Another Tuesday, another taste! This week the carnivore gates have been opened again, and to make up for lost time I went for a chicken and ribs combo from a longtime Canadian institution: Swiss Chalet!
I legitimately cannot remember the last time I ate here. As a Toronto kid who went to elementary school in the Annex, I have faded memories of a Swiss Chalet location on Bloor street near Bedford Road (across from Varsity Stadium). Well turns out that was the very first Swiss Chalet location ever! And it no longer exists: the entire block was ripped out for condos well over a decade ago.
Coming into this I really wasn't sure what to expect: a Canadian fast food treasure or an overpriced factory of blech seemed equally likely. Well there's a lot to go through here, so I'm gonna break down each of these items in the photo briefly and then reach my final conclusion. Here-a I-a go-a!
The fries: I like that they're not your generic frozen french fry. You know the kind. These are okay but they're also not crispy and taste like they were fried in old oil.
Coleslaw: About as average as a coleslaw can be. Not super creamy, but with nice acidic and crisp texture. My biggest complaint is the portion size: there's like two bites in that little thing tops.
Chalet Sauce: I've heard people rave about this stuff, and I gotta say it's pretty unique. It's kind of like a sweet gravy, smelling like brewed tea and an odd minty aftertaste. Really not sure if I like or dislike it, mostly because the flavour is so strange to me I'm not sure exactly what to use it with. Is it a dip? Should I have drizzled it on the chicken? Points for distinctiveness at least.
Dinner Roll: It's a dinner roll. I'm not that obsessed with detail.
Ribs: I've had better, but these were pretty tasty. Definitely a lot of char flavour, and the sweet BBQ sauce they rubbed on them was a very nice touch (and better than the other sweet BBQ sauce on the side). The meat doesn't drip off the bone, though I might be spoiled since the last time I had ribs was at the Beaches Rib Fest in 2019. Remember outdoor gatherings? Yes, truly I am recalling some other far away universe.
Chicken: The big ticket item since this is what Swiss Chalet is known best for. I went for dark meat and the verdict..... it's fairly good. Not amazing, but good. It was extremely fatty (even for a chicken leg) but a good amount of meat and even the parts with less fat weren't dry thankfully. I'd say it's a notch above those whole BBQ chickens you see in the grocery store, as I find those (while versatile) usually have dry portions and stiffer drumsticks.
Overall... there's a solid baseline of quality with everything I had here. Nothing blew me away, but nothing disappointed me either (except the coleslaw... needs to be more of it). The ribs were probably the standout, while the chicken was tasty but a bit too greasy.
Would I go back again soon? ...probably not. It's too expensive for what you get. This was twenty bucks, I ate the whole thing and wasn't stuffed or anything. It was enjoyable and interesting to try Swiss Chalet again after a very long time, it just didn't do enough to win me over as a "go to" spot when a chicken craving hits.
Burnt Ends - Lots of stuff! For you fellow Trekkies, my final look at the worst Star Trek: Next Generation episodes comes out tomorrow! So watch for that (here are parts 1 and 2). Baseball season is also off and rolling (early April is truly one of the best times of the year) and I previewed every division in MLB for Battersbox.ca. Instead of linking each one, just go to Da Box itself. Most of the previews should still be on the first page. Last thing, I tried something before Vegetarian Month that should be coming out soon as an East End Eat, so keep an eye out for that later this week.
Bad Rap - I certainly consider myself a big fan of the Toronto Raptors (probably my second favourite team in all of sports) and I'd just like to quickly say how this entire season means absolutely nothing. I read that lots of people wanted to blow up the team and tank (lose on purpose, if you're unfamiliar with the lingo) for a high draft pick. However, I'll argue, as painful as this season has been with losing streaks, heartbreaking blown leads, playing every game on the road (with Tampa fans often cheering for the opposition), game winning shots rimming out multiple times, and oh yeah HALF THE TEAM GOT COVID. It's a lost season (not really excited about a potential play-in game) but if you get this team back in Toronto next year with VanVleet, Siakam, Anunoby, Trent Jr., something resembling a functional center and that's still a good young team.
And go figure, just as I planned to write this piece this season of misery has been brightened somewhat with the crazy 53 point win against the Warriors this past Friday, and Gary Trent Jr's winning buzzer beater three last night. The 20/21 Raptors now have one of the worst winning percentages in NBA history for a team with a positive point differential. They'll be fine... just kill this damn virus and get them the hell out of Tampa.
Delivery Dimes - Well, that didn't last long did it? Instead of going into a long rant about the Ontario government opening up patio dining for like fifteen minutes for no reason (swearing in frustration is what my bad TNG reviews are for), this instead is a reminder to keep supporting your local independent restaurants because this is a hard, hard time for them and getting jerked around like this is not making it easier. If there's a spot you like that's easily accessible on foot or whatever... don't bother with Uber Eats or Door Dash or any of those delivery apps. Phone the restaurant yourself and put that money completely in their pockets. Use Uber Eats for McDonalds or Tim Hortons or whatever, they'll be fine. Delivery apps take such huge portions of those sales that most smaller restaurants are basically lucky to break even on them, and that's not counting the creatures beneath rocks that scam places by claiming they never got their food. The Tuesday Taste might be about reviewing brand name fast foods, but I don't want them to be the only option left when this pandemic is all over.
Tuesday Tune - Here's a band I saw live. Back in 2017 I went to (an eventual future job) Bud Stage to see Queens of the Stone Age, arriving halfway through an opening act I'd never heard of... these guys! I'm a sucker for a good hook.
That's all for this week. Hope everyone out there is staying safe, healthy and relatively sane (certainly a challenge for me, heh). Hang in there, be kind to one another and don't spill any mustard.
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