Unusual (but Satisfying) Shawarma at Shawarnado

Shawarnado Shawarma
Location
: 4870 Tomken Road, Mississauga
Website: https://shawarnado.com/

The chicken shawarma wrap from Shawarnado is… odd.  Tasty, but odd.

I guess when you think about it, the tastiness is all that matters.  Is it checking the boxes I expect from shawarma?  No, not really.  But it does taste good, so sure, I’ll allow it.

I ordered the chicken shawarma wrap with everything (except onions, because raw onions are for jerks), which comes with garlic sauce, spicy garlic sauce, tahini sauce, and hummus, along with a whole bunch of veggies — including some unorthodox choices like green peppers (?), shredded carrots (??), and corn (???).

Shawarnado Shawarma

No, not exactly shawarma standbys, but with the deluge of tasty sauces, they mostly just add texture.

I asked for it extra spicy, and yeah, it definitely had a nice kick to it.  Between that and the generous amount of zippy and rich sauces, it pretty much can’t help but be a tasty wrap.  Those sauces didn’t quite taste like what you’ll normally find in a shawarma wrap, but whatever they were, they were good.

Shawarnado Shawarma

The chicken came out of a warming tray instead of being freshly shaved — never what you want to see — but it wasn’t dry at all, even if it had absolutely none of the crispy bits that typify great shawarma.  It actually had a texture that was closer to pulled chicken than traditional shawarma, but again, with all that tasty sauce, it was fine.

The whole thing was so unusual that it reminded me more of a burrito than traditional shawarma, but hey, it tasted good, so I can’t exactly be upset about it.

Satisfying Korean Fried Chicken at bb.q Chicken

bb.q Chicken
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.

bb.q 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.

bb.q Chicken

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.

bb.q Chicken

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.

Quality Eclairs at The Happy Chocco

The Happy Chocco
Location
: 100 City Centre Drive (inside The Food District at Square One)
Website: https://www.thehappychocco.ca/

I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of The Happy Chocco.  They always have a million eclairs on offer, and they never seem to be particularly busy.  And I’m like, are these all fresh?  Because it seems like they won’t all be fresh.  There’s nothing sadder than a stale eclair with soggy pastry.

The Happy Chocco

Well, I just went with two other people, and we all tried different eclairs and found them to be quite fresh (and quite delicious!) so I’m happy to say that I was wrong.

The Happy Chocco

I went with the Dubai chocolate eclair: “classic eclair filled with pistachio pastry cream and Belgian milk chocolate dip with roasted kataifi.”

The Happy Chocco

I really enjoyed this.  The choux pastry had a great texture and was clearly not stale at all, the pistachio pastry cream was creamy and delicious (if a bit light on the nutty flavour), there was a decent layer of good-quality chocolate on top, and the roasted kataifi added a nice crispy texture.  It’s a quality eclair.

Hot Ones Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

Hot Ones Darin' Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes
Location
7080 Saint Barbara Boulevard, Mississauga
Websitehttps://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.

Hot Ones Darin' Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

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.)

Hot Ones Darin' Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

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

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee
Location
800 Boyer Boulevard, Mississauga (inside Seafood City Supermarket)
Websitehttp://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).

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

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.”

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

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.

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

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.