The Spicy Chicken Sandwich Taste Off…

I feel like I am starting each new post apologizing for why I haven’t been here in a while. I know that we all are in uncertain territory. Everyone has adjusted and switched up and readjusted to this pandemic. For me, it has all really come down to creating new routines and finding ways to still be able to enjoy life. I have had more things delivered to my house than ever before. I know that I am probably not enjoying the meal as much as if I were able to dine in, but it’s still a way to get some of my faves, without putting on a mask. Something else that I have gotten even more into is creating amazing restaurant quality meals in my own tiny kitchen. The kitchen really is THAT small. I have good cookware and have been making things that include ingredients I had never worked with before, including my own home grown herbs-more on that later. I have absolutely nailed a perfectly seared,  medium rare steak in my cast iron and also made some outstanding charcuterie boards, among other things. Do not get me wrong here, I have still gone out and had meals of food. My husband and I have enjoyed a few intimate dinners, and also we have recently  been trying all the fabulous burgers that Jacksonville has to offer. I can’t say yet that I have an absolute favorite, but it sure has been fun trying them!

The love of a different kind of sandwich is what brought this newest post to fruition. I had heard recently that McDonald’s came out with a spicy chicken sandwich. If you remember last year as we were all in shock over this new virus, there was a battle of the spicy chicken sandwich between Popeye’s and Chickfila. I personally didn’t feel the need to participate. I had not yet felt the full weight of being in a pandemic. This was before I was quarantined, before my temperature was a daily common thing to obtain, before we all started to match a face covering to our outfits. Fast forward through the last year to what the reality of present day is, and somehow I was super amped about a fast food spicy chicken sandwich.

I decided that since the three places were not all centrally located, that my best plan wasn’t going to get them on my own;  I had to tackle this with the help of delivery services. I have several different apps on my phone for this, and the ones I went with were Uber Eats and  Door Dash. The only drawback here is that you have to pay delivery fees on three separate orders and lemme tell you I felt salty about that. I also had to chase down three orders because no one could seem to find my apartment this particular night. Food delivery folks do have issues with my apartment complex regularly but for not one of them to find me was insane. I think they need to get with the Instacart people for land navigation skills cause my groceries are never lost! The orders were all set up to arrive at 7:15pm. I placed them all at the same time. The first to arrive was Chickfila at 7:10, coming second was Popeye’s at 7:18, and holding up the rear was McDonalds at 7:31. The gap in time is accounted for when judging, because I know that the food to arrive first would have been better when it was fresh.

Setting up for the taste off is something that I am pretty sure Hubby thought was a little intense and over the top. I pulled out a serving platter, I took a couple dozen photos, I took notes, and lined up sandwiches perfectly in front of the respective bag. To say that I was really into this, was an understatement. The Spicy Chicken Taste Off was officially underway!

I settled in and took my first bite, starting with the Chickfila first. What I noticed right off the bat is that the bun was kind of flat and ..meh. Not like it had been smushed, but that it just wasn’t fresh to begin with. The next day someone pointed out to me that the best time to get food from here is at lunch time when its newly made. I know there are a whole cult of people out there that flock to this chicken and love it. To me it’s just..ok. What also seemed off to me about this sandwich is that there is no sauce. The piece of chicken itself has the spiciness to it. Teamed with the fact that there was a serious lack of pickle, I found the whole thing to be kind of dry. There were only two half slices of pickles on here, and nothing else. The spice that was there is an immediate hotness if you will, right on your tongue. There is no built up layers of spice, and it doesn’t stay with you. Next in the running is the Popeye’s sandwich. This one has a  good solid bun, there is a nice layer of pickles that are whole slices and seem to be of a better quality than the first contestant. Also the sauce is spread evenly and it is HOT. It made my nose run a little, but not in a way that took away from the flavor. I felt like all of it worked really well together, and also that the crunch of the chicken itself was nice and added to each bite. This one rally made me want to keep eating, but I knew that I needed to save some room for the last one, McDonalds. I came to this one last, and it was the first one that my Husband tried. He actually ate the whole half of his. I liked the bun, there was a sweetness to it that was interesting and definitely created a balance of flavors with the sauce. I found the sauce to be a little bit …much. There was a decent amount of it on the sandwich, and it even seeped out a bit onto the bun; there was something about it that was spicy and also tangy. I wasn’t sure if I really liked it or not. The chicken was a nice thick crunchy piece, and the pickles here were half slices; but I foundthem to be tasty.

Over the course of this tasting, my Husband was also eating along with me, as I had cut each of them in half. He immediately took the pickles off his first one, and thus, not really experiencing the full thing. He also ate all of his McDonalds, some of his Popeye’s, and none of the Chickfila. I was in this alone folks. When it comes to price, here is a breakdown for you. I had only the sandwich from Chickfila and with delivery fees ect that was $14.33, for Popeye’s it was a combo meal that included a drink and Cajun fries for $17.88, and McDonalds also was a combo with fries and drink and the cost was $19.29. The fries from Popeye’s were delightful and something I had never had before. But at the end of the night we were here for one thing, and one thing only- to decide which of these Spicy Chicken Sandwiches is the best overall for me.

Drum Roll Please…..Popeye’s is the WINNER!! I really liked all the components, each part was represented well but also worked together to create a nice experience. I was looking for all sorts of things while making the final determination; among them were overall taste, crunch, presentation, cost, and also the quality of each of the things that make up the sandwiches. I was totally into this,  and I think that I might be on the look out to create more taste off’s as something to do for fun. I will note that even though I only took a few bites of each, I was full at the end and didn’t think I needed another spicy or chicken anything for a few days at least!

As always stay tuned for more fun to come, even if it takes me a few months; I will be sure to bring you an interesting and exciting story every time I log on!        XOXO, Suzy Doozer