I grabbed items to go after lunch at Osphere
a little under two weeks ago. I didn't intend for it to be a competition, but,
let's get it on!
Chicken
Fire - As I understand it, they were a food truck that was then parked at East
End Market and now occupies what I believe was an old Italian (went there but
can't find a review) place in between an Asian market and a Chinese restaurant
called Lam's across from the strip mall that has Total Wine on 50 and Bumby.
I'll start by saying that I guess this is a fad. This hot chicken thing. I
thought it WAS a fad about ten years ago (I mean even the fast food restaurants
co-opted it years ago). But, I guess what is old is new again or people around
here are that far behind because they had people lining up. I'll interject at
this point that I just returned from SLC and they also had a hot chicken place
(Pretty Bird) that was so pretentious that they wouldn't even take orders. You
had to use an app. And it was packed with people picking up. So either the
people in SLC are just as out of touch as we are or it is a thing (again). It
took me about twenty minutes to get my $10 two piece meal that I think they called
"tenders" which were really breasts. It came with crinkle cut fries.
The chicken was ok. Alot of breading made them seem larger than they actually
were. Meat seemed like it had been thawed out. Crust was crispy. I think they
use frosted or corn flakes. I tried the hottest level. It was pretty hot. I've
done some ghost pepper challenges like Menchie's 420 in Sarasota and this
wasn't that hot. No gastro-intestinal issues afterwards. Served on some white
bread with pickles.I used the pickles on a bagel with cream cheese later on and
found that that works. The fries were the best thing. Very crisp. They
only have six or so options. They are only open W-SN. 11 or 12 to 6p (I think).
They had about three booths. People could eat in there if they wished. Not very
fancy. Open a month. It's no Cro-nut. And even that was ridiculous. Not bad,
but, not worthy of adulation. So, a perfect fit for the 21st century. I've been
to the famous in ones in Tennessee (and beyond) years ago and they weren't
worth it. It's just fried chicken with hot sauce on top people! And the sauce
often soften the crispiness of the chicken and masks the flavor. I don't get
it. Maybe it's a pothead thing. Maybe this is as far as kids are willing to go
for a thrill in this baby proofed world?
Winter
Park Biscuit Co - They took over the first stall on the left from Florida
something and Bird of Paradise just recently. It looked all vegan, but, a
review I read mentioned meat options. I grabbed a three piece that I thought
was chicken. It was soy. Not bad for soy. Crisp coating. Looked like mozzarella
sticks or fish fingers. Biscuit was salty. Fries were bad. Coated. I think they
added a carrot and caraway and cabbage slaw that was too sweet. That could have
been from Chicken Fire though. My notes melded together. They only had five or
so choices. One was a fake burger. I think two salads and a chicken on a bun.
My meal cost $13. I saw a Japanese tea/mochi place on the next level. Not sure
if that is new. The other stalls seemed to have re-opened.
So,
the winner is - (by default) Chicken Fire. They actually came to play with
chicken in a chicken contest. Plus they gave 2x the food at $3 less. And their
fries were good.
*I'll
give you a SLC report in a few days. I did notice that things appear back to
normal (especially around here). The airport was jammed (especially the rental
car lines) when I came back. Traffic sucked all over town. I saw that even the
strip club (ie Rachel's) parking lots were full (night and at lunch time). I
read Canadians are returning for flu shots. My flights (connections) were all
full. Airports in Dallas and Charlotte were SRO.
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