fried chicken – Michael Eats

Chicken Tenders at Chica’s Chicken

Published on March 1, 2026March 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2853 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.chicaschicken.net/

My policy on this blog — in the last few years, at least — is to avoid negativity. If I think a place is just okay, I’ll generally write a quick review and not dwell on it, and if I think it’s bad, I won’t write about it at all. It’s tough enough to succeed in the restaurant business as it is, and whatever extremely mild (almost non-existent) level of influence that I have, I’d rather not use it against a local business that’s just trying to survive.

I do make an exception for big fast food chains, however — I think they can take it. And Chica’s, with its four locations, Michelin designation, and plans for growth (there’s a section on their website where they say that they’re “seeking passionate franchise partners”), is entering big chain territory.

That being the case, I can note that the chicken tenders at Chica’s really bummed me out. This is a place that I once said served some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and this was… not that. I’ve noticed that Chica’s has been going downhill since they started their expansion a few years ago, but this was the first thing I’ve had here that was outright bad.

The chicken was just so, so dry, despite being served hot and fresh. White meat is always going to be a bit on the dry side, but this was something else. It comes with some tasty dipping sauce on the side (which kinda tastes like coleslaw dressing, but in a pleasant way), and you’d better believe I used all of that sauce.

As for the exterior, it was more leathery than crunchy — I legitimately had a hard time biting through it.

I ordered this hot AF, and while it had a solid level of heat, it tasted like something was missing (salt, mostly, but overall the flavour just wasn’t there).

I recently had a fried chicken sandwich from KFC, and the chicken in that sandwich was better than this on every level — it was tastier, crunchier, and juicier. From KFC! Over a place that used to serve the best fried chicken in the city. What a world.

Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on February 24, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4559 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I was actually kind of shocked to see that chili crunch is now mainstream enough to pop up at a giant fast food chain like KFC — but then I guess it’s been on its way up for a few years now (here’s an article from 2022 about how chili crisp “took over America”).

KFC’s got several items with the stuff, including a sandwich, Loaded Chili Crunch Tenders, a chili crunch Snacker Wrap, and chili crunch fries.

I went with the Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich: “Meet your new spicy obsession – the Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich. KFC’s juicy, crunchy, signature tripled-breaded chicken fillet is layered with spicy chili crunch oil, creamy chili crunch mayo, crispy onions, and pickles— all sandwiched between a toasted potato bun.”

I’m a fan of chili crunch, so I sort of figured this would be good, and yeah, it is. For one thing, unlike my last experience at KFC, the sandwich was hot, fresh, and made with some level of care. This seems like it should be the bare minimum, but here we are.

But even aside from that, this is a tasty sandwich — the chili crunch they’re using is a bit tangier than the norm, but it works. Combined with the heat and the garlicky punch, it’s a great topping for a fried chicken sandwich. The mayo also has some of that flavour, which is nice.

The level of spice is pretty decent, too — it’s certainly not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s got a nice kick. It’s a level of heat that would have been unheard of from a fast food chain a few years ago, but fast food places have been upping the spice recently.

I’m not sure if the crispy onions add all that much, and the sandwich is maybe a bit too salty, but otherwise I really enjoyed this.

Frank’s RedHot Original McCrispy at McDonald’s

Published on February 5, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

If you put “Frank’s RedHot” in the name of your sandwich, I’m going to expect a lot of Frank’s RedHot. I don’t think that’s unreasonable?

McDonald’s actually has a few new items in their Frank’s RedHot x McDonald’s menu: you can get the distinctive red hot sauce on a McCrispy, a McVeggie, several different McMuffins, or in a hot honey dipping sauce.

I went with the Frank’s RedHot Original McCrispy: “We cranked up the flavour on the McCrispy with the added kick of Frank’s RedHot®. We took our McCrispy chicken sandwich, made with tender and juicy 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken, and topped it with shredded lettuce, mayo-style sauce and Frank’s RedHot® Original Thick Sauce. Served on a potato bun.”

