2002 Manor Rd
Austin, TX 78722
There’s a charming way that people in the South describe battered and fried meats. They preface them with “chicken fried”. As in, “chicken fried steak”. It somehow makes it sound more exotic and less like the mindblowingly “this is why you’re fat” dish that it is. Maybe because the full name generally has at least two proteins?
At any rate, Hoover’s is without doubt my favourite place for Chicken Fried goodness in Austin. My first experience was with the steak, but my go-to is now the chicken fried chicken. It’s a succulent and moist chicken breast, coated in seasoned flour and fried until a delicious golden crust is formed.
CFC/CFS always come with a variety of sides to choose from. Hilariously, despite being items such as mac n cheese and potato salad, they are referred to as “vegetables”. Hoover’s at least aren’t trying to pretend your sides are going to be a healthy accompaniment, and so refer to them as “mates”. Favourites include jalapeño creamed spinach, coleslaw and mashed potato.
I went for the double header of mac n cheese and fried okra:
Chicken fried chicken, mac n cheese, fried okra
There are few things Southern Comfort and I do not agree on. He hates talking on the phone, I love it. He is a PC user, I am a winner who uses a Mac. He loves okra, I think it’s the devil’s snot- gross, slimy, green finger vegetable. Ick.
Thus in the interest of promoting a harmonious relationship (and because he is talking on the phone more than he cares to these days), I ordered the fried okra. My dining companion A assured me that when done right, it is actually delicious. The server made sure the kitchen fried my order extra crispy, and I went ahead and tried one. It tasted like a crunchy generic fried vegetable. You pretty much could deep fry anything that long and have it taste decent.
Verdict? It was pretty good, but there’s still no chance of me ever eating okra in it’s non-fried state.
Dining partner A (apparently unfazed by the sheer size and scale of her chicken plate) pushed on like a true soldier of gastronomy and ordered the praline bread pudding.
The most useful tip I can offer you is to eat at Hoover’s for your lunchtime meal so you give yourself plenty of time to digest. You’ll thank me later.
I am DYING. I don’t WANT to want to eat this because it’s SO calorific… but godddannnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg I do want to eat it!!!