fried chicken – Page 3

Satisfying Korean Fried Chicken at bb.q Chicken

Published on October 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3038 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://bbqchicken.com/

bb.q Chicken is a Korean fried chicken chain with an impressive footprint throughout the globe. According to their website, they have over 3000 locations in 57 countries. Clearly, they’re doing something right.

And yes, sure, there are plenty of huge chains that serve absolutely abysmal food (i.e. pulling a Subway), but you know what? This isn’t one of them. Really tasty fried chicken.

I tried the boneless fried chicken, which can be ordered with various sauces or seasonings; I went with their secret sauce, which they describe as “a sweet and tangy Korean sweet sauce.” Note that they use the word “sweet” twice in that description, and yeah, it is very, very sweet. Borderline too sweet? But it has a nice tanginess and a very mild spiciness that helps to balance out the sweetness, at least somewhat.

And honestly, the chicken itself is so perfectly fried, with a great crunchy (but still fairly light) exterior and a juicy interior. It’s stellar fried chicken.

It comes with a side of the crispiest battered fries that I’ve ever had. I’m normally not crazy about battered fries, but these had an aggressive crunch that I actually quite enjoyed.

I also tried the spicy dukk-bokki (“Stir fried rice cakes & fish cakes in our traditional Korean spicy sauce, topped with green onions and hard boiled egg”), which is a classic Korean dish featuring ultra-chewy rice cakes in a spicy sauce. Unlike the fried chicken, this one is legitimately pretty spicy. The fish cakes are a nice addition, and liven things up. It’s a great dish.

Tasty Rice Bowls at Omai Rice Bar

Published on October 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 21 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://omairicebar.com/

Omai Rice Bar is a spin-off of Omai, a high-end Japanese restaurant. The rice bar is much more on the casual end of things — they serve a selection of six rice bowls that are all around 15 bucks, and it’s take-out only (they also have a few benches on a patio out front).

I went with the Oh-My Fried Chicken: “Korean fried chicken, garlic yuzu glaze, wasabi cucumber, kimchi slaw and pickled daikon. Every bowl comes with our signature Omai salad on a bed of steamed white rice.”

I liked everything about this. The fried chicken was fresh, crispy, and tender, and was tossed in a tasty sauce (that was maybe a touch too sweet — my only complaint). Everything else in the bowl complemented it perfectly, with a whole bunch of bold, zippy flavours.

Even the salad on the side was a noticeable upgrade from the standard vinaigrette-tossed greens, with a nice citrusy punch that was really satisfying.

It’s all served on a bed of fluffy white rice, and it’s great. I wish I lived closer to this place, because I feel like I need to try every bowl on the menu.

Hot Ones Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

Published on October 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 7080 Saint Barbara Boulevard, Mississauga
Website: https://www.popeyeschicken.ca/

Things have gotten a bit better over the last few years, but generally speaking, if a fast food joint claims that they’re serving something spicy, it’s probably mild at best. But given that this is a collaboration with Hot Ones, I was excited that this would be a bit spicier than the norm.

They have a couple of Hot Ones items on the menu, but the spiciest is supposedly the Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings: “Classic wings (bone-in) dusted with a bold ghost pepper dry rub, served with a Hot Ones Last Dab Ranch dip cup.”

(You can also supposedly buy a little packet of the notoriously fiery Last Dab hot sauce, though I think this might not be available in Canada — I tried a couple of locations, and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about.)

The wings themselves are only mildly spicy, but the Last Dab Ranch dip actually does have a nice kick (and otherwise tastes like pretty standard ranch). I was kinda hoping for it to blow my face off, and it wasn’t even remotely that hot, but it was almost certainly the spiciest thing I’ve ever had from a fast food chain.

Otherwise, the wings were fine. They were maybe the teeny-tiniest wings I’ve ever had, but they were hot and fresh and had a nice crispy exterior.

