Had absolutely terrible fried chicken at the new Luella’s in Culver City’s citizens public market. Brisket was also a disaster. Hard pass.
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Wanted to try this breaded chicken BLT so I did for lunch today. The chicken part doesn’t come anywhere close to Popeye’s. AND the total for the sandwich alone was $7.61. I’m still trying to figure that out and I did pretty well in algebra as a kid. Certainly not $4.99. Our tax rate is 7.75% so that puts it at $7.06 which is kindof a weird price. Still need to try KFC’s version but I’m pretty much sold on this being won by someone who actually knows fried chicken Sorry Carl’s Jr.
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Panda Express is trying out a new fried chicken sandwich at the Innovation Kitchen in Pasadena. Not great pictures because it’s not super notable except for the novelty.
It comes diaper wrapped in paper inside a foil lined paper bag so they’re trying the QC the quality at least a little. We ate it there so not sure how well it preserves the crust if you took it on a short drive.
Sandwich itself was fine. The chicken wasn’t particularly large or juicy but it also wasn’t a straight chicken patty puck. The breading was a slight deviation from the norm- it was very light and somewhat crispy but not thick or substantial enough to be crunchy. It’s definitely not a common fried chicken breading and made me wonder if it’s what they use on the usual orange chicken before it gets sauced.
Speaking of sauce, it comes with a pink dressing that I couldn’t really taste over the very sweet (I’m assuming orange chicken) sauce they liberally drizzle over the chicken. It’s generally quite sugary like some other Panda Express items especially because the bun itself clearly has some sweetener. It’s not implicitly unpleasant but reminds me of some kind of pastry I can’t put my finger on.
The sandwich also includes some cabbage that’s nice for texture and pickles they use for the wraps at that location but it wasn’t enough to offset the overall sweetness.
Overall, not my favorite and we only went because we were in the neighborhood running an errand. If we were in the area again I’d get a wrap instead or (more likely) hit up Bhanu instead.
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Sounds like an orange chicken chicken sandwich.
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Hah, yup. Pretty much. I didn’t like it very much but I can’t really complain because it is exactly as advertised
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BIG drop off in the Burger King Ch’King sandwich.
The spicy, and it’s unique flavor among all the fast food chicken war entrants, quite possibly was my third favorite (CFA, KFC, BK, Popeyes, McD, JitB, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr., etc) UNTIL yesterday.
What WAS a chicken breast bigger than Popeyes was instead the thickness of the old tendercrisp. I knew something was wrong, no joke, by the weight of the bag when the counter guy handed it to me.
I tweeted about it and their support rep in a PM seemed to infer this was a mistake by the store.
I had to wash the taste out of my mouth by getting a Popeyes spicy sandwich today.
Gotta say, I think the KFC spicy sandwich is BETTER than Popeyes. At KFC, the spicy sauce actually has a bit of heat and isn’t nearly as salty as Popeyes. The chicken breast is on par with texture and crunch, but KFC’s has been consistently juicier than Popeyes.
I keep forgetting I need to try Jollibee
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Thanks for the report. Is there any chance that BK and Popeyes use the same supplier for their chicken sandwiches since they’re owned by the same parent company?
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Would not be surprised.
The size of the chicken breasts on the Ch’King, until the one I had yesterday, have been fairly similar in size, maybe a tad larger than Popeyes.
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For all my fellow Chicken Tender lovers… There is a new kid just at the edge of Koreatown on Pico and Western, KozyKo!
We drive past this spot a lot. It used to be home to an interesting concept called Sopita. They literally sold cups of Ramyun (like Nong Shim) all dolled up. It was cheap. It was fast. And if you like that sort of thing (which a lot of folks do), it totally hit the spot. But they only had indoor dining (Like those roundy ramen bar things) and so they just could not survive the pandemic with the concept. We noticed that KozyKo moved in and honestly at first, it seemed to be your typical cheap rice lunch place. It had fried chicken, but lots of other stuff too.
Well in the past month, they stripped down the menu. Gone are the Korean Plates. It’s Tenders, it’s Chicken Sandwiches, it’s Korean Corn Dogs. So I took a look at their yelp and when I saw the tenders… I knew I had to go… and they lived up to how good they looked and sounded…
I got the two tender combo which gives you two tenders, Fries, Texas Toast, choice of dipping sauce and slaw (I chose the Kimchee Slaw)
Holy cow this was good. The batter was so crisp and light. But it never steamed or got soggy. The tender was delicious and juicy. They were an excellent size, served pipping hot (So beware that first bite) and cooked perfectly.
I opted for the Apple Sweet Chili Sauce. It was very good. Not like Mae Ploy, a bit sweeter, chili was powder not flake and less vinegary, but still super tasty. Will try the Garlic Soy sauce flavor next time.
The fries I came were good, thin fast food style. The Kim Chee Slaw was interesting, it was very much a slaw (Not like chopped up Kim Chee from the jar), but with all the punch of Kim Chee. But my favorite of the combo was the Texas Toast. It was SO buttery. Total Sizzler Cheese Toast Vibes…
P. got the Sandwich
He got the original with no sauce. The same super crisp and light batter. It was quite large but as you ate it, it was well balanced. It did not fall apart and the pickles were super good. Not those awful industrial pickle chips most use.
The items came fast and the service was great! There is a small lot that is pretty easy to get in and out of. It’s still is an indoor only operation. But they aren’t too busy and we sat in the far corner of the ramen bar and was very distant from other customers. We will be back…
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Daybird >>> anything
besides Howlin Rays’s but the lines make it not worth it
Unless something changed after the first, Howlin Rays is solely on Postmates. Wait times aren’t crazy.
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My fastpass value just went up.
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But you can still order on postmate… so why waste a fastpass. I will use mine once they close out the online ordering.
Good point. I guess you could do the old deliver next door to PRD and bang bang. Forget who came up with this idea.
We live in the OC so been waiting for in person ordering and eating to come back.
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Howlin’ Ray’s has a pickup option on Postmates. so you can order ahead of time and just pick it up. i don’t know how the new situation is going to work out with them opening walk ins again. Are they going to cancel the Postmates pick up option? it would make sense for them to keep the pick up option so the lines wont be as crazy as before.
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I’ve only had HR one time pre-pandemic. The 2 times I had it via delivery/pickup, while it was still very good, it was nowhere near what it had been during that first visit (VERY steamed and soft during the first visit, kind of steamed and partially soft during the 2nd). Not sure if simply packing the order at all was the issue, since I vaguely recall that we took one item to-go during our very first visit, and it was still (almost supernaturally) crunchy 1-2 hrs later.
I don’t want to wait in a gigantic line, but I do wonder if (and hope that) the product will return to the same lofty heights it was at pre-pandemic, when in-person ordering returns.
Or, of course, maybe I’m just idealizing memories of my first trip there. 
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Go Go Bird in the Citizen’s Public Market in Culver City is my new favorite fried chicken.
Crunchy and juicy with great sides and they serve beer n wine.
Best chicken tenders ever.
Got some more photos from last trip
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Welcome to FTC.
Just walked through Citizen’s for the first time a few wks ago. Partner said the coffee place was quite good, and they do their pastries in-house (I think).
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