I’ve been listening to a podcast called The Happiness Lab
and within an episode, host Laurie Santos explains that people tend to start
things during a time of significance – on a Monday, after their birthday, or
perhaps the biggest milestone of all… the start of a new year. It’s a time for
resolutions and one of the most popular resolves is to eat healthier and lose
weight. Inevitably, 2021 won’t be a year of shedding for me, as the first meal
we dug into was a midnight feast of fried chicken. To soak up all the alcohol we
consumed, of course.
Since we were ordering on a busy night, the soy garlic
chicken ($20.99 for small) took a while to be delivered, so it wasn’t as crispy
and was warm on arrival. In my heart I knew giving it seven minutes in the
toaster oven would really help, but we were really looking forward to the
greasy eats so tucked in anyways. While I do enjoy my fried bird plain, the lightness
of the sweet soy blended with garlic was delicious and really helped give the
chicken flavour without adding a heavy glaze.
In general, Korean fried chicken is lighter to begin with.
The batter is just a coating of flour, so it doesn’t soak up as much oil and
isn’t as greasy. The Fry cuts up the half bird into smaller pieces so you can
pick and choose the cuts to your preference. For me, I like to pick at the
bones, which is complimented by my husband who enjoys big nuggets of boneless
white meat. I knew I met my perfect match: he leaves the flavourful pieces for
me and is opened to indulging in fried chicken late at night.
Little did we know the chicken arrives as a “combo” with a
can of Coke and a container of lightly pickled sweet daikon, which really helps
cut through the grease.
That light acidity and freshness helped to balance off the
side of fries ($5.99 for small), which was surprisingly hotter and crispier
than the chicken. Despite being a “small” order, there was a lot of fries and
the spuds were also coated with flour to give it that extra crunch – sort of like
the ones you’d find at Taco Bell and Costco, excepted jazzed up with a light
dusting of green onions.
I loved that The Fry uses paper-based containers for delivery.
And if you want a fully plastic-free experience, skip the pickled turnip (with
the fried chicken) and the ketchup (with the fries) in your order.
This New Year’s, what I’ve heard the most is good riddance
to 2020 and let the good times begin in 2021. So, with that in mind, I skipped
on my traditional resolutions of being healthier or more responsible. Instead,
this year, I resolve to live it up and enjoy the good things (and people) in
life. And it seems I subconsciously knew this already, as this year started off
with a greasy bang.
Address: Various locations
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never order again
- 6 - decent for delivery and takeout, but there's better
- 7 - this is good, for delivery and takeout
- 8 - great for delivery and takeout, it's almost like you're in a restaurant
- 9 - wow, it's like I'm eating at a restaurant
- 10 - I'd happily order this for delivery or takeout instead of dining in any day!
Is That It? I Want More!
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