The Flames (Walserberg, Austria)

Grenzwaldweg 1, 5071 Walserberg, Austria

 

The Flames is a US-style “burger and steaks” restaurant at a gas station just outside of Salzburg — they are part of a group of four gas station restaurants. They have usual US snacks, burgers, onion rings, wings, etc. with some bbq options (pulled pork).

 

I’m going fairly light this afternoon, so I choose the Chicken Burger (€13,50) with a side salad. The Chicken Burger comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and sweet chile sauce. The chicken breast is pan fried and nice and juicy. The sweet chile sauce is pretty mild and makes the mayo superfluous. Overall, a good sandwich.

 

VERDICT: 85/100

Very decent gas stop food.

Chicken + Whiskey (Washington, DC)

1738 14Th St NW, Washington, DC

Chicken + Whiskey is a hip eatery/bar with a curbside bar at the busy street, one of the top nightlife streets on the weekends-- there is a location in Columbia, MD. At the back is a place for whiskeys but up front is a Latin rotisserie chicken fast-food restaurant that serves a variety of dishes, from various pieces of roasted chicken to sandwiches of different sorts and salads.

I get La Comadre ($9.99), which is an arepa, a deep fried bread in the shape of a pita, which comes with two plantains, a heap of pulled chicken, sofrito, jalapeños, cilantro and aji amarillo mayonnaise. The combinations of flavors is absolutely divine! Unfortunately, the toppings are not well distributed, so the last third is just chicken and maduros (still yummy) but the combination of all flavors was incredible.

 

VERDICT: 98/100

Can’t wait to go back!

Nando's PERI PERI (Washington, DC)

1210 18th Street NW, Washington DC 20036

Nando’s PERI PERI is an international chain of South African-type chicken restaurants that does roasted chicken by the piece as well as in bowls and sandwiches. It has a variety of heats and sauces, which can also be found in supermarkets.

 

I get the classic Nando Chicken Breast Sandwich with two sides ($13.99) and a Lemonade ($3.69). The piece of chicken is disappointingly small and the “heat” comes from the sauce rather than the (nice) seasoning. Despite lacking heat (I got Medium as they described it as quite spicy and it was very hot outside), the sandwich has good flavors, including from the nice roll. The slaw is very creamy and has an original mix of flavors (do I taste dill?), while the garlic bread is simple and very tasty. The strawberry lemonade was a bit too sweet but with some added water quite refreshing.

 

I later get a Naughty Nata ($3.62) for dessert. The nata came from the fridge and was then heated up on the grill, which is a different approach (and took quite long). It comes closer than most natas, but is overly sweet and dough too soft.

 

VERDICT: 85/100

While a bit disappointed by the sandwich, I overall really liked the (original) flavors.

Fly Chicken Torggata (Oslo, Norway)

Torggata 9A, 0181 Oslo, Norway

 

Fly Chicken is a national chain of fried chicken places, with 6 locations (in cities) in Norway, which serves fried chicken sandwiches, fried legs and wings, and a few sides (mostly fries). This particular location is in the food court of a shopping mall close to the central station of Oslo.

 

I get the Superfly sandwich (145 NOK or ~$16) and a portion of 5 Fried Wings (60 NOK or $6.75) with a side of the hot sauce. The sandwich has a big piece of well-prepared fried chicken, which is juicy and crispy, on comes on a brioche bun with lettuce, onion rings, and some BBQ sauce and sour cream. It is tasty but heavy. The wings are heavily coated, a bit like KFC, and taste mostly fat. The hot sauce is indeed spicy but has an odd flavor.

 

VERDICT: 82/100

Decent fried chicken but with a too high fat-to-flavor ratio.

Bela Lisbao (Chattanooga, TN)

 417 Frazer Ave, Chattanooga, TN

Bela Lisbao is a fairly fancy restaurant on the hip side of the river, which serves a wide range of traditional and less traditional Portuguese and Mediterranean dishes. It also has a restaurant in Port Orange, Florida. Their specialty is Piri Piri dishes, including chicken and shrimp.

 

I get the Piri Piri Chichen sandwich, which comes with fries. The pieces of chicken seem pulled from a rotisserie chicken and are tender but with some cartilage parts. The pieces are also lukewarm but very spicy. The toasted baguette, lettuce, jalapeños, red onion and Mayo compliment it well. he fries are thin, fried in olive oil, and a bit undercooked.

 

VERDICT: 86/100

Good but not as good as I had expected. For people who like real heat, definitely try this.

Chikin (Reykjavik, Iceland)

Ingólfsstræti, Reykjavík, Iceland

 

Chikin is a US-Korean-type fusion street food place that serves various chicken boas and burgers as well as a few special sides (sweet potato waffle fries, pineapple kimchi).

 

I get a Spicy Chicken Bao (ISK 790 or ~$6) and a K-Town (ISK 1790 or ~$14). They are both fried chicken with Gochujang Mayo, chili slaw, coriander and scallions, but one is a relatively small bao and the other a rather large burger. The chicken is perfectly fried, very tasty, but also very salty and has a kind of buttery taste to it.

 

VERDICT: 88/100

Cool place but with limited options.

Borg Brugghus (Reykjavik, Iceland)

 Grjótháls, Reykjavík, Iceland

Borg Brugghus is a "progressive craft brewery" at the edge of downtown Reykjavik. It is a very nice restaurant and bar in a kind of rustic setting. Known mostly for its beer selection, the menu is a combination of modern takes on Icelandic and International food. There are both "small bites" and bigger plates but they overlap a bit.

