COQODAQ

"You don't dine at Coqodaq so much as experience it. This latest entry from Simon Kim's Gracious Hospitality Management (the people behind nearby darling COTE Korean Steakhouse) is a “fried chicken cathedral” that purports to sling a healthier take on the dish by using cultured oil and a gluten-free batter blend with rice flour. While I cannot speak to its efficacy in that department, what I can report is a startling zero on the digestive issues post-feast—a first for food that is indeed deeply fried. It helps that it's delicious, with the signature fried chicken bucket ($38 per person) coming with roasted chicken consommé, copious ban-chan, cold noodles, and a delicate seasonal frozen yogurt to finish. One of the great splurges of your lifetime—and it's a splurge I do recommend making, if only just once—is the golden nugget, which comes topped with either ocean trout roe ($16 per piece) or Golden Daurenki caviar ($28 per piece)." - Charlie Hobbs