NYiR is Mad for Chicken

Marina of Italian STD clinic Venerio's fame turned me on to Mad for Chicken's Murray Hill location. Formerly known as Bon-Chon this place is a secret jewel in the midst of NYC souvenir shops.

Look for 314 5th Avenue and you'll find what appears to be an apartment building. Walk to the back of the lobby and up a flight of stairs and you'll magically enter this darkly-lit Korean restaurant that serves the best fried chicken in the city. That's right, New York is Ridiculous has finally (finally!) weighed in on the best fried chicken and it exists at Mad for Chicken.

Marina and I split the soy garlic sauce chicken dinner, which was 16 pieces for $23. A bit pricey for wings but exquisite. We also got the 2-liter container of beer pictured above. Both appeared within minutes and were delicious. I have to admit I wasn't in a beer-drinking mood until I saw the aquarium-esque equipment that surrounded the experience. It's like drinking refreshing beer from a lava lamp.

Mad for Chicken is a great date place. If you're both beer-loving chicken-wing eating dudes (NYiR officially recognizes that men AND women can be dudes who love chicken and beer).

It sounds like White Castle and it's equally magical

Dear Queens,

Sorry we ignore you so often on this blog. But let's face it, until recently all you had was the Beer Garden and even that was so-so. However, now that you're home to Spa Castle we will never ignore you again. We will visit you allll the time. Because Spa Castle is awesome. So now we'll blog about you again soon, promise. With our fingers crossed.

Sincerely,
NYiR


Yes it is far away. It's at the end of the 7 line on the subway. And then you walk for a bit. Then a shuttle bus picks you up and you begin to wonder if you are being taken to where the sidewalk ends. Right when you're about to hit that point you turn a corner and your heart starts racing like a kid going to somewhere kids love going to (candy stores? do kids still like candy?). You have arrived at Spa Castle. You check in and get a watch that you can now scan in exchange for food, a massage, a foot rub, whatever. So easy!

Then comes a bit of a scary part: the locker room. I guess Queens is a very liberated land because people looooove walking around with their parts out. There was one guy that was there the other day who was showing off his Bigfoot hairy body when I arrived. When I was done for the day he was still there walking around with that thing just hanging out. Put on a towel man! You look like Harry from Harry and the Hendersons! However, here's the nice addition to the locker room:

Not bad right? They have these heated pools on both the men's and the women's side.

Ok, now you've braved Chewbacca and had a quiet dip in the pool. Head upstairs for the steam room and sauna level:

Nice right? Much nicer than any other steam rooms I've been in while living in New York City. Check out this light therapy steam room:
Yeah that's some Dark Side of the Moon shit right there. So you've been sweating a lot, why not head to the next floor for some pool time? You walk up and then the most magical part of the whole experience arises:
Start with the hinoki tub. It's jets will get you all relaxed before you go into the bade pool (listen, I didn't name this stuff, "bade" is clearly "hit you with water real hard" in Korean). Each little nook of these pools has touch activated jets that will come on and shoot directly into a different part of your body. One nook is designed to shoot jets that massage your feet and legs, another your back, another your neck and shoulders. A personal favorite is the one that you stand under and it just shoots water onto your head like a waterfall.

At the end of your pool time make sure you grab some of their delicious food. Man, I'm getting antsy and hungry just thinking about all this. F it, I'm going there now. See you all next week. I'm gonna chill with Chewbacca in the hot tub now.