The first thing your server will hand you at Cauldron Chicken is a pair of plastic gloves. You eat the Dao Kou roast chicken at this tiny Greenwich Village spot with your hands, because, after being braised for several hours, the bird and its skin, saturated with five-spice flavor, are too tender to pick up with a fork. This meat doesn’t just fall off the bone—a mere air kiss in its direction and it starts singing Alicia Keys songs. There are only five tiny tables, so take one other person, and order a whole chicken to share. It comes on a tray with two drinks and two picks from a long list of sides, with everything from fried rice and french fries, to fat pork dumplings and chicken fingers—just in case you can’t get enough of the bird. Whatever you order, don’t be shy about dipping it into your savory-sweet chicken drippings. There’s often a wait in the evenings, so if you can’t hang around outside for half an hour, just grab an order of the crispy fried chicken wings to go. They’re dusted with dry chili powder, and are so satisfyingly crunchy that Cauldron could easily open another successful spot for the fried chicken alone.