Hot Plate: Yemenite Chicken Pot Pie at Rooster Soup Company

Hot Plate: Yemenite Chicken Pot Pie at Rooster Soup Company
Michael Persico

Rooster Soup Company is a welcome addition to Sansom Street — serving up wholesome comfort food like soups, sandwiches and pie for a bargain. The upscale diner also has a charitable component, donating 100 percent of all profits to Broad Street Ministry Hospitality Collaborative.

Knowing that I could give back simply by eating lunch here was incentive enough to give this place a shot. But would the food be any good?

Packed to the gills, I was lucky to get a seat at the counter during the lunch rush. Despite opening just two weeks ago, Rooster Soup Company already has a loyal following.

“Everything is good here,” a server comments to me as I peruse the menu. It was tough to decide on something because every plate that passed me looked incredible. But then the gentleman to my left sold me on the Yemenite Chicken Pot Pie.

I’ve always loved the idea of pot pie but as a kid, I only got to experience the frozen variety. Rooster Soup Company actually makes them from scratch — with juicy pieces of real chicken rather those rubbery cubes. [Frozen pot pie people: you know what I’m talking about.]

Arriving on a hefty stoneware plate, the pie was the perfect size for lunch — large enough to satiate you minus the dreaded food coma. The dough was perfectly crisp on the outside yet still retained a chewy texture.

Truly a thing of beauty, I felt guilty digging in, but after taking a bite the feeling was quickly forgotten. The pie’s center had a delicious earthy taste, thanks to the dark meat chicken and use of hawaij (a Yemeni ground spice) as a seasoning. Also packed with veggies, the pie’s leeks, peas and fingerling potatoes held up nicely against the complex creamy sauce.

Overall, the Yemenite Chicken Pot Pie strikes a wonderful balance between Middle Eastern flavors and classic American comfort food. After eating this, it is safe to say I will never eat a frozen pot pie again.