May 08, 2009
KFC Grilled Chicken review
I am always a sucker for advertising. If the ad or gimmick is halfway decent I will HAVE to try it. In this case, KFC took their brand and married it with the art of grilling.
I was thinking this week would be the week to try KFC's new grilled chicken, and thanks to Queen Oprah, I was able to enjoy KFC for free with my a few of my coworkers.
However, while it was nice to have eaten lunch for free, I wish that it hadn't been because unfortunately for the chicken, this played a large role.
I approached the lunch event with high expectations. The Colonel's original and extra tasty crispy recipes have had me dealing with mild addiction for the better part of my life.
However, you get thrown off slightly when a company takes an abrupt departure from the model that made it successful.
Remember Coke II? or the Arch Deluxe?
The woman behind the counter spotted the coupon in my greedy little hand long before it was my turn to order, and apparently she had decided that she was not going to accept it. I had to appeal to the higher authorities and get the manager on duty to validate my coupon and process my order. It was under these circumstances that I acquired my meal, so I am wondering if this is why I felt my chicken was under-sized.
KFC is marketing this chicken as a healthy alternative to their now un-healthy fried chicken, and I'm wondering if they pulled one of those tricks where they reduce portion size to make the calorie and fat counts drop. Next time you're in the grocery store, note how many companies run by elves living in a tree do this same kind of thing with their nutrition facts.
The grilled chicken is kept in the same heat lamp staging area as the other chicken varieties so you won't have to wait for the "grilled" variant to take any longer.
The chicken on my plate looked a little underwhelming. I couldn't tell if it was the diminuitive drumstick and thigh or if it was the "grill" marks. I use quote's around grilled because it looks more like the chicken has been through a panini press than over an actual grill. Another odd thing was that the chicken didn't seem as warm as the fried variety. I'm not sure if all the fat and fried goodness somehow insulates and locks in the delicious heat.
I started with the drumstick mostly because i wasnt sure yet how I would tackle the thigh. You can taste the 6 secret spices and salt that coat the outside of the chicken, but the extent of the flavor stops there. The inside is more or less the same as regular KFC. This was a bit puzzling because it seemed like what would happen if a boston market chicken and a kfc chicken had a baby, an ugly baby.
The chicken overall wasn't bad, I think I just would prefer to either get my original fried chicken, spicy popeyes fried chicken, or a nice flavorful rotiserrie chicken from boston market.
Overall my experience was positive. In the shadow of bank audits and the recession a free lunch carries extra weight.
However of the four patrons who were with me, 3 of them said that they would prefer the fried variety over the grilled variety in the future when Harpo Productions isn't footing the bill. If I want chicken that isn't fried, I'll probably be going to either Boston Market or one of the several peruvian / south / latin american chicken joints that spot the chicken landscape.
Pros:
- Half the Fat and Calories
- Same Price or cheaper
- More choice at a fast food joint is always better
Cons:
- Chicken with an Identity Crisis
- Smaller pieces? unconfirmed.
- Not as Hot? unconfirmed.
- Not fried.
Posted by Bryant at May 8, 2009 12:43 AM
Comments
I have tried the grilled chicken it was not bad, but the size of the leg is no bigger than some of the hot wings I get from my local restaurant.
Posted by: ted m. at July 25, 2009 10:23 AM