It’s… fine? I guess? As I said, I was kinda (not unreasonably?) expecting this to taste strongly of Frank’s RedHot, and it absolutely did not. If you’re going to name this sandwich after one of the condiments, it should be called the Mayo Original McCrispy, because it was absolutely dripping with the stuff.

The Frank’s Red Hot, on the other hand? I got a couple of bites with a decent amount (you can see it on one side of the sandwich in the photo), which were reasonably satisfying. Otherwise, it may as well have not been there. Which left me with a plain old McCrispy with a vaguely dry piece of chicken. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t particularly like it, either.

Delicious Hakka Cuisine at Chilli Chicken House

Published on January 27, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4040 Creditview Road, Mississauga
Website: https://chillichickenhouse.com/

I’ve heard people call Chilli Chicken House the best Hakka restaurant in Mississauga; I certainly haven’t tried every Hakka joint in the city, but after eating here, the claim seems extremely plausible. It’s great.

I tried a couple of things. First up is the chilli chicken, because if you go to a restaurant called Chilli Chicken House and you don’t order the chilli chicken, what are you even doing with your life?

You can get this either dry or with gravy; I went with the gravy option, which features chunks of tender fried chicken tossed in a really tasty sauce that’s a bit sweet, very savoury, and has a nice kick (particularly in the mouthfuls with the green chilis, which are delightful spice bombs).

If you want to kick things up even further, there’s a jar of tangy chili sauce on the table, along with a jar of vinegar with a whole bunch of fiery chilis floating on top. Both are very tasty.

I also tried the Hakka chow mein, which is a stellar noodle dish with a generous amount of shrimp and chicken, just the right amount of greasiness, and a really satisfying smoky flavour from the blazing hot wok.

Matty Melt Sandwich from KFC x Matty Matheson

Published on January 20, 2026January 20, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1610 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

KFC is making a pretty big deal out of their collaboration with celebrity chef Matty Matheson. At the location I went to, there was signage all over the restaurant, and even the bag was emblazoned with Matheson’s name. It’s in the news. People are excited!

And sure, it is kinda exciting. An ostensibly talented chef teaming up with a fast food joint? Yeah, I’m all over that.

There are three new items in this promotion: the Matty Melt Sandwich, the Matty Melt Slider, and the Matty Mega Melt Poutine. Hilariously, that poutine weighs in at a whopping 2390 calories (??), which seems like it’s probably too many calories? I briefly considered ordering this just for the novelty of it, but I just don’t think I’ve reached the level of self-loathing required to want to consume a 2400 calorie poutine from KFC. Sorry.

So I went with the Matty Melt Sandwich: “The Matty Melt Chicken Sandwich features our signature triple-breaded chicken fillet layered with cheese sauce, sweet caramelized onions, and creamy mayo, all stacked on a potato bun.”

I did not enjoy this sandwich. It’s that “cheese sauce,” which has zero cheese-like properties and is mostly just one-note salty in an oddly unpleasant way. If you served this to me blind, I never in a million years would have guessed that it was supposed to be a cheese sauce.

KFC doesn’t mention this in their description, but the only flavour there (aside from the vaguely off-putting amorphous saltiness) is truffle oil. I might be wrong, but there’s either truffle oil in there, or something that tasted a lot like truffle oil to me. I’m not particularly crazy about truffle oil, so can’t say I enjoyed this. Your milage may vary if you like the stuff more than I do.

The only other thing that differentiates this from a standard KFC sandwich are the caramelized onions. Some sweetness actually would have been nice, considering how salty the sandwich is, but I can’t say the onions added much.

It probably didn’t help that the chicken itself had obviously been sitting out for quite a while, and was dried out and chewy around the edges. This is partially my fault — the last time I visited this particular KFC location, I had a bad experience and someone commented that it was “the worst KFC in the GTA.” But that was a few years ago, and I had hoped things had gotten better since then. Clearly not! Oh well.