fried chicken – Page 6

Cajun Ranch McCrispy at McDonald’s

Published on November 14, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I’ll admit that after the upsettingly bad Raptor Chicken Nacho Poutine, I thought, maybe I should give McDonald’s a break? Maybe I don’t need to keep doing this to myself?

But no, I do need to keep doing this to myself. I am compelled. Maybe admitting I have a problem is the first step?

I actually enjoyed this one, though. What do you know!

The Cajun Ranch McCrispy, per McDonald’s website: “A crispy chicken sandwich made with tender and juicy 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken, topped with shredded lettuce, red bell pepper crisps and creamy Cajun ranch sauce, all served on a toasted potato bun.”

I quite liked that Cajun ranch sauce. It had the usual ranch flavour, but was also enjoyably zesty with a very, very mild spicy kick. I’d buy a bottle of that stuff.

And the red bell pepper crisps were a nice touch. They were basically like the crispy onions or crispy jalapenos that McDonald’s has used a few times before, but… with red bell peppers. Little crispy fried bits are always going to be welcome on a sandwich.

Otherwise it’s a standard McCrispy, but that sauce actually does elevate it.

Raptor Chicken Nacho Poutine at McDonald’s

Published on November 8, 2024November 8, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I’ll admit that the Raptor Chicken Nacho Poutine kind of sent me into an existential panic. Like, where did I go wrong in my life that I’m sitting alone in a McDonald’s on a Friday evening, scarfing down an ill-advised novelty poutine so I can review it for my food blog? What wrong turn did I make to get here?

The Raptor Chicken Nacho Poutine is not good. But hey, I ate it. It caused me to look deep down inside myself and not like what I see, but I did eat it and finish it, so of course I’m going to blog about it. Otherwise what was it all for??

Here’s how McDonald’s describes this thing: “this new offering is made with 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken, our World Famous Fries™ layered with stringy cheese curds and savoury gravy, topped with tortilla strips and drizzled with nacho cheese sauce.”

Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit about how bad this is. It’s not gross, I guess, but I didn’t find anything about eating it to be particularly pleasant. It’s mostly just an odd hodgepodge of flavours and textures that don’t particularly belong together.

I think the nacho cheese sauce is the worst offender. I actually like nacho cheese sauce, but combined with the gravy and curds it had an odd sourness that I found off-putting. The tortilla strips were fine, but again, they just seemed odd in the context of a poutine.

As for the big chunks of chicken that they had plopped on top — like everything else, they’re just kinda there, doing their own thing. They don’t really add anything to the dish.

Then there’s the poutine base, which is fine, but I don’t think McDonald’s has a great poutine in the best of times, and this was certainly not the best of times (the fact that the fries were paler and soggier than usual didn’t help).

Tasty Fried Chicken at Ding-a-Wing

Published on October 20, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 171 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://dingawing.com/

Sometimes I’m not entirely sure how to open these blog posts, so you know what? I’m just going to get straight to business: the fried chicken sandwich at Ding-a-Wing is fantastic. You should eat it immediately.

They have a handful of fried chicken sandwiches on the menu here. I should note that I tried place this earlier this year when they were on Roncesvalles; they’ve since moved, but it seems like the menu has remained the same.

I went with the Hawt Sandwich: “Buttermilk brined and fried boneless chicken thigh with coleslaw, pickles and dusted with our Cayenne Salt on a potato bun.”

It’s a phenomenal piece of fried chicken; the level of exterior crunchiness is just right, it’s nicely seasoned, and the meat is super juicy.

I wish it were spicier (the level of heat was somewhere between mild and non-existent), but otherwise the flavours are all great, with a satisfying balance between the hearty chicken and the zippy coleslaw and pickles.

My only real complaint is the bun, which is pillowy and mildly sweet. It’s theoretically a great match for the sandwich, but I think it was likely dressed too far in advance, which meant the bottom bun was mushy. But the sandwich was otherwise so delicious that it was easy enough to overlook this.

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on August 21, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3517 Dundas Street West, York
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I’ve gotta give it to KFC: they know exactly what I want out of a fast food joint. If they keep pumping out carnival-style food, I’m gonna keep trying it.

I think the massive success of the Double Down might have broken something in the brains of all the KFC executives, because they’re clearly still chasing that high (the Festive Chicken Sandwich, the Gravy Lovers Sandwich, etc.), and I’m very happy to be along for the ride.

As per the KFC website, “the KD® Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich features our signature Chicken fillet, topped with KD macaroni noodles and creamy KD cheese sauce brought together to deliver on the ultimate Cheesy experience!”

It’s actually not bad, though calling it “the ultimate cheesy experience” might be a bit of a stretch. I don’t know if Kraft Dinner is way more bland than I remembered or if they just didn’t put enough sauce in this particular batch, but it mostly just tasted like plain macaroni (despite having that distinctive orange glow). I think there might have been a tiny bit of the “creamy KD cheese sauce” on top, but not enough to make much of a difference.

Still, I got lucky and got a reasonably hot and fresh piece of chicken, so just as a normal sandwich, it was tasty; the chicken was reasonably juicy, with a nicely crunchy exterior. The mac and cheese mostly just added some creaminess and — if you really concentrate — the vaguest patina of cheesy flavour. So no, it doesn’t add a whole lot, but it doesn’t detract, either.

Firecracker McCrispy at McDonald’s

Published on July 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I wasn’t a particularly big fan of the regular McCrispy, which I thought was fine, but way too plain to be particularly worth thinking about. But a spicy version? Yeah, now you’re talking.

The McDonald’s website describes this as “a crispy chicken sandwich topped with a creamy sweet and spicy sauce and crispy jalapenos. Made with tender and juicy 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken and served on a soft potato bun.”

You can get it with or without bacon; the signage outside of the store advertised the bacon version, so that’s what I got.

It’s pretty decent. It’s a big upgrade over the standard McCrispy, that’s for sure. The sweet and spicy sauce is, as advertised, very sweet and a little bit spicy. It’s borderline too sweet, but with all the other stuff, it works.

The crispy jalapenos add some extra crispiness and a tiny bit more heat, and the patty itself is what it is. It’s fine.

The bacon is probably unnecessary, though. Something a bit thicker likely would have enhanced things, but the bacon here was so thin that it kinda got lost among the other components of the sandwich.