Cheekan Sando Wars Part Trois

Pouch, why are you still reporting on cheekan sandos? The war is over, bro... It's never over! Didn't you get the message on June 19, 2021? Sorry, I was hiding in the swamps of Texas until Colonel Sanders delivered the news to me... Along with a bucket of original. I don't care, this blog is called Fried Chicken Lips and I can post all the chicken sandos I want... Not that anyone is reading this ludicrous blog. If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? That same concept works here as well... If the Pouch drops a deuce in the toilet, does it make a splash?  Oh, wait, I meant to say- If no one reads this blog, does the Pouch get skinnier? The answer to both is NO obviously, duh. Shit, if I fall in the forest, I ain't getting up... And my Life Alert doesn't have the range to access my Rascal scooter by remote. I'm not as powerful as Professor X to Jedi mind trick my wheels over sticks and stumps. But anyways... We are here to talk about fwied cheekan sandos today, as with any other day. Did I ever mentioned that I like fried chicken?

OK, I promise this will be my last chicken sando war blog post... This year. I can't promise anything for next year. C'mon, Pouch, let's get this shit over with, already...

HOW CRISPY EXPRESS.

The fried chicken experiment from the minds of the Ticonderoga Club crew. They do everything pretty well, so, I expect no less than perfection with their new cheekan joint...

Classic, Nuggies, Yucca Fries. We'll get to the Classic sando in a little bit... First, the Nuggies, they were dark meat and brined. The ultra light dusting of "breading" was nice because you can see the actual size of the chicken and not a pillow of breading like most other joints with a tiny morsel of meat inside. The Nuggies were a bit salty and chewy, may have been brined a little too long. The honey mustard nuggie sauce helped sweeten them a bit going down the pouch. They were decent and not really that crave-worthy but the use of dark meat still gets my respect. The Yucca fries were thick logs with a light crispy crust as well. They were pretty good but still a filler at the end of the day.  

Classic, fried thigh, herby spread, B&B pickles, crispy lettuce, good bun. Looks like a very respectable cheekan sando... Let's take a look at the innards.

Not too shabby... The bun looks great, the chicken thigh looks pretty hefty with a nice crust, priced right at $8 for the classic. Mostly everything on the menu is affordably priced. The crust was thin and crispy but like with the nuggies, the thigh meat was a bit salty and but not as chewy since it was a whole thigh. It's a tasty cheekan sando but not all that crave-worthy. If I was in the area, I would get it again but another one of their flavors like the LPW which sounds interesting in sando form.

JAVA SAGA.

This hidden Taiwanese coffee, tea and chicken joint was quite a surprise. This area off of 85N has a plethora of hidden eats but the locals seem to know all about it since they were all packed. Where there's fried chicken, the Pouch will be there. Taiwanese fried chicken has been all the rave the last few years but has the fad weaned?

Chick Bits, gluten free dark meat chicken nuggets. Everything in this box looked correct except the Smucker's breakfast syrup... I was like WTF, was this put in there by mistake? Then they said, make sure you dip the bits in the syrup for the ultimate umami experience... Who am I to say no to HFCS? It's the weirdest combo but it worked. The ultra sugary syrup made the bits pretty tasty but I was OK with it as is. The nuggets had the signature potato starch crust used in all Taiwanese popcorn chicken. These were very tasty and almost crave-worthy enough for a repeat visit. The fried basil was spot-on.

Basic Chick, sweet pickles & boomin' mango habanero sauce. Not a bad looking specimen at all.. Cheekan flaps flapping out of the sides. Good sign. Let's take a look under the hood...

The mango habanero sauce was a bit scant, but the crust looked pretty well seasoned. 

The crust had the signature potato starch as well... Why mess with a proven recipe? From this angle, this cheekan sando looked formidable. Let's take a look at the innards...

Very very respectable and girthy. This is a good looking sando. Took a bite... Damn. That is a really good cheekan sando. Thin crispy crunch on the first bite and the white meat was tender and juicy and full of flavor. You can only taste a hint of mango habanero sauce but it's so crave-worthy enough that it doesn't even matter. I would be back for this cheekan sando. Oh, and BTW- get the Tiger's Blood Milk Tea to waush it all down.

