Author: brensfoodadventures

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.

1000 Ann St is further than I thought it was…

On Saturday I went to Johnny Rockets at The Emporium which, as you may have guessed, is at 1000 Ann St in Fortitude Valley. I caught the train in and walked from the Valley Train station to said destination, thinking it didn’t look that far. I was only a little bit wrong. It took a bit longer than I was expecting, and, as always, the walk back seemed to take less time than the walk there.

What I was expecting

I remember Johnny Rockets from the mid 90’s. A white and red diner type place, that I imagined had been modelled on Grease and Happy Days. I remember red vinyl booth seats and have a vague feeling of 50’s decor. I don’t recall that bit 100%.

I remember going there with friends, sometimes, and eating fries there and getting chocolate coke spiders. All in black, we would stick out against the red and white. I don’t think any of us cared, we were there because it made us laugh, sometimes at it. I sometimes felt like I had stepped out of the 90’s and back into some 50’s scene, where people would all start dancing at the right musical cues. I am pretty sure a lot of people I know, including myself, may have picked on it but all of us loved it and I am surely not the only one with fond memories of it. I don’t remember the food much, because I was usually broke and only had the fries, or occasionally a coffee.

This was what was in my head as I strode towards The Emporium. Waitresses in long skirts, a juke box and red vinyl booths called to me from the mid 90’s.

Where they still were.

Not here, not  now, but then.

What I found

I could see the interior from the outside as I walked around to the entrance, I saw a lot of wooden tables, and seats. Less white and red, it was there but was battling the wood for dominance. The tv on the wall had an NFL game playing, and none of the staff were in long skirts. There is a large tablet on the wall for music selection. Most of the patrons here looked like they were just here to eat and then they were going to leave, no one just hanging out.

The place was packed.

I was impressed.

The lack of nostalgia didn’t deter me. I walked in and ordered. I looked at the menu, no hotdogs. Damn it. I love hotdogs. They had a Jalapeno burger though. I ordered a Jalapeno burger and some pickle fries.

The Food

The Jalapeno burger was actually pretty good. There was no real spice to it for me, but I wasn’t expecting any at a place like this. That is not a bad thing, I am just getting use to eating spicier food. The burger was still pretty good. The meat patty tasted like a real meat patty, and not cardboard, fat and salt. The tomato, lettuce and jalapenos all had the texture of things that were freshly cut.

It was a good burger. I have to admit I was expecting plain, and it was better than plain. Not fantastic, just good.

The pickle chips were just slices of pickle/gherkin battered and deep fried. As far as I am concerned, there is not much else to say about this. They were exactly what they claimed to be. I like pickles/gherkins so these were pretty good.

Everything else

As there wasn’t a lot of variety to what I was eating, and not really a lot to say about it, I thought about what I wanted to say about Johnny Rockets.

What I want to say is, go. It’s pretty good, it’s pretty popular. The staff were nice. There were hardly any seats when I got there, and as soon as one was empty, it filled pretty quick. You don’t have to wait very long.

The place is comfortable, and at no point did I feel like I should rush. As I was finishing up, the person who cleared my table asked could they get me anything else. It was a genuinely nice experience.

If you just feel like a burger and fries, maybe some chicken wings go. It’s a little more expensive than hungry jacks, but it’s worth it.

Have fun.

I is for Italian Street Kitchen

On Saturday a small group of us went to Italian Street Kitchen for lunch. This is the first time I think I have said this, but I am not in a hurry to go back there.

Don’t get me wrong about this, it’s not a bad place, just not that good. Some of the food was good, most of it was just…ok. The coffee, the pasta and a lot of the stuff was ok. Just a bit bland, for my liking. I am not saying all dishes must contain chili, I am saying if you call yourself Italian Street Kitchen, at least have food that lives up to your decor.

I liked the look of the place, it was kind of rustic and kind of trendy at the same time. The menu was on a little folded bit of paper. The walls and ceiling made me think it was trying for a more homely look. I liked that you could see the chefs cooking. I liked the staff. To the eye the place is very nice.

Even Bad would be good

I have eaten at bad places before, I like bad food. I like food sometimes where I think the chef gave up and thought, “doesn’t matter it’s just fried meat and fried potatoes who cares”. I also like food where you not 100% certain what it is you’re eating, no matter how many times you read the menu, and you’re not even sure that the chef new what the dish on the menu was. I sometimes like venues where the staff barely want to serve you, and do it out of the thought that a real place would fire them (I have only been in this situation twice, I think, and both times the staff in question were the kids of the owners and the owners were the cooks). I like the look of places where you feel like you just walked into some dystopian sci fi movie and any minute now someone is going to scream that the lasagne is people or something along those lines.

This place looked nice though. It looked trendy(?), not sure if that’s the right word here, I think they were going for hip. The staff seemed vibrant. The menu is on a massive board behind the counter, as well as the folded ones at the tables I mentioned earlier. The place was packed. Not completely full but full enough that early on I felt we were lucky to get a table.

I looked around and saw a lot of people eating pizza. They looked good but I didn’t get pizza. I looked at the board and saw pork belly, with roast potatoes and rosemary. That was what I got, I also got fried gnocchi with truffle filling. To drink, I got a long black.

The coffee was ok. Not burnt, not great. Ok.

The fried gnocchi came out. The filling of the gnocchi was good, I really liked the filling, the gnocchi though was bland. On it’s own I would have eaten it, but I would also have been thinking that I could probably get this at a grocery store.

The more I think about the more I realised how many people were eating pizza there. Maybe we should have just done that, and maybe this review wouldn’t be about a place that’s ok, but instead would be about a place that had great pizza. I didn’t get the pizza though. So here we are. Bland city, sort of.

One of my friends got the anchovies as an entree, these were really good. These were possibly some of the best anchovies I have ever eaten. They don’t make up for the pasta though.

The pork belly came out, with the side of roast potatoes. The pork belly was actually pretty good. It was the right level of salty and pretty succulent. The crackling was crunchy. Not the best I have had, GK Take Away I already miss you, but pretty good. It disappeared quickly. The potatoes were not crunchy, but looked to me like they should have been, they were cooked well, but there wasn’t much rosemary on them. I was told the beef was good too. The pasta dishes were all a bit bland though.

The nutella calzone with hazelnut ice cream was actually pretty good. Now that I think about it, between that and seeing how many people got the pizza instead of anything else, maybe the place is fantastic at pizza. Anyone know? I’ll have to find out.

The Gelato was good…

My favourite bit of Italian Street Kitchen was around the corner from the place. There is a gelato place called “Quench”. I got coffee gelato and cookie dough gelato. It was pretty good. Coffee is my control flavour when it comes to anything, if it’s available. I love coffee, especially espresso, and I am willing to admit that not everything coffee flavoured is great, but this was really good. I would happily become a repeat customer to Quench. Next time I am going to try the dark chocolate.

I want to mix it with chili.

Shush, you all knew it was coming.

Good night all.