The Chicken Wars
Coke or Pepsi? McDonald’s or Burger King? Beluga or Ossetra?
The newest culinary dilema: City Chicken or Ris A?
In Berlin, fast food has long been dominated by the mighty Döner. While I love a good Döner, diversity is the key to happiness. Pizza by the slice, when available, is a horror. Banh mi can hit the spot, and who can resist a well made börek? But sometimes the only thing that will do is chicken. No, not some 19 year old twink who just moved here from Frankfurt (Oder) and thinks Spandau Ballet is a ballet company in Spandau. My chicken of choice is from a rotisserie, not from high school.
More specifically, the holy trinity of rotisserie chicken, hummus and hot sauce.
My go-to place for this treat was City Chicken on Sonnenallee. Recently, a lady friend introduced me to Ris A, just a few blocks down from City.
The commonalities, now that City Chicken has thankfully revamped its bathrooms, are many. Both focus on chicken and have small menus, are cheap, have modern fast-food decor and neither serves alcohol. Quality, quantity and price wise, too little difference to mention. Here is my ever so subjective take:
Chicken: Both offer great 1/2 chickens, roasted on a spit, complete with a spice rub. Each has chicken nugget-type thingys that should NOT be ordered. Where Ris A pulls forward is with…fried chicken! The fried chili wings (German spicy) wont rock your world, but are pretty good, and utterly filthy. City chicken does not offer fried, so if that is your thing, Ris has a leg up.
Hummus: I love hummus. Love, love, love it. In the USA one can buy 27 kinds of (good) hummus at every supermarket. In Germany, you can buy exactly one kind of really funky-not-in-a-good-way hummus at the bio markt. Hummus is super easy to make, but does need a day to rest for best flavor. Craving hummus? Go to City Chicken! The hummus at Ris A is good. The hummus at City is great. They even have a little annex just behind City Chicken proper that sells big portions of hummus.
French Fries: Sad at Ris A, slightly better at City.
Bread: Standard pita at both locals. If more is better is your thing, City piles up many pita per person. Ris is stingy with the bread.
Salad: Non-existent at Ris A, sadly iceberg-driven at City, but with tasty cabbage. Would be amazing if they stepped it up in this department.
Hot Sauce: Above average for Germany. A little oily for my taste, but properly spicy and tasty.
Drinks: Coke, Ayran, Water. Yawn. Thinking about smuggling in Ouzo for my next visit.
All things considered, City Chicken comes out ahead in my book. The fried chicken at Ris is a draw, but really, it has nothing on Angry Chicken in Kreuzberg.
