Federal Donuts, Philadelphia

D and I are back from a whirlwind weekend in Philadelphia, filled mostly with eating (as you’d expect) and also with a bit of culture, namely a morning spent at the Barnes Foundation.  It’s a fascinating place, a museum that exactly recreates Mr. Barnes’ original mansion with all the art placed exactly as he had it – Renoir and Seurat and Matisse all cheek by jowl with American antique furniture, African statues, Egyptian antiquities, and the occasional random piece like a 17th century French metal rooster sculpture that I particularly liked.

It seemed fitting that we should next end up at Federal Donuts, with its bright red rooster logo emblazoned on the side of the building.  

Federal Donuts is located far from my usual Philly stomping grounds, all the way down in the very southeast corner of the city at 1219 S 2nd St.  Behind the unassuming blue door is a bustlingly energetic scene – a line of eager patrons ordering donuts and coffee and eyeing the racks of fried chicken that won’t be sold for another thirty minutes.  There are two kinds of donuts, hot or fancy; the hot donuts are fried to order and dusted with sugar and spices, while the “fancies” come in a six daily flavors.

I chose four of the fancy donuts: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Creamsicle, Chili Mango, and Chocolate Coconut.  Meanwhile, D had snagged a couple of the six stools at the tiny counter, so that we had a place to eat our bounty.

The donuts are cakey and petit, not my favorite – I prefer the light, yeasted style at the Doughnut Vault.  (Or perhaps I should have tried the hot donuts instead.)  I think the real star at Federal Donuts is the glaze.

The two I liked out of our selection were the Creamsicle donut and the Chili Mango, both with truly stellar glazes.  The Creamsicle is double glazed – the bottom layer is vibrantly orange in both color and flavor, while the top is creamy white.  And yes, it tastes exactly like a creamsicle.   The Chili Mango has dark yellow-orange glaze that’s truly mango-ey.  I didn’t taste any heat from the chills, but the mango flavor was good on its own.

In front of us, temptingly close, was the fried chicken waiting for its debut at 1145am.  As we ate our donuts, we compared notes with the group beside us at the counter, wondering about the chicken distribution process.  

Soon enough, it was explained by the young woman working at the counter, who easily projected her instructions above the excited buzz of the hungry crowd.  (“I used to be a teacher,” she explained.)

In short:  Each customer is given a numbered ticket that entitles them to a half chicken (or six wings).  When your number is called, you order your chicken, specifying which flavor you’d like: either one of the dry seasonings (harissa, za’atar, buttermilk ranch, or coconut-curry) or a glaze (chili-garlic or honey-ginger).  And we were instructed to have our orders ready – no one wants to be the guy hemming and hawing while thirty hungry people stare at him.

The process of handing out the numbers turned out to be very calm and civil – our teacher/ticket distributor gave them out in the order that we arrived in the shop.  D and I got numbers 7 and 8, so we had just a short wait until it was our turn to order.

We got a half order of buttermilk ranch, and half chili-garlic – figuring that the milder, dry ranch and the glazed spicy chili-garlic would complement each other nicely.  Each order comes with a honey donut (in case you haven’t filled up on donuts already) and Japanese pickles.

The chicken is twice-fried, Korean style, and then tossed with its seasonings to order. The skin and fried coating are very, very crisp and crunchy, while the chicken beneath is tender and ever-so-juicy.

I started with the buttermilk ranch, which added just enough flavor to the exterior without overpowering the flavor of the chicken.  A half order includes a split breast, thigh, and drumstick – easily enough for two normal people to share if donuts have been consumed. I ate one of the split breasts, licked my fingers clean of the ranch seasoning, and felt quite satisfied.

But I couldn’t resist the chili-garlic chicken, glistening temptingly in front of D.  Just a whiff made my nose twitch in anticipation (D said it reminded him of the aroma of Singaporean chili crab).

After one bite, it was clear that this is the seasoning to beat.  It’s spicy hot and pungent with garlic, and somehow almost sweet.  The chicken stays crisp even beneath its glaze, and the mild chicken is a welcome contrast to the fiery exterior.  

We packed up our leftovers – donuts, chicken, pickles – and headed out to find a cab. The downside of Federal Donuts’ out-of-the-way location is that finding a cab isn’t the easiest task, but D’s parking karma apparently extends to taxis as well, so we were quickly on our way.  (A new location at 16th and Sansom opens on October 3 – and I can only imagine how crowded it will be!)

As for our afternoon pastime, there was really no other possible answer besides taking a long, long walk around Center City.