Open Buffalo Chichen Sandwich (ISK 2,150, ca. $17), pricey even by Icelandic standards. It has a few chicken tenders doused in Buffalo sauce stacked up with Asian slaw and a small slice of thick bread. Very tasty and with a big kick. The table also orders French fries, which are thin and a bit undercooked, while I get Onion Rings (I think they were ISK 1,350 or ~$10.50), which were really weird. They looked like calamari but the filling was mushy and didn’t taste like onion. The zesty dip sauce was tasty though.

 

VERDICT: 82/100

A really nice bar/restaurant but too artsy and expensive.

Jackie's Dream (Knoxville, TN)

1008 E Woodland Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917

 

Jackie’s Dream is a fairly large and barren Southern food and hot chicken place in one of the lesser part of Knoxville. As I arrive, they are already closing but I can still get my order in. I get the Hot Knox Sandwich ($5.75) and a Hot Knox Tender ($2.25) as well as a side of slaw ($1.75). They are out of slaw, so I get potato salad (which I’m not a big fan ofy, so I don’t eat it). The sandwich is ENORMOUS! Three big and thick chicken tenders on two slices of white bread with lettuce, tomato and onion. The chicken is AMAZING! Lightly breaded but not crispy and with a serious but not overpowering heat. Some of the best hot chicken I have ever had.

VERDICT: 95/100

Get the Hot Knox Chicken sandwich, and maybe a slaw to cool off the heat a bit, and you’re Golden! Hot chicken as it should be done!

HenDough Chicken & Donuts (Greenville, SC)

 126 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC, 29601

 

 

HenDough is one of almost ten small food and drink places in Gather, a new hip venue in downtown Greenville -- their original, brick and mortar, location is in Hendersonville, NC. It serves, you guessed it, (fried) chickens and donuts. They have tenders, wings, and sandwiches. 

 

I get the Maple Bacon Chicken Sandwich, which comes with lettuce, caramelized onions, bacon, and maple drizzle. The chicken is thinly coated and very juicy. The bacon is a bit chewy but tasty. The combination is good but there is a bit too little maple sauce. Both donuts are quite thick and doughy. The various toppings of the Blueberry Caramel Coconut Donut ($2.25) are too weak for the thick dough and falls the Glazed Donut ($1.75) is overall underwhelming.

 

 

83/100

I like the setting and the chicken itself is very good, but the donuts are not special.

Popeyes (Athens, GA)

 3160 Atlanta Hwy, Athens, GA 30606

 

 

Popeyes is a US fast food chain that specializes in "Louisiana-style" (i.e. cajun) fried chicken. It currently has more than 3,000 locations, the vast majority of them in the US, but mow extending to some 30 countries too. Simply stated, it is a spicy KFC. I have eaten at various Popeyes since coming to the US, but have never been a fan. Most fried chicken is lukewarm and stale by the time you order it and the fries and sides are mediocre. 

However, the last two times I got sandwiches, in particular the Spicy Chicken Sandwich ($3.99) and the, new, Cajun Flounder Sandwich ($4.49). When prepared fresh, both are great sandwiches. The chicken sandwich is a serious challenger for then Chick-fil-a Spicy Chicken Sandwich -- crust is thicker and it has a spicy sauce -- while the Flounder sandwich had a good amount of fried fish with cajun seasoning (the tartar suace was weak). Both definitely among the better fast food sandwiches that any of the major US chains serve.

 

VERDICT: 78 (87)

Fast food is always tricky. Much depends on how long your food has been waiting for a customer. Overall, Popeyes is fairly average, but these two specific sandwiches are affordable and tasty!

 

Scoville Hot Chicken (Athens, GA)

311 E Broad St, Athens, GA 30601

Scoville Hot Chicken is a new fast food that started in Sandy Springs, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, in Nvember and added a location in Athens, Georgia, in January 2021. It is located downtown in a location that previously housed another fried chicken place, which went bust pretty fast. I fear the same fate will befall Scoville, who has to compete with local heroes Chick-fil-a a bare 0.1 mile away.

 

Scoville offers only three items: a chicken sandwich, fries, and coleslaw. You order through a machine on the wall, which let’s you pretty much vary everything on the sandwich, including five levels of heat (chill, mild, hot, extra hot, and reaper). Advised by a friend, I take “Hot”, the middle one, in the Scoville Set ($10), which includes the sandwich and fries, and add coleslaw ($2) and Scoville Fry Sauce ($0.50), which is a garlic aioli. The wait is long, between 10 and 15 minutes, even though they only take care of one online order (3 boxes) before me.

 

 

The chicken is big and thick, and you can smell the cayenne when you open the box. It is a bit over cooked, which makes it crispy but hard. The heat is overpowering, but slightly softened by the slaw and the creamy "comeback sauce" -- next time I will add some comeback sauce. The fries are thick prefab crinkle cuts sprinkled with steak salt, similar to Zaxby’s. While perfectly crispy, they are basic and whatever flavor they have disappears in the heat. The slaw is crunchy but without much taste.

VERDICT: 85/100

Scoville chicken offers real (Nashville) hot chicken with a hipster  twist. The chicken sandwich is really the hit on its very limited menu.