East Village Gets Its Own 'Big Tray Chicken' Place With Jiang Diner

Our latest installment of Quick Bites brings us to East 5th Street for Big Tray Chicken, or as they call it here: Big Plate Chicken.

THE VIBE
It may still be operating in "soft-open" mode—the first night of service was just last Monday, and it hit with almost no hype—but Jiang Diner's promise of cumin-infused Northwest Chinese cooking has so far proven a powerful lure among East Village locals. On both of my visits to the freshly-painted space over the weekend every table was full by about 6 p.m. And this without the heavy pedestrian traffic on the avenues: Jiang Diner's most prominent neighbor on East 5th Street is the NYPD's Ninth Precinct.

The dining room here is modest, with seating for about 28 at an assortment of chairs, backless stools, and a long bench along the raw brick wall. A semi-enclosed kitchen carves out a chunk of the layout, and the tables are, in standard NYC fashion, packed in tight enough to make you hesitate getting up for a mid-meal bathroom break. Bright red accents and a trio of hanging prints—one whimsical, two more traditional—complete the unassuming but reasonably stylish decor.

The service at Jiang Diner is a little scattered in the early going, especially on my first night when a single waiter had to take care of the entire room. Presumably they'll figure out their staffing needs, but, among other things, it made me re-appreciate when places just put a whole bottle of water at each table.

THE BITES
The Jiang Diner menu is instantly appealing, filled with noodles, cumin, rice cakes, and lamb. These are all good things, but for me the main draw going in was the XinJiang Big Plate Chicken, a dish made famous around these parts by the legendary Spicy Village on Chrystie Street. I'll refrain from making specific comparisons between the two this early in the game, but despite some issues of balance among the ingredients (more meat and sauce, please), Jiang does a nice job here. The chicken is tender—order it "with bone" and get in there and get messy—the potatoes firm and flavorful, the sauce fiery, and the fat noodles eager to soak it all up.

The Sautéed Rice Cake plate also hits the spot, the chewy tubes slick with a potent "traditional sauce." I ordered mine with beef and, again, I wish there had been a bit more meat, but rice cake fans, a club in which I very much include myself, can tuck into this mini-mountain of starch with confidence. An appetizer of Shredded Sour Cabbage, bright and tangy, offers a welcome counterpart to all the more earthy delights listed above.

The kitchen's over-reliance on carbs to carry a dish is much more of an issue with the Sautéed Crispy Pancake In Cumin Flavor. The pancake turns out to be something akin to chunks of bagel (when I asked my waiter what exactly it was I was eating, he left and returned with a crock of chili paste), and although it all tastes good, there's very little protein or vegetables involved, and you quickly wind up with just a platter of marinated bread. Sizzling Lamb Rice suffers from the same sort of imbalance, but if you stir everything together, and let the rice get a little crunchy on the hot cast-iron plate, it's an enjoyable dish.

THE VERDICT
The East Village's seemingly insatiable desire for Asian food, from all countries and regions therein, is one of the great trends of the late 2010s, and Jiang Diner slips comfortably into the neighborhood's embrace. You can get these dishes, and flavors, elsewhere, and for less (at Xi'an Famous a few blocks north, to mention an obvious example), but there's no way I'm not going be happy about a restaurant serving that Big Plate Chicken.

Jiang Diner is located at 309 East 5th Street, between First and Second Avenues, and is currently open Tuesday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Closed Monday (646-484-5999; jiangdiner.com)