A couple weeks ago, Mr. Mari and I had an indulgent morning/early afternoon at Monument Lane prior to our stop at Doughnuttery. Monument Lane took over the old Day-O spot on the corner of Greenwich Ave and W 12th Street and it definitely no longer resembles a jerk shack. When we first sat down at 11a, the place was pretty close to empty making me wonder if I chose poorly. By Noon, the place was packed, bustling and my belly need not worry any longer - it was definitely in a happy place.
When I was a kid, we didn't really eat out very much except for special occasions. As I've previously mentioned, I love fried chicken. As a kid, we'd go to The Sitting Room for my birthday and this is what I would order. Not the piddle-y kids meal that includes a drumstick and wing. No, I'd order a full-sized adult platter. It's probably the association with a happy day that keeps fried chicken on the top of my food list. So if I see it on the menu more often than not, I'm ordering it.
The fried chicken at Monument Lane does not disappoint. The thin seasoned crust is cracklin' good. Our waiter also brought over a little dish of what he calls "special sauce": equal portions of hot sauce and honey. It tasted like Frank's RedHot- but bettah. I'm not normally a fan of honey on my fried chicken (too sweet!) but because the sweetness was cut by spicy, I couldn't stop dipping my chicken into the little ramekin.
Mr. Mari ordered the special: a shredded pork shoulder with pickled Brussels sprout slaw sandwich. Yu-hum. Oh, and we didn't stop there. What's that tasty looking stripey thing? What, that? That's the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cup with Maldon sea salt. After the two rounds of beer - which included a Sixpoint Sehr Crisp Pilsner, a Southampton Double White, a Kelso Winter Lager (very dark!), a Stillwater artisanal Cellar Door Saison and a taste of their cask Bronx Brewery Black Pale Ale, I/we were done and couldn't finish the extremely rich four-inch high dessert.
I miss Day-O but Monument Lane seems to fit today's restaurant style, culinary mood and changing neighborhood. I just wonder what's going into the now vacant MYXYPLYXYK space. Times they are a changin'.