Frying High - Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Nov 11th 2005 @ 3:15PM

honeys kettle fried chicken, culver city, ca When you think of LA for eating, you probably think of stereotypes: a tofu-eating, wheatgrass-shooting, sushi-slamming yogi, or an I-order-but-I-don't-eat "actor." I'm not saying that we don't have those here because sometimes, when I've missed a few of my own therapy sessions, even I slip into LA-ness, but that's not what it's all about. There are quite a few super-steak houses, big-ass barbecue joints, and...fried chicken.

Culver City is like a mini entertainment industry mecca, with Sony's corporate HQ towering over downtown and studios and lots surrounding. You would think there would be more sushi joints to cater, but no, on a weekday afternoon, which joint is practically bursting at the seams with power lunch-ers? Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken, a small family-owned restaurant that serves up good, greasy, but oh-so-tasty home cooked fried chicken.

Die-hard fans waited all summer for Honey's Kettle to reopen after the place was shut down earlier this spring due to a fire, and when it did, they were there ready to order everything from a la carte pieces of golden fried chicken cooked in giant copper kettles to family packs that could feed your entire family and your neighbors.

Though the name is Fried Chicken, one of the specialities of the house is the whole deep-fried Krispy Katfish. While I wasn't fond of picking little pieces of deliciously oily catfish flesh from the bones, I was impressed with the salty, flavorful golden batter coating, which I *ahem* peeled right off and ate like potato chips. If we had more than one each, I would have popped the tender, fluffy buttermilk biscuits like potato chips, too. These are so popular that Honey's Kettle sells their biscuit mix for you to take and make at home. I haven't done this yet. I'm afraid I'd bake the whole bag and eat them all in one sitting.

But don't ever go to Honey's Kettle if you're in it for a quick bite - leave that to KFC. Sure the restaurant is small, and many of the orders are "to go," but there is nothing fast about Honey's food. Our Porterhouse combo with chicken wings and Katfish took more than half an hour to fry!

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken
9537 Culver Boulevard (downtown Culver City)
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 202-5453

Filed Under: Ingredients, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants, Methods
Tags: dinner, fish, frying, lunch, poultry, west coast

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-11-2005 @3:40PM Dmnkly said... Hey, Sarah...

Spent six years in LA, but never got to Honey's Kettle. How do they stack up against Roscoe's?
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11-11-2005 @6:57PM Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said... I'm going to have lunch there tomorrow and I'll post afterward. I'd planned to go to the Farmer's Market for a Po' Boy at the Gumbo Pot, but I'd rather have fried chicken. Besides, this place is closer to my house. 8^)
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11-11-2005 @7:59PM M-L said... RE: LA's not-so-secret love of the fryer...isn't this the winner of "most donut shops per capita" honors? I grew up north of Chicago but have never found a place with so many legendary chow spots. Pink's, Randy's, Apple Pan, I don't even dare start listing LA legends.

Honey's will have to be measured against Aunt Kizzy's I suppose. Any comparisons?
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11-12-2005 @12:15AM Dmnkly said... Oh, you're killing me... the Gumbo Pot is one of the things I miss most about LA. Don't suppose I could convince you to freeze a few quarts of gumbo yaya and ship it to Chicago? :-)
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11-12-2005 @1:21AM sarah said... it's hard to say how honey's kettle compares with roscoe's or aunt kizzy's, as they all do fried chicken, but present them in different ways you know? i would say taste wise, i do like honey's kettle the best! however, there is a time and place for chicken and waffles, and the back porch ;)

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11-13-2005 @9:34PM Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said... I have to say one thing, I was expecting some dingy, hole-in-the-wall place, but Honey's was clean and very modern. The style was very fresh. I was actually dreading it having d?r like one of those stupid trendy places that puts "Co." or "Factory" at the end of their name and puts all manner of crap on their walls.

So the chicken. I got the three piece breast strip meal. It came with sweet pickles (which I did not touch, being a kosher dill man), some fries (so-so taste, but they were at least fresh and the interiors fluffy) and a roll. The roll tasted like it was sweetened with honey. It was a little doughy, but the outside had a nice crispness to it.

The chicken though...oh. We waited a looooong time for the chicken, and it was worth it. DAMN good chicken. A nice, slightly seasoned heavy batter (but not TOO heavy) with a hearty crunch to it. And the chicken inside was moist and tender. Everything was in proportion: batter, chicken, seasoning. It was marvellous. If I hadn't made this big pot of guacamole for dinner (it's health food, honest!) I'd go right now.

My wife got the fish sticks (which is probably why we had to wait so long). It used the same breading, but the fish was mushy and not seasoned at all.

One little "quirk" I noticed was they sell sodas in glass bottles. That's a nice touch, even if they are a little pricey. I saw Pepsi, Orange Crush and Diet Coke, but I'm sure they had others.

For locals who are curious to try for themselves, Honeys is on Culver just past the point where it crosses Washington Blvd. The best way to get there though is to follow Venice east (or west, depending on where you are) to Culver, and turn right onto Culver. It'll be a couple blocks up on the right. There's no parking on the block in front of the place, but there is plenty around the area. You may have to hoof it a block or two, but it's worth it.
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