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

Published on September 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 800 Boyer Boulevard, Mississauga (inside Seafood City Supermarket)
Website: http://jollibeecanada.com/

I’m going to admit that I’ve never heard of KATSYE, which is apparently a Kpop-influenced “global girl group” that was formed through a reality show (every word of that sentence makes me feel like an old man who is about to crumble into dust).

So I can’t say I particularly care that KATSYE had something to do with this sandwich (or at least agreed to put their name on it), but Korean fried chicken? Yeah, that I can get on board with.

Here’s how Jollibee describes this sandwich: “Our crispy, juicy, hand-breaded chicken breast fillet hand-dipped in a sweet soy glaze with a bold kick of heat, topped with fresh cilantro, red onion, and cucumber slices, served on a toasted brioche bun.”

This was… fine? The sweet, savoury, and slightly spicy Korean-style sauce was certainly tasty enough, and the sandwich has a nice exterior crunch that’s satisfying. I don’t think I’ve ever had cilantro on a fried chicken sandwich (certainly not at a fast food joint); it’s a nice touch, though it’s mostly overwhelmed by the flavourful sauce.

The biggest issues here were that the piece of fried chicken breast wasn’t particularly fresh, with the chicken itself being pretty dry, and more pressingly: that enormous, cold, dry brioche bun. I’m not sure if it was too dense by design or was just stale (or both), but it overwhelmed the chicken and was a bit of a bummer to eat.

I like the fried chicken pieces at Jollibee, but this was my first time trying a sandwich. I’ll stick with the pieces.

Wacky Eats at The Ex

Published on September 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 210 Princes’ Boulevard, Toronto
Website: https://theex.com/

Another year, another batch of over-the-top carnival food from The Ex.

Butter Chicken Birria Tacos from Rick’s Good Eats

Rick’s Good Eats — which specializes in tasty Indian fusion — is always a safe bet, and yeah, these tacos were very good. They came looking a bit flat and sad (and small, considering they cost about twenty bucks with tax and tip), but they’re actually quite delicious, with some tasty butter chicken inside and a whole bunch of gooey cheese. Not cheap, but hey, it’s The Ex. Everything’s a bit overpriced.

Poutine Dumps from Super Noodle Company

Unfortunate name aside (I shouldn’t have to say this, but please don’t shorten dumplings to “dumps”), this was also quite good. The menu describes this as “homemade chicken dumplings, torched American cheese, coconut curry gravy, crispy shallots, garlic, fresh green onions & chili oil.” It’s not even remotely poutine-like (I never in a million years would have made that connection if you hadn’t told me), but whatever it is, it’s tasty. The combo of cheese and dumpling is vaguely pierogi-esque and quite satisfying, and everything else in the bowl is tasty.

Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich from Korean Fried Chicken

The chicken in the sandwich was pretty skimpy (it maybe filled half of the bun), but the chicken that was there was crispy, juicy, and covered in the usual Korean fried chicken sauce, which is always satisfying. The fries were a bit undercooked, however.

Rib Sandwich from Hogtown Ribs

Well, something had to be a dud, I suppose. I don’t know why I thought (or hoped, at least) that this would have actual rib meat rather than ground-up McRib-style patties, but yeah, of course it was the latter. And okay, fine, I can roll with a McRib — but the meat here had clearly been sitting in a warming tray for hours, with a chewy texture and that gamy flavour you get from pork that’s been reheated one time too many.

Chicken Nugget Cookie from Craig’s Cookies

Here’s a head-scratcher: the rib sandwich that seemed like a sure bet was a dud, and the chicken-nugget-stuffed cookie that should have been gross was… actually kind of good? This seems like it should be horrible, but it’s tasty for the same reasons that chicken and waffles are tasty — it has a very similar flavour, but in a convenient hand-held package. And the salty chicken nugget helps to balance out the sweetness of the cookie itself (which is always a bit more pronounced than I’d like at Craig’s Cookies). I was shocked by how much I liked this.