Veronica and I wanted to get together for dinner. I suggested Pad Thai Restaurant or Africana BBQ Curries. Veronica said she felt like Workshop Kitchen + Culture. Her husband Jughead didn’t like any of our suggestions. He wouldn’t bite until I offered to host a fried chicken dinner at my place. For this post, let’s listen to Tom Sawyer by Rush, Jughead’s favourite band. When I told Jughead I never heard of Rush, he looked unimpressed. Get in line buddy.
L and I arrived at Popeyes in Forest Lawn at 3:45 p.m. There was one car ahead of us but I could see the restaurant itself was packed. We ordered a 10 Piece Family Meal ($35.99), which came with two large sides and six biscuits. I picked mashed potatoes and rice and beans. I also ordered a large coleslaw ($5.99) and four cinnamon apple pies ($1.29). L wanted to order chicken strips to eat on the way home. I don’t like chicken strips and didn’t want any. Chicken breasts are my least favourite cut. I suggested he get a kid’s meal ($3.99) instead.
The young male cashier was obviously new, but sweet and polite. It was a little confusing at first to order and he forgot L’s drink. We waited seven extra minutes for the spicy chicken. The whole process took us about 15 minutes.
L insisted I try his chicken strip so I could experience ‘his people’s food’. The meat was soft but the batter wasn’t crunchy and the flavour wasn’t there. The Cajun fries were barely warm and tasted old. L gave the chicken strip 7 out of 10. I’d give it a 5.
Veronica, Jughead and their daughter Judge came over to our house at 6:12 p.m. I reheated the chicken, biscuits and sides. For beverages we drank Italian gin with a splash of soda and lime and sparkling sake.
I prefer the spicy chicken over the regular, which lacked any obvious seasoning. The spicy chicken has a hot kick to the batter. Despite being reheated and eaten over two hours after we picked it up, the batter still had a good crunch to it. The meat itself was silky smooth. There was no discolouration or veiny bits on the wings. Solid 4 out of five.
The biscuits were buttery bliss. The exterior was a dark golden brown that shattered on your tongue. The innards were soft but not particularly flaky or light. For a loony plus a couple of dimes, the biscuits were worth it. Make sure to ask for some honey to drizzle on top of the biscuit.
The mashed potatoes and beans and rice were fine. Better than KFC but that’s not saying much. The beans were too salty.
The coleslaw was not as good as KFC, it had a nice tang to it but too sweet. If I had more time I would have make my own salad, mashed potatoes and rice and beans. I suspect Popeyes is making the biggest profit from the sides. The ingredients are of cheap quality and the portions are small.
The apple pie tasted like a scrumptious churro. The pastry crust was thin and crisp, covered with a fine dusting of cinnamon and sugar. The apple filling had a gel-like consistency but it still tasted like a delicious balance of apples, cinnamon and sugar. I would order this again.
After dinner we sipped on one of my favourite wines. One thing I like about having dinner at home versus eating out is that the quality of my beverages goes way up.
L was surprised he liked Popeyes. He would go again. I thought for fifty bucks, this was a tasty meal for five people. Hitting the Sauce gives the spicy chicken, biscuits and apple pie two fat thumbs up.
Hitting the Sauce 