Union Chicken – Michael Eats

Nashville Lightning Hot sandwich from Union Chicken

I had the Buffalo chicken sandwich from Union back in 2019 and found it to be absolutely delightful; well, I recently tried the Nashville hot chicken sandwich, and yeah, it’s very, very good. It’s got that same addictive combo of exterior crunchiness and interior juiciness, and it’s really tasty, with a nice zippy flavour that cuts through the richness of the chicken. The toasted bread it comes on was a bit dry/boring, and I wish the sandwich were spicier (it’s barely hotter than mild), but overall it’s a superlative fried chicken sandwich.

Poke from Poke Poke

Poke Poke is thoroughly okay. I had the O.G. bowl (“classic salmon, seaweed salad,
avocado, corn, edamame, masago”) on white rice (brown rice, cauliflower rice, greens, and noodles are also choices), and it was perfectly tasty. Nothing about it particularly blew me away (it’s a bit overstuffed with toppings and understuffed with salmon — given that it came up to just over twenty bucks with tax, a more generous helping of fish would have been nice), but I’m not mad I ate it.

Salted Egg Yolk Croissant from Bake Code

I tried the PB&J croissant from Bake Code a few years ago and enjoyed it, though I found the croissant itself to be just okay. I have very similar thoughts about the salted egg yolk croissant, which features a generous amount of tasty, custardy filling, but is otherwise nothing too mind-blowing. I’m also not convinced that a croissant is a better vehicle for this particular filling than a more traditional bun, but I can’t deny that it’s tasty.

Location: 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke
Website: https://unionchicken.com/

The common refrain is that you should give a restaurant at least a few weeks before you pass judgment on it. It often takes a little while for the kitchen to work out all the kinks.

Union Chicken is a perfect example of this. Last year, I went there within a couple of weeks of its opening; it was absolutely, positively awful. I tried a few things and they were all horrifically bad.

In the meantime, I’ve heard basically nothing but good things, so I figured it was probably about time to give it another shot. And it was night and day. Everything was really, really good.

The Buffalo and blue cheese fried chicken sandwich was delicious. It’s got everything you’re looking for in a fried chicken sandwich: that amazing exterior crunch, a juicy piece of chicken (the fact that it’s thigh instead of breast helps mightily in this regard), and a zingy sauce that makes it all sing.

There’s something about the magical interplay between vinegary Buffalo sauce and creamy blue cheese dressing that just works, and Union Chicken only elevates that — the blue cheese dressing on the sandwich is seriously tasty, with a mild garlicky bite that sets it apart.

I had the baked beans on the side, and they were also well above average. Sometimes baked beans can be a bit of a sweet overload, but these had a nice vinegary punch to round things out, and a decent amount of spice. The texture was a bit soupy, but they were otherwise top-shelf beans.

That sandwich, though. I was honestly surprised at how good it was. It definitely belongs on a list of the best fried chicken in the city.

Tag: Union Chicken

Quick Bites: Union Chicken, Poke Poke, Bake Code

Delicious Fried Chicken at Union Chicken