The Tuesday Taste - PG Clucks

 

 

If I told you things I did before

Told you how I used to be

Would you go along with someone like me?

If you knew my story word for word

Had all of my history

Would you go along with someone like me?

 

Another Tuesday... another Taste! It feels strangely satisfying to have typed those words a few times again...

 

You ever have a certain place, or a particular song, smell, picture, film, or general breeze in the air that (through no fault of its own) just lends itself to unpleasant memories? 

PG Clucks was one of those for me. My two previous encounters were hand in hand with heartbreak: the debut visit a very emotionally difficult afternoon I'd care not to elaborate on... and the other? Ah yes, the notorious Blue Jays-Mariners playoff game when the home 9 were up 8-1 at one point. I'd gotten off work at BMO Field in time and so hit a buddy's place (where PG Clucks chicken happened to be on the table and I was offered a piece) just in time for the epic collapse. 

So yeah, despite thinking the food was terrific both times... I've kind of held a negative association with PG Clucks. On this third occasion? With a review as the intention and a nearby Drake Hotel 20th anniversary party for former staff to attend after the fact? Frankly, I'm amazed the fried chicken didn't magically leap back to life just to smear grease all over my clothes. 

Enough of that stuff though, because PG Clucks is beyond worthy of being discussed on its own merit. By my estimation (and lazy research) I believe they opened their original location on College (next to the Royal Theatre) sometime in 2016. Eventually they opened a second pop-up shack in the short-lived Annex Food Hall, and then opened up a more permanent outpost on Queen West and Lisgar Street... which is were I found myself one late Thursday evening, with both hunger and the butterflies of interacting with people I haven't seen in fifteen years deep in my stomach. 

The Queen West location is only slightly larger than the flagship shack on College, by which I mean there is actually space for more than three people to stand inside (maybe six in this case). It's a takeout spot, pure and simple: no chairs, one short counter... only a little bench out front right below the window and personally, eating outside by myself, in front of the very place I just ordered from, has always felt awkward. But hey, the decor at this location was pretty slick. Check out these drooping plants:

 

 

Really not sure why I took that picture. 

I also have to mention Poutini's, a now departed poutine joint that for a moment had expanded into a few other locations, legit had their entire staff (maybe at the King street one? Can't exactly remember) walk out in protest, and is now well beneath the dirt of the Toronto food scene. The Queen West location was their first, their flagship outpost and happened to be in the exact same spot PG Clucks now occupies. Slipping back into the Drake Hotel days (you ain't escaping this without a little bit of nostalgia, dear reader) I was delighted to have an external food option on this block that wasn't Pizza Pizza or Subway (a thought that seems crazy now considering how much that stretch has transformed, but in 2008 this was the reality), and so visited this then-new Poutini's quite a few times. It was indeed quite a trip realizing after a few minutes: "Hey... I've been in here before..."

 

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Anyhow! PG Clucks doesn't have a complicated menu, even at this "expanded" second location on Queen West. Sneakily, they don't advertise everything they offer on their website... the little side menu of fried jalapeno poppers, mac and cheese balls a little surprise temptation as I arrived. 

Indeed. They do fried things, and mostly chicken at that. While their honey jalapeno sandwich was tempting, I went for the classic signature sandwich, spicy of course.

What we have here is a monstrosity of beautiful proportions: not sure if that is entirely descriptively correct but whatever... there is a lot of everything! Several pickle slices, enough coleslaw to make a cabbage cry sweet vinegar tears while drenched in ranch sauce, and two very (un)healthy portions of breaded and deep fried dark meat chicken. 

Lets break it down as best we can... in comparison to how this sandwich physically breaks down that will be a tall task! 

We'll start with the support staff: this is a terrific white coleslaw with fabulous crunch, wonderful balance of sharpness and creaminess (aided by a terrific ranch dressing... I usually dislike ranch but this is a true exception). The consistent presence of the ranch throughout the sandwich is a key asset. Pickles! One (me) might normally think having both pickles and coleslaw together is a bit of overkill, but here it works because while the slaw absorbs the ranch-creaminess, the pickles provide more of a brine-y punch. Plus, the separate layering (pickles below, slaw above, as you can see in the photo) allows both to breathe in their own space. A small detail but when there's so much of everything in a sandwich it's an excellent conceptual choice. Nicely done. 

The bun has a bit of that potato bun sweetness to it, and while few buns could hold this much stuff without collapsing... the lightness of the potato bun is completely overwhelmed here. That's probably the worst thing I can say about this thing: the bun is merely good. You know you're on the right track when...

As for the chicken... it is dark meat chicken so its natural greasiness adds to the overall drippy mess that is the experience of eating this sandwich. However! You don't get a single overtly fatty bit, or gristle, or anything of such resemblance. Texturally consistent all the way through. 

This still does make the handling a bit more slippery than your typical fried chicken sandwich, but despite the heavy doses of slaw and sauce the breading remains crunchy throughout... giving a bit of a lemony zing on certain bites just for good measure. It's perfectly breaded: not too crunchy were you're getting rocky bits of empty nothing or the whole thing is a dry canyon to eat, and not too light where it slips away entirely. PG Clucks say they brine their chicken meat in a lemon and herb mix for 24 hours and it really shows: it's not an obvious flavour but there is just the right tiniest hint of it to add yet another dimension to this very taste-filled affair. 

I did opt for the spicy option and so I'll quickly describe the level of heat. It's not of the "pants dropping variety" (pardon that unpleasant metaphor) but it is a sneaky grounded spice that will catch you after a few bites. If you can handle your heat to a reasonable degree? Once the sandwich cools, the spice fades more into the background collage of the many other flavours. A good compliment, but easy to adapt to. 

 

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Overall! Geez man. This is one killer fried chicken sandwich. Incredibly delicious, lots of varied flavours, it's huge... there's basically nothing not to like. Plus, no heartbreak! Or heartburn.

I suppose the only critique would be that if you're not a fan of dark meat chicken, this sandwich might not be your jam. The Queen West location also offers a chicken tenders sammy (their white meat option) but nevertheless. An awesome chicken sandwich, real damn good and I can't recommend it enough. Check em out! Make sure to grab napkins though... it is a real messy one. That noble potato bun tries its best but cannot contain the fleeing forces within.  

 

This Week In Star Trek

 

An incredibly fun scene from the episode "I Mudd", you can really tell the actors are having a blast doing it. Who knew that Performance Art was an elective at Starfleet Academy...

 

 

And another! Here's Tim Russ (Tuvok from Voyager) giving his own brief unique synopsis of the original Star Wars...

 

  

Baby Duck Takes Questions

 

If you're a QOTSA fan like myself, Josh Homme recently did a Reddit Ask Me Anything and his responses (all in video form) are worth watching. Plenty of music questions (Homme is famously quite secretive about his gear/setup but his reply to that one is especially lucid and positive), plus at one point he holds an absolutely adorable dog!  

The Reddit thread to all of the questions and replies is right here below: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/qotsa/comments/1bdyk9v/i_are_joshua_homme_here_to_answer_your_questions/

 

Tuesday Tune

 

Since my days at the Drake Hotel are a background part of this particular review, here is a song I always associate with that era of my life when working there. This song took up residence in the walls of the building for at least a summer or winter. Warning: it is extremely catchy so... listen at your own peril.

 

 

That's all for this week! Plenty of good stuff yet to come (hopefully this head cold f's off soon though...). Until next time, stay safe out there, watch out for those killer cars (yes, those killer cars!) but most of all don't spill that mustard.