THREE BUDDIES. 

Even Indian bros on Buford Hwy are getting in on the cheekan sando wars... They might not know which war though... This joint serves pretty much an all American menu like burgers and wings and is located next to Food Terminal but if you blink you will miss it. Every time I drive by it there's barely any customers. I don't know how long they're gonna last but I better get in there and try their cheekan sando before they shut it all down. 

Southern Style Chicken Sando. The glossy bun looked great and I was a bit surprised by how well it was presented on a real plate. Let's take a look under the hood...

Wow, it's full of goodies underneath it like a real southern style chicken sandwich. I'm still impressed.

The innards looked even better. How can this be from an Indian joint? Took a bite... The creamy slaw with the crunch of the crust was a nice pairing. The slaw was a bit bland but the chicken juices made up for it. It was a tender chicken sando. It was a respectable attempt of the fried chicken sando. It was tasty but I don't know if I would come back for it again with so many other tempting cuisines within a stone's throw from this old Waffle House spot. 

SCOVILLE HOT CHICKEN.

This local chain from the Okiboru Tsukemen and Ramen crew have been reproducing faster than a rabbit in heat. They got 7 locations all over Atlanta and 1 in NYC with 3 more coming to Chamblee, Norcross and Peachtree City. Rapid expansions with resto groups in Atlanta have had a history of high failure rate. I've been to a couple of them and now, I'm trying the newer one in Decatur. I did not like the bait and switch scam at the original Sandy Springs one where they have a combo deal for $10 painted on the wall but when you went to order it on the screen, it was $12. I ain't falling for that scam, again, bro... I'm coming here strictly for this review to see if they have gotten better or worse with their rapid expansion.

 

Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich topped with coleslaw, Comeback sauce, and pickles. Hot Level. I have tried the Extra Hot which was a bit wet from the sauce and the Reaper which was a bit powdery from the Reaper rub, both were not as hot as I thought. Sometimes the regular hot level has more heat than the advertised spicier levels. This is not a bad looking chicken sando full of creamy goodies leaking out the sides. Mmm, Pouch, you sure have a way with words that makes a person salivate with anticipation.

This even surprised me... Look how thick that breastses is. It looks good and it checks off all the boxes for a classic cheekan sando but I wasn't feeling it after the 3rd date with this chick. It wasn't hot at all but it was totally edible. I was just kinda going through the motions bite after bite like I was in a trance, but it was merely to satisfy my hungry at the time. I don't think I will be going back for another at $10 a pop. I can get 2 1/2 Popeyes cheekan sandos for that amount and it doesn't make me cry myself to sleep afterwards.

Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich. Chill Level. Looks exactly the fucking same as the hot but with no seasoning whatsoever.

It's visually appealing but that's about it. It's pretty much a standard run of the mill chicken sando nowadays. I'm getting tired of looking at it and eating it as well. This schtick has gotten tiresome. Nothing crave-worthy about this anymore.

HOOTS RIGHTEOUS WINGS.

There must be a lot of sad and lonely mooks out there all cooped up in their single wide who had Hooters on their regular rotation since this whole COVID thing started... But have no fear, mossbacks, Hooters just launched their mini spinoff called Hoots Righteous Wings in da ATL for all of y'all's greasy feed needs. Who am I kidding? Let's face it, these lonely and obeast losers weren't going to Hooters for their award winning cuisine... This was their go-to joint where they could pretend to be on a date with a halfway decent looking broad in a skimpy outfit... And yet here I am. No wonder why I cry myself to sleep every night. 

I must say, Hooters, haven't exactly been attracting the highest caliber of talent these days... It's like half the skanks have KIDs and the other half have STDs... But both will tell you they are studying to be a nurse because they love helping people... To me, they're both extra baggage that I don't need in my life right now or ever... Because I see my excess baggage in the mirror every morning. And I wonder why I'm so fucking fat with eating food like this...     

