The V.V. Vegan Fried Chicken Showdown 🍿, Battle 4:
Urban Vegan Kitchen vs. Renegades of Sunset *Revision*

Urban Vegan Kitchen, West Village
Chick-un & Waffles

I remember the first time I went to Urban Vegan Kitchen very crisply though it was in January 2017. I fled opportunistically from a teacher professional development class at the The Met because it was a disorganized shit show. It felt good to run away like it had in high school, fleeing into solitude and my own parameters. I bought myself a new camera and treated myself to a delicious lunch at Urban Vegan Kitchen, flattered by how well I care for me and my time. That day feels lifetimes ago.

But here I am still courting myself. Still treating myself to expensive meals… like the ultimately $30 Southern fried seitan and sautéed garlic kale on a sweet Belgium waffle with a maple mustard aioli and a side of maple syrup at Urban Vegan Kitchen. A mouthful of deliciousness—-succulent, sweet and satisfying. But a lot of money.

It is an amazing dish, but even the amazing must be picked apart for this ruthless food battle. The seitan is the star, as it always is when done properly. Tender and juicy soft bites. Though coated and craggy in appearance, there wasn’t much of a contrast of texture. Along with an airy and delicious waffle, the texture of the entire dish was notably soft. Would “gentle” be an odd way of describing texture? It was very pleasing, but not the crunch you’d expect of a vegan fried chicken dish.

Let’s talk this aioli. I’m quite certain anything it touches is transformed into a taste wonder. But it’s sweet, as is the waffle. And the side of maple syrup I needed for moisturizing the waffle sent it a bit over peak sweetness. The kale helped along with the mustard, but I wanted more of it. And while we’re on the kale, I appreciated greatly smallish kale pieces like this. I don’t like when a bite of kale pulls the whole kale tablecloth into your mouth. Am I nuts to think these kinds of things?

The seitan, portioned well and pretty. Sweet and messy and so good, I will proclaim Urban Vegan Kitchen‘s Chick-un & Waffles my new emotional eating dish, a lavish ‘treat myself’ indulgence. But will it win this Battle?

Renegades of Sunset, Industry City
Fried Chik’n Sandwich

You know I feel about this sandwich. I’m beyond pleased it has been resurrected while my Vegan Fried Chicken Battle is still active. But I got to play it cool, difficult when I’ve already called it the Greatest of All Time. I’m going to make the Renegades of Sunset work for it, in accordance with my high standards. I’ll pretend it’s the first time.

The renegades were down to just two vegan chik’n patties left when I arrived after work. So I am not the only admirer of their Wednesday special. And on such I beautiful day, an outdated issue of Bust as my plate, I feasted in the Industry City courtyard, oblivious to all but ravenous bite after ravenous bite. This sandwich has so many components, one to appease all my sandwich desires: breaded and fried scratchmade seitan, greens, tomato, red onion, dill pickles, & ranch on a soft bun. That is every note satisfied.

Look at that breading, look at them crags, them herbs. Though I like my patty a bit more golden than this one, about 10 more seconds in the fryer, this patty reigns the vegan fried chicken realm—for a base of perfect seitan, texture contrasts and all the bursts of flavor that rejoice in the mouth. I really don’t have a piece of constructive criticism besides it needing a bit more time in the fryer. With the breading not as crisp all the garnishes and their moisture caused a little bit of sogginess.

Whatevs. Just look at this thing. It just kicked arse.

Winner: Renegades of Sunset 🎉

Renegades gets all the parts right. And a vegan chicken sandwich is the sum of its parts. I’m excited that they’re moving on and the first round is done! They face Modern Love Brooklyn‘s Brooklyn Fried Tofu in the second round. It will be an exciting Brooklyn Battle indeed. Stay tuned!

****As if Modern Love was listening, check out the post yesterday regarding their new special! A brand new menu offering! This could be a game changer. 😬