As I got through the bite, the waffle flavor came through, almost as a finishing taste. When I first bit into a tender, I tasted those Popeye’s Louisiana spices right off the bat. I am pleased to say that, despite all my predictions, I actually liked the waffle flavor. Of course, the important part here is the Waffle part of Chicken Waffle Tenders. It did have an annoying tendency to flake off the tenders more than regular fried coating, though. The fried coating had just the right amount of crunch and was not at all soggy. They may suck at customer service, but then generally deliver some pretty darn good chicken. The chicken was moist and tender, which is not unusual for Popeye’s. I tried the tenders without the sauce first. The tenders also had a darker coating than normal Popeye’s fried chicken, which I took as an indication of the presence of waffle batter. I had to sit down for a moment, in shock that I’d received the correct order. Plus, I got the Sweet Honey Maple Sauce that is advertised specifically for this item. I could tell, because the smell of Popeye’s seasoning was mixed with a faint waffle scent. Then I got home and pulled this out of the bag: Wait, what?īefore my Rageometer reached critical mass, I opened up the box: I was a little irritated that the Chicken Waffle Tenders were only available as a combo with a biscuit, fries and drink, but that was a minor complaint. Other than my crustaceous disappointment, things actually went smoothly. I was willing to give them a pass on that. Even though it’s still featured on their website, I was informed that they no longer carried them, because that was last month’s promotional item. On this trip, I decided that, in addition to my Chicken Waffle Tenders, I’d get some Zatarain’s Butterfly Shrimp as a backup lunch in case I really hated the tenders. I dunno what it is about Popeye’s, but it seems they just can’t get their shit together. You could chalk this up to one bad location, but I’ve had several friends from different parts of the nation have the same experiences. This last incident happens almost every time, and wouldn’t bother me that much, except as I sit there the a/c in my car gradually starts to grow warmer until I’m marinating in my own distinctly not-Louisiana spices. They do that thing where they make me pull around from the drive-thru and park in front to wait for my food. They’re out of whatever it is I happen to be ordering. I don’t think I’ve ever had an experience there that went smoothly. I really wanted to give Popeye’s a fair shake, though, so I put my on my Objective Journalism Cap and went to work.Īctually, before I put the objective cap on, one more thing – Popeye’s customer service sucks. It’s part of the reason why I disliked Lay’s Chicken & Waffles chips. In general, I like my savory and my sweet separate. But I’ve had fried chicken and I’ve had waffles, and it just doesn’t seem like a combination I’d like. I’ve never had actual chicken and waffles, which means I should probably shut my mouth right now. I have to admit, I came into this biased. Pretty ingenious, right? Okay, maybe not ingenious, but at least not outright lazy. What this basically means is that the tenders are dipped in waffle batter instead of traditional egg wash before they’ve been coated with Popeye’s signature seasoned coating and fried up. According to their commercial, Chicken Waffle Tenders are all white-meat tenders marinated in Louisiana spices and hand-crafted with a light, crispy waffle coating. Oh, sure, they could have just chucked a few pieces of waffle in with their chicken, but Popeye’s got creative. They’ve taken a pre-existing platform – their chicken, as opposed to something like chips or syrup – and added the waffle aspect in a rather unique way. I give kudos to Popeye’s for this concept. But here we are, with chicken and waffle-flavored chips (which lost Lay’s Do Us a Flavor contest but are now back on shelves – don’t even get me started on that), Torani Chicken ‘N Waffles Syrup that you could theoretically put in your coffee or on your ice cream or whatever you want to turn disgusting, and now Popeye’s Chicken Waffle Tenders. If I had to pick an iconic American food that would suddenly enter the junk food hype machine, I would have never guessed that chicken and waffles would be the next Big Thing.
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