KFC Wicked Crunch Combo review

"Oh man that's hot!"

So after watching the commercials and driving past various KFC, I finally broke down and tried KFC's Wicked Crunch Combo. (See previous blog posts to see the commercials). Driving on the way back to Ottawa, LJ and I needed to grab some grub for lunch, and with few choices and a curiosity to see if the fire eater in the video was a wimp or not, we decided to stop for chicken.


The difficulty in reviewing a chain is the difference in quality. In theory, franchise restaurants are supposed to offer dependable, expected and often factory made food so that the consumer can get the same quality of fast food experience no matter where in the world they are. This particular KFC was not on my tops list. Not particularly clean, with a teenage staff who while friendly, spent most of their time loudly talking with friends (and former KFC employees from their banter) than on making the chickens cook on time. Sure we were the only people in line, but their hearts certainly weren't in their jobs (and I guess I can't blame them).

LJ ordered just the hot wings combo, and I went for the Wicked Crunch Combo (WC sandwich, fries, side salad, 3 hot wings, and a drink). Would it be Wicked? Would it have me saying "oh man that's hot!" ???

2008 THE SCORE 3.0: KFC Wicked Crunch Combo

STYLE:	Breaded hot wings, spicy crunch sandwich
PRICE:	$4.99 for 5 $8.99 for 10 $16.99 for 20 Wicked Crunch Combo $6.29
SAUCES:	1	0
HEAT:	Nothing
SIZE:	Small wings, big sandwich	0.5/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	Sauceless wing . . . so no sauce . . . but KFC greasy . . .	n/a
CRISPINESS:	Crispy and crunchy	3/3
FLAVOUR:	Little flavour to wings, but sandwich was tasty	1/3
SIDES:	Fries, side salad and a drink	3/3
CLEAN UP:	Napkins and wetnaps	2/2
WING NIGHT:	None but a decent combo as it is	n/a
OTHER:	Free refills on drinks. . .
TOTAL:	Disappointing wings, but sandwich wasn’t bad	9.5/14*

The wings were disappointingly small. Sure there was generous batter that created a wing that was certainly crunchy, but the chicken itself was overcooked, leading to a dry taste. Lots of crispy batter baked in with various spices, it could have been good.

What really let these wings down was the sauce. Or lack thereof. Ok I know they are sauceless wings, and that the heat is 'baked' in already, but the spices used were just not hot. At all. I can respect a dry hot wing if it can pack a punch, bu these wings packed nothing. Not that I'm taken in by a lot of commercials, but the first one where the guy yelps after each wing is a total wimp. I had high hopes.

I moved onto the sandwich. First, it was a mouth full. Big, crunchy coated piece of chicken breast. Add some shredded lettuce, mayo and hot sauce, and you got yourself the chicken crunch sandwich. But supposedly, the chicken seasoning tagged with the hot sauce makes this a 'wicked' hot burger. Not so my friends, not so. Like the wings, there was a faint heat in there, but nothing the wimpiest of wimps couldn't handle. It was a good chicken burger with a nice taste, but the fire-eater in the commercial was waaaaaaaaaaay off. Thanks for nothing jerk.

FINAL SCORE: So the wings were small, weak in heat but salty good. The Wicked Crunch was crunchy, but not wicked. Oh, the fries were terrible (overcooked for sure) and the macaroni salad that i used to love so much when I was young is now white (where was that creamy yellowish macaroni) and bland. At least the Pepsi was crisp and cold. If you really want a spicy sandwich - try Wendy's Spicy Baconator, it really does walk the walk in heat. 9.5/14*

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