Peaches HotHouse — Restaurant in New York

This is a review of Peaches Hot House take out. I ordered through Grubhub and the order was ready promptly. I am in the neighborhood so the food was still warm when eaten. Obviously the presentation of takeout isn’t going to be as pretty as dining in so I will not critique that. The flavors were definitely present and pleasant. I had the fried chicken sandwich and had crispy grits as a side.

The fried chicken was juicy with a crispy, hearty breading. This is not some “lightly fried” chicken and thank goodness because that’s how I like it. The standard chicken is seasoned well but I wanted it spicy so I paid a dollar extra for “very spicy.” I’m assuming the spice is provided by the salsa situation served on the side. In all honesty, it’s not that spicy so having a warning when ordering that it’s VERY SPICY is a bit dramatic. I wish it was spicer. Also the salsa/sauce is very runny and doesn’t feel like it makes sense with the sandwich. It looks and tastes like something that would be wicked good on some tacos but for a chicken sandwich is was a bit of a mismatch. Thankfully the sandwich is served with a spicy mayo that worked great with the meal and cole slaw that was ACTUALLY GOOD. The slaw was light and crisp with the perfect amount of tangy dressing. Unfortunately the bun was stale so that knocked my opinion down a bit.

The crispy grits I ordered as a side (a dollar extra) were great. I am not familiar with this variation of grits but I definitely would order them again. They are like hush puppies but soft and cheesy on the inside with a crisp exterior. Really great stuff.

If the meal was perfect I probably wouldn’t feel this way but with the stale bun and mismatched sauce I do think the price is steep. If I am paying $20 for a chicken sandwich meal, it should be a restaurants best work. If the meal can not be made consistently fresh and hot then it feels negative to pay premium prices for it.

I know the hothouse location is designed for more quick, simple meals compared to the other Peaches locations so I will be trying the other locations out and hopefully have a 5 star...

I was super excited to eat here because I can’t really find Nashville style hot chicken anywhere in New York City. I read on their website that it was specifically Nashville style. When I saw the picture, it was on a piece of bread and it had pickles next to it. So excited. I don’t eat out a lot anymore or get delivery so this was a treat. I ordered the hottest chicken and an extra third piece. The hottest option literally has a warning that it’s extra hot. When it I want to say the quality of all the food was good. They had forgotten my extra sauce I ordered there was no bread and there was no pickles nor was there any salad as pictured… These things I can forgive. But the flavor of the chicken? Broke my heart. Not only was it not spicy. It certainly wasn’t the spiciest. It didn’t deserve a warning. Maybe this morning is for white people who are scared of spicy foods? Unsure. But I didn’t even get a little bit of a sweat going until the third piece! Part of me wonders if it was even seasoned it all as it wasn’t very flavorful outside of just… General chicken flavor? You could see there was a tiny dash of powder on each piece, but this provided almost nothing in the way of flavor or spice. The Mac was good. Nothing worth writing about either way. Same for the shrimp sandwich. Both my partner and I were left sitting there after the meal like, “huh… that sure was food.” It was all pretty expensive which makes it even more underwhelming. I guess this is what I get for trusting some guy from Brooklyn to make southern food. If you want great soul food there are better places in Harlem. If you want spicy? Well, idk what to tell you! Maybe they are just bad at delivery? Who knows. I’m not sure I’ll be giving any Peaches...

Places like this are one of the reasons Brooklyn is my favorite borough in NYC. It's been awhile since I've been in a soul food restaurant. The one nearby me it terrible, but that's a story for another time. The place is a bit small and compact but has a comfortable feel to it.

Service is very accommodating right off the jump. A server led me to a table of my choice, handed me the menu to order, some water and came back around to take my order all in a span on 90 seconds. Stuff like this deserves bonus stars because 5 just isn't enough.

Since this is my first time around, I went with something simple, the 3 piece fried chicken w/ French Fries and Cornbread with the 1/2 & 1/2 Iced Tea and Lemonade drink affectionately named the Tiger Woods. Most oldheads like me know it more as the Arnold Palmer, but I'm all in favor of recrowning it as the Tiger Woods. Back to the food which didn't take long to find its way to my table. The fries were literal perfection. Right type of crisp, right type of salt and fills you up proper. The Cornbread is very comparable to the classic popeyes Biscuit. Tasty and delightful but slightly absorbent texture which means you'll need a drink to wash it down after eating it. The chicken put every other chicken place I ever ate at TO SHAME! Not only was it delicious but it was prepared so nice, it was neither greasy or dry just, wow, it hit the sweet spot right to the bullseye. The Tiger Woods may be the best half and half I've ever had. You can actually taste both the Iced Tea and lemonade from it with no flavor overpowering the other.

All of that good food and it was only around the lower $20 range. Next time I'm in Brooklyn, my next lunch is right back here. Peaches HotHouse is...