Mike’s Hot Honey Sandwich from KFC

Mike's Hot Honey Sandwich from KFC
Location
: 156 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I mentioned recently that KFC has really been leaning into wacky novelty items of late, which I quite enjoy.  Mike’s Hot Honey Sandwich, on the other hand?  Pretty standard stuff.  It’s just a generic fried chicken sandwich that’s a little bit sweet.

Not the most exciting thing ever, but I guess they can’t all be delightfully weird.

The sandwich, as per KFC’s website: “The Mike’s Hot Honey® Sandwich features our triple-breaded chicken and is topped with signature Mike’s Hot Honey® – crafted from 100% pure honey and chili peppers. It’s also topped with crispy jalapenos for the perfect blend of sweetness and heat.”

Mike's Hot Honey Sandwich from KFC

(The website doesn’t mention it, but the sandwich also has pickles, and a decent amount of a mildly zippy mayo-based sauce.)

It’s… fine?  Like I said, it’s a pretty standard sandwich, though the slight sweetness from the honey does work pretty well.  I was afraid it was going to be too sweet, but it was actually pretty subtle.  Plus, the zippy pickle slices do a good job of balancing out the honey’s sweetness.

Mike's Hot Honey Sandwich from KFC

As for the heat, it’s mildly spicy, but nothing that’s going to get anyone too hot and bothered.  Even McDonald’s recent attempt at a spicy chicken sandwich, the McSpicy, is hotter.

Mostly, it’s a solid sandwich.  Mostly.  This is a luck of the draw thing, but the chicken itself was pretty dry and tough.  I know they can’t do this (because it would acknowledge that the current way they do things sucks), but if you’re not in a rush, I really wish they’d let you wait for piece of chicken that’s freshly fried, rather than getting one that’s been drying out in a drawer.  Oh well.

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC
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.

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC

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!”

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC

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.

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC

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.

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC
Location
: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale)
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

The Festive Chicken Sandwich at KFC is one of those things you pretty much have to try.  Or maybe that’s just me?  Maybe normal people don’t feel an odd compulsion to try every weird new thing from a fast food joint?  Who can say!

The KFC website describes the Festive Chicken Sandwich as “buttermilk marinated chicken fillet and savory stuffing, drizzled with buttery garlic oil, plant-based mayo and cranberry sauce.”

It’s an amazing idea in theory, though in execution, it’s just okay.  The main problem is that the fried chicken and the stuffing are both so salty that the whole thing adds up to a pretty serious salt bomb.

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC

I’ve never particularly thought about how much KFC’s fried chicken kinda has the same flavour profile as cheap, store-bought stuffing — but once you’re eating them at the same time, it’s pretty much all you can notice.

The cranberry sauce is actually pretty essential to offset some of the sandwich’s saltiness and cut through the richness a bit, but there wasn’t that much of it, and there’s only so much it can do.

As for the “buttery garlic oil,” if it was there, it was completely overwhelmed by the chicken and the stuffing.  I couldn’t taste it.

Otherwise, the sandwich was fine.  The chicken itself was pretty dry and had obviously been sitting out a bit, and the overall flavour is very one-note salty.  But it’s not unpleasant to eat, I guess.

Gravy Lovers Sandwich at KFC

Gravy Lovers Sandwich at KFC
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.

Gravy Lovers Sandwich at KFC

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.

Gravy Lovers Sandwich at KFC

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.

Lay’s Bar-B-Q Tenders at KFC

Lay's Bar-B-Q Tenders at KFCLocation: 3015 Winston Churchill Boulevard, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

Coating a piece of fried chicken in flavoured potato chips is pretty bizarre; it’s also obvious enough that I’m surprised KFC or some other fast food chain hasn’t done it sooner.  This is particularly odd in a post Doritos Locos world, where mashing up two seemingly disparate but complementary flavours has revealed itself to be a gold mine.

Lay's Bar-B-Q Tenders at KFC

Anyway, KFC has finally done it, and yeah, it’s good.

The Lay’s Bar-B-Q Tenders, according to KFC: “Canadian farm raised chicken tenders coated in Lay’s sweet and smoky Bar-B-Q potato chips”.

Lay's Bar-B-Q Tenders at KFC

The flavour is pleasingly familiar, with a nice balance of sweetness and tanginess; if you’ve had Lay’s BBQ chips, then it tastes as you’d expect.  The whole thing is exactly what you think (and hope) it’s going to be.

I will say, however, that these taste like they were made with plain chips and then seasoned post-fry.  This is mostly not an issue, aside from the fact that the seasoning is a bit uneven.

Lay's Bar-B-Q Tenders at KFC

Still, it’s a good quality chicken strip; the BBQ flavour complements it well, and the chip pieces add a nice crunch.  It’s one of those things that sounds weird on paper, but mostly just tastes pretty good (i.e. it’s not a Double Down, which is a fun gimmick until you actually eat it).

This is entirely down to the luck of the draw, but my order was hot and fresh, which definitely helped.  The chicken could have been a bit more tender, but for white meat, it’s not bad.