long grain best meti rice. Chicken is super tender. Sauce on top is great. This is a really, really good bowl. Honestly. Next stop, we're going to Wadaldi's. I'm not sure how to pronounce it. Authentic jerk chicken. We're about to get into the Uber, so we gotta go. Hello, sir. So we just arrived to Brooklyn. It seems a lot more chill. There's no high rise buildings. It looks like it's a lot more residential. Brooklyn is cute, man. You got a bunch of trees. It's a lot cooler because there's actually some greenery. It reminds me a little bit of Detroit with the older historic houses. The kind of community vibes. I actually really like it here. It's really cute. So we're walking to this place called Wadaldi's. Wadaldi's? I'm not sure. Anyways, it's an authentic jerk chicken spot. I'm super excited because there's not much jerk chicken that you can get in America in general. I hope it's going to be good. It's down there. I see the smokers outside on the street, so you know that's a good sign. What's your name? Ahmed. Nice to meet you. This is Ahmed. Ahmed is from Michigan. And he's trying to find the best chicken in life This is where all the magic happens. I see. Oh, dang. My brother, thank you so much. I appreciate it. 15 bucks? That's it. 15 bucks, you get all this food? All of that. That looks beautiful. We got barbecue jerk and the pepper sauce all on top of the chicken. We got the rice and peas, we got the plantains, and we got the cabbage. This looks absolutely fire. All for 15 dollars. It's time to dive in. I got a little bit of the jerk chicken and the rice and peas. As always, now, bismillah. That is so good. So, so good. That rice and peas, the rice and peas in itself is packing flavor. I'm tasting lots of spices. The jerk is actually spicy. The sauces you put on top are really spicy. So, I like spice. So, I want to be sweating when I'm eating. Unbelievable. It is unbelievable. Every bite just has so much flavor. And I didn't expect anything less. Lots of black pepper. I can't get over the rice. The rice is perfect. I used to eat it with my hands. With your hands? Why you give me these? I eat the rice with my hands. I'm from the Middle East. I've been struggling. Oh, this rice is perfect. What's the number one ingredient when you cook? Salt? No, when you're cooking, what's the number one ingredient? In all the dishes. Onions? No, brother. Love, man. That was Bars. Bar, my man. I was like, onions, salt? I don't know. Bunch of love. First of all, the food was really, really good. The rice and peas was next level. Perfectly executed. Just a hint of spice. Every grain on its own was just phenomenal. The chicken was really good and the rice was really good and that's what we're rating. All in all, great vibes. Great ownership. Great person. The food was delicious. Give this place a try, man. This guy was awesome. Him and his family. Family owned. They were from Antigua, actually. It was not Jamaican. Just to clarify, it was not a Jamaican spot from Antigua, but it's still good, good, good jerk chicken. On to the next spot. Behind me is the original Halal Guys. Started in 1990. These are the OGs. They're the ones who popularized chicken over rice in New York City in the first place. We're on 53rd Street and 6th Ave. They got a little line going. I'm really excited to try the OGs. Word on the street, they fell off. That's word on the street, but we have to pay them homage because they are the ones that made this dish so popular. Did you know that chicken and rice actually came from Egyptian immigrants in the late 1980s? And it was just a way for like cab drivers to have a quick Halal meal in this city. And fun fact, chicken and rice is the first dish I've ever made on my channel. For me, this dish is like what started my channel as well. We got the OG in the house. You always gotta pay homage to OG. This is looking a little bit different than the classic because they actually got some green and barbecue sauce. They got the bread on top. The chicken is not red. This chicken is pretty white in terms of the marinade, but that doesn't mean it doesn't got flavor. And they only got one rice. They got the regular yellow rice. Right, looking juicy. Bismillah. Don't disrespect the OG. This is really good, honestly. I've had Halal guys like the corporate. It's not touching this. The chicken is packing flavor and I honestly really like this. I really like the barbecue touch to it to add some sweetness. But yeah, no man, these guys are still crushing it. And they still got a line going. They're still doing it after freaking 35 years. So it's more basic and just structurally it's just a solid, well-executed dish. Love this. Now our last stop is a place called Shawarma Bay. It is an Afghan-inspired food truck. They are known for their chapli kebabs, but they have a fresh chicken shawarma skewer and they make platters out of it. So we're gonna try both, but we're gonna focus obviously on the chicken and rice. I'm also super excited for the chapli kebab. It's up the street. It's been gaining some noise. And I just wanna say that none of these places got rated for a reason. I know they're good. I vetted them out. They all have some type of hype and they're all delicious in their own way. And I just wanted to present that to you guys. So don't be like, oh, why didn't you rate it? Why don't you tell us which one is the best? All of them are super damn delicious. This is our last stop and I cannot wait to try it. You can dance. Having the time of our lives. You guys are fired. This platter is looking delicious. We got some rice at the base and then we got, actually they're famous for their chapli kebab so you had to put me some, which I really appreciate. Then they got their chicken shawarma and their doner. So there's three meats in here. And then there's the white sauce, the red sauce and some sumac on top. And there's traces of this green chutney. So I got a little bit of everything. Bismillah. That is gasoline. Oh my God. It's not spicy. The chicken shawarma is really nicely seasoned. The base of the rice is like aromatic. It looks like they put a little bit of cumin seed in the rice. It's nice and fluffy. Then there's fries running in every single shot. Oh, that is gas. Every single place is gas. This is delicious. And if you enjoyed this video, subscribe for more.