Sweet Heat Chicken Sandwich, breaded chicken thigh topped with superfoods slaw, pickles, and heat-infused honey. Jesus, this looks like a vegan regurgitated their lunch and dinner at the same time... Let's clean this up and close the hood...

Ahh, that looks a lot better... Gotta admit the crust looks pretty damn crispy and tasty. It's a pretty hefty cheekan sando. The crust was a bit thicker but still had a nice crunch. There were no sweet nor heat detected but they are using thigh meat, so, respect. I wouldn't go out of my way for another but if I was near one by chance I may stop in for another... And get extra hot sauce to drown it in.

I also got some sides to go with my cheekan sando... Don't judge.

Original Breaded Wings 10 pcs. Reaper sauce, Hot Honey sauce.

Fried Pickles.

Kids Boneless Wings Meal, Meyer lemon seasoning, sweet potato waffle fries, everything bagel seasoning

3 Piece Tenders.

CUCKOO'S CAFE.

There are no shortage of Taiwanese tea and snack shops all around Atlanta. Seems like they are popping up a new one on a daily basis. Is this concept even sustainable with all the competition? Who knows, who cares... If this one bites the dust, there's another 50 around the corner. 

 

Cuckoo's Chicken Sandwich. This looked sad as fuck. This almost made Micky D's chicken sando look respectable... Almost. It was missing the pickled slaw... Consistency in most restos these days are so fucking bad that I don't even make a fuss anymore because they just don't give a fuck. The crust was nice and crispy but the chicken thigh was so under seasoned that the spicy orange jizzy sauce made no difference to it. That smashed up sesame bun looked like it came out of a thong while some heifer was twerking. What a fucking waste of time and money.

Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets. OK, these looked pretty good... Will these nugs redeem that sad sack of shit sando? I sure fucking hope so... Took a bite and not too shabby. It was crispy and juicy and seasoned decently... It coulda been a bit more spicier but it'll do. These nugs were 100 times better than the chix sando but not crave-worthy enough to go back for them... Ever. 

I also had a couple bubble teas and they were pretty average. Quickly still has the best Taiwanese nuggets but goto Tea Leaf for the bubble teas.

BLUE RIBBON GRILL.

I didn't even know this old local standby in Tucker had chicken skin in the game. Everybody and their gmilfs are getting into the fowl sando action. I like to come to this yokel joint when I feel depressed to people watch and to imbibe on their giant martini's. After watching the local slobs shovel the gruel into their toothless faceholes, I threw up a little bit in my mouth and then my cheekan sando came out. I had to wait a few minzies and downed 2 Manhattan martinis to regain my appetite... Ok, I lied, I never lost my appetite, I'm just an alchie. I can eat no matter what, I once ate a dirty water dog in front of a homeless creasture taking a muddy shit on St. Mark's Place, in front of the Dallas BBQ... I guess he found some bad brisket in the dumpster. Ok, enough talk about the NYC Brunswick stew... Let's take a look at the BRG chicken soldier in this fowl war...

Southern Chicken Sandwich. It's a plump looking chicken sando... Prolly because of the thick bun. The crust looked crispy and the breast flap looked pretty moist. I don't know if this could be considered a "Southern" chix sando because it looked like any old chicken sandwich from anywhere, USA... But it was quite tasty. A little squirt of hot sauce gave it the necessary kick it desperately required. But not a bad overall cheekan sando. Would I get another one? Probably not. Their chicken pot pie is just too good to pass up. 

Since, this posting, I have eaten another 3 cheekan sandos but I don't have the energy to add it to this post. I have gotten so fat after eating all these fwied yardbird sandos and my buxom fingers are too bloated and glistening like those dericious Japanese sausages you get at an Izakaya... If I type anymore my digits may explode like a juicy aribiki prok sausage. I'm starting to get kinda hungry staring at my plump piggies... It's just a vicious cycle with the bottomless chasm that is known as the Pouch.

Squirt.