Tropic Chicken Fort Wayne

Co-workers have been raving about the food at Tropic Chicken, a little place just a couple minutes from work. I caught a whiff of somebody’s leftovers the other day and decided this was a place I had to try.

Two of us who’d never been there went with a co-worker who goes often. It’s nothing fancy. Located in a small strip shopping center near the intersection of Broadway and Taylor Street, it’s a place where you go in and order at the counter, find a table, then get your own drinks and plastic ware. The food is all served on disposable plates.

There’s a menu on the wall with pictures of various dishes, but I was most interested in the actual food displayed in a case, ready to serve. Various combinations could be ordered for a $4.95 lunch, and it all looked and smelled good, so I went with what my eyes and nose were telling me to do.

I ordered chicken, rice with pinto beans and a side of stewed beans.

The man behind the counter piled the plate high with a huge mound of rice and two pieces of chicken — a leg and, if I remember correctly, a thigh. He drizzled some of the broth from the chicken onto the rice and spooned some beans onto my plate.

It was an impressive plate of food volumewise. I hoped I’d like it, otherwise it would be a lot of food to waste.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

The restaurant owners are from the Dominican Republic, so the food is inspired by the Caribbean, but not as spicy as that of other Latin American countries.

My meal was not spicy at all, but perfectly seasoned nonetheless. The guy working behind the counter (I think he was the owner) said they primarily use onion, garlic and cilantro for most of their dishes. The chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender.

The rice and beans were good on their own, but even better when I combined them. Incidentally, rice and beans are tremendously healthy because they form a complete protein. I felt full, but not stuffed, for hours after I ate. And I appreciate that the dish wasn’t covered in fat-laden cheese, like so many Mexican foods.

One co-worker tried something new, a fish and potatoes dish. She said it was OK, but she wouldn’t order it again, preferring chicken or beef.

The other co-worker ordered — and raved about — the ribs. “If you can take rib meat off the bones with a plastic fork — that’s tender,” she said.
We each grabbed a container of flan out of the refrigerator in the dining room for dessert. Two of us got the flan with coconut, the other tried plain flan. It’s not a favorite of mine, but I suffered through a few bites before closing the container and taking it home, where it was quickly devoured. My co-workers enjoyed their pieces. I just don’t like the texture of flan.

One final note about Tropic Chicken: The day we were there they had several scrumptious-looking whole roasted chickens in the case. They looked much better than the rotisserie chickens you can buy at grocery stores.

I’ll have to remember that next time I’m thinking about picking up something for dinner on the way home from work.

Read more at: http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110405/LIVING/104050303