K was for KFC
I initially went to go to King of Kings on Saturday for lunch but the lineup was huge. I also wasn’t as hungry as I usually am due to an earlier chicken burger and chips. To follow in this interest in chicken, and partially as a joke, I went to KFC.
A few years ago, before the problems with my stomach, I loved KFC. I could eat half a bucket on my own, and a whole one over the course of a few hours. I loved the chips, I loved the hot and spicy, I loved the potato and gravy and I especially loved the popcorn chicken. Then I had a problem with my stomach and for about 12 months I couldn’t eat anything properly, let alone KFC. As soon as I could eat solids again, I wanted KFC. My brain did anyway. My stomach threw it out, you get the idea. A few months later, and having trained my stomach to eat things like bacon and roast chicken again, I tried again. Nope, strike 2. I ate more and more like I used to, eating fried food and greasy food, not as much as I used to but at least my stomach knew not to throw it out now, and eventually I could eat KFC again. I wasn’t a fan. I didn’t actually want to eat it anymore.
I am not a fan.
This is also not a rant about the evils of KFC, I am just not a fan anymore. Over at least 50 restaurants and fast food outlets later and I have hit a point where KFC is not something I will seek out. If it’s given to me I will eat it, but I have found other fried chicken places I prefer.
This is all well and good, but what about the food?
Like I said, this isn’t a rant. I don’t think there is anything wrong with KFC, that you couldn’t find wrong with any other fast food chain. So I write this as unbiased as possible.
Step one – ordering
I have not had to order KFC for a really long time. I figured I would get popcorn chicken as an entree and 2 pieces of chicken and chips as a main. I looked at the board. I could see popcorn chicken. I looked again. All I could see were meal deals, sides, burgers and wraps. Drinks too, let’s not forget the drinks which I chose not to partake of. In no section of the board did I see chicken and chips on its own. Oh well, it’s one of the things they’re well known for, I’ll ask.
The poor training girl was a little flustered when I asked, and the person with her very quickly and helpfully jumped in and showed her what to do. I don’t think many people ask for that anymore.
Step two – the entree
I had popcorn chicken for the entree. I remember loving popcorn chicken when I first had it. It hasn’t actually changed that much. A box full of tiny morsels of chicken, covered in the classic KFC batter. It may be hard to believe, but with each piece I was debating whether or not I actually liked it.
See the problem is that I didn’t think it was bad, or even bland. Each piece was a small, greasy ball of flavourful chicken. And while I didn’t love it, I didn’t dislike it either. Popcorn chicken is still pretty good, but as the array of flavours I have eaten broadens, I have found that it is no longer a flavour I crave. Unlike bulgogi from Nene Chicken, or the spicy chicken’s feet from Garden City yum cha.
Step three – the main course
The main course was two pieces of hot and spicy chicken and chips. This used to be one of the things I got regularly when I got KFC. I remembered really enjoying the crunch, and the battered covered skin peeling off so you could eat it on its own. I loved the thigh pieces especially, and the drumsticks. I got one of each. I had finished the popcorn chicken and almost immediately began on the main.
The chips weren’t as good as I remembered, but they were also far less seasoned than I remembered too. They were probably also the only part of the whole meal that I don’t feel confused about. KFC you need to lift your chip game, you have some more competition out there that is rapidly leaving you behind in this front.
The chicken itself was good, as far as fried chicken goes. It tasted as I expected it to taste, due to eating a lot of spicy food over the last few years it was crunchy and flavoured. I don’t hold that against KFC, for your average person it may very well be spicy. The thing I have always loved about KFC chicken the most didn’t change. It comes off the bone pretty well. I have to give it to KFC, I don’t remember ever having KFC chicken that had raw bits in it. The meat has always come off the bone relatively easily, and there are a few places I have eaten at that could learn a thing or two from KFC about fully cooking chicken.
Wrapping up and putting the rubbish in the bin.
The whole time I was eating this I was pondering how I felt about this. Not just reviewing KFC, but whether or not it had changed a lot for me.
It hasn’t.
It was pretty much as I remembered it, and this is not a bad thing. It was crispy, full of flavour and all I expected it to be.
I am just not as moved by it as I used to be. Sorry KFC, I have moved on.
Bren's Food Adventures 