fried chicken – Michael Eats

Tasty Buffalo Chicken at Harry’s Charbroiled

Published on April 20, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 293 Palmerson Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.harryscharbroiled.com/

Though Harry’s is mostly known for their cheeseburger (which I didn’t care for when Grant van Gameren first took over, though it has supposedly improved in the interim), they’ve recently added a fried chicken sandwich to the menu (because are you even a restaurant these days if you don’t serve a fried chicken sandwich?).

The sandwich, which consists of fried chicken tenders rather than one piece of chicken, comes topped with pickles and ranch, and can be optionally tossed in spicy Buffalo sauce, which is what I went with.

It’s a tasty sandwich. The fried exterior has a good amount of crispiness, and while the white meat within is a bit dry, it’s so thoroughly doused in sauce that it barely even matters. This might have literally been one of the sauciest sandwiches I’ve ever had. It was constantly dripping the entire time I ate it.

The bun (a potato bun, I think), was nice and fresh, and held up quite well to the sauce-drenched chicken.

I’m a sucker for the Buffalo/ranch combo, so yeah, I quite enjoyed it. I wish it were spicier — they call it “spicy Buffalo,” but the level of heat here is basically a mild tingle. It’s flavourful enough that this isn’t a huge deal, but I wish they’d give you the option to crank up the spice a bit.

I also tried the fries, which are outstanding. They’re thicker than the norm, which could be trouble (there’s nothing worse than a thickly-cut fry that’s chalky on the inside), but these are perfect: they’re crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Quick Bites: Street vendor hot dog, Bao Bar, Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on March 30, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hot dog from street vendor at King and John

Street vendor hot dogs have mostly disappeared from the city, which is too bad; they’re certainly not gourmet, but when you need a quick bite, they’re pretty tasty. I actually made a short film about street vendor hot dogs back in 2007, so yeah, I like them. This particular one wasn’t the best I’ve had (the secret of a good street vendor dog is to grill it until it’s got a crispy exterior and a smoky, charred flavour, and that didn’t happen here), but for five bucks for a quick meal, it’s hard to complain.

Great Chicken and Crackle Belly baos from Bao Bar

I think part of the reason I don’t want to dwell on negativity on this blog is that it’s very possible to catch an otherwise good restaurant on a bad day. So rather than trash a place that doesn’t deserve it, I feel like it’s a better idea to just focus on the places I like. That being said, I tried a couple of the baos at this place, and nothing about them — not the bread, the meats, or the sauces — was even remotely good (I should note that “great chicken” is the name of the dish, and certainly not my description of it). But then Bao Bar is generally fairly well regarded online, so maybe it was just a bad day.

Pumpkin and sweet cream from Ed’s Real Scoop

I have a love/hate relationship with Ed’s Real Scoop (well, love/hate is a bit strong… love/like I guess?); when it’s good, it’s very good. But I find it to be the most inconsistent of the better ice cream shops in the GTA. But here’s them at their best: on this particular visit I had pumpkin and sweet cream, and both were fantastic. The pumpkin had a really satisfying pumpkin pie flavour, and the sweet cream (which is reliably the best flavour here) was as delicious as usual. Having them together is basically like pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. It’s a boffo combination.

Chicken Big Mac at McDonald’s

Published on March 7, 2023March 10, 2023 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 5453 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/

On one hand, the Chicken Big Mac is what it is: it’s a Big Mac, but with chicken instead of beef. There’s not much more to it than that.

On the other hand, I actually found it to be way more delightful than I was expecting. Apparently it’s a limited time thing that’s going away in April, but I think it’s tasty enough (and different enough from a regular Big Mac) to be on the permanent menu.

The patties are interesting. They’re not just the McChicken patties you might expect; they’re thicker than a McDonald’s burger patty, but thinner than a McChicken. They actually reminded me more of an oversized McNugget than an undersized McChicken.

This will depend on the location you visit, but the patties in my Big Mac were hot and crispy, and that texture actually added a lot of personality to the Big Mac template.

As for the taste, the milder flavour of the chicken lets a lot more of the zippiness from the special sauce and the pickles shine through; even the slice of cheese becomes more pronounced when you sub out beef for chicken. Between that and the fried crispiness, the Chicken Big Mac really feels like its own thing, and not just like a gimmick you’d only want to try once.

Solid Fast Food at Chick-fil-A

Published on February 21, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 336 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://cfaqueenstwest.ca/

Chick-fil-A opened in Toronto a couple of years ago and was immediately greeted with a whole bunch of hype and perpetual lines.

They’ve been here long enough at this point (and have enough locations) that the hype has mostly died down. This is a good thing, because the chicken sandwich here is tasty, but probably not worth lining up for.

You just have to temper your expectations; if you’re comparing it to local joints like the now Michelin-noted (!) Chica’s Chicken, it’s nothing special. But compared to its fast food competition, it’s a solid sandwich (the sandwich here is certainly leagues better than McDonald’s latest chicken creation, the McCrispy).

It’s got a much more subtle crunch than the norm, but it’s nicely seasoned and, on my visit at least, hot from the fryer and nicely juicy.

It’s also a bit unusual in how sparsely topped it is, with just a couple of pickle slices, a buttered bun, and nothing else. But I guess that’s part of its charm, and the chicken is flavourful enough that you don’t really miss the toppings.

Gravy Lovers Sandwich at KFC

Published on November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

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

KFC just came out with a sandwich called the Gravy Lovers Sandwich, and yes. Of course. Of course I’m going to try that sandwich. I’m sold just based on the name alone.

The Gravy Lovers Sandwich, as per the KFC website: “features our delicious hand breaded chicken filet, 1 slice of Monterey Jack cheese, creamy mayo and 1 crunchy indented hashbrown with an individual gravy.”

Here’s the problem with ordering anything from a big fast food chain: it’s a crapshoot. Sometimes you get food that’s nice and fresh, and sometimes you get food that’s… not. I very much got the latter.

It’s a decent enough sandwich in theory, I’ll give it that. How could it not be? Fried chicken + gravy is always going to be a good thing.

It comes with a surprisingly large container of gravy (which is standard KFC gravy — thick and generically salty, but tasty enough), and you’re supposed to take off the top bun and pour it onto the sandwich. I poured out about a quarter of it, and used the rest as a dip between bites.

The biggest problem here (aside from the fact that they forgot about the slice of cheese, and I guess decided to give me lettuce instead) is that both the chicken and the hashbrown had clearly been sitting in one of those warming trays for hours. Days? Weeks?? The meat had a texture that I will charitably describe as leathery, and the hashbrown (which you expect to be crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside) was crunchy and dry throughout.

The copious serving of gravy actually helped quite a bit in this regard, because the sandwich otherwise would have been inedibly dry. I finished it, and I don’t think that would have been the case if not for the added moisture from the gravy.

Also: the sandwich (on its own — no combo!) costs $11.50 before tax. Maybe I just don’t eat enough fast food these days, but I’ll admit that this gave me sticker shock. For around the same price, you can go to a local joint like Chica’s or PG Clucks and get a sandwich that’s roughly a trillion times better.