RENEGADE CHICKEN - Ottawa On (Hunt Club)

Over the last year, two particular food trends have become apparent in these parts: chicken joints and ghost kitchens. I don't know if their proliferation is due to COVID or was going to happen anyway, but on the take-out/delivery circuit it's become unavoidable.

Renegade Chicken is both of those trends merged together. I was excited when I first came across them on social media; I like chicken, I like the name "Renegade", and I like that they had wings. At first I thought it was a local place, but their branding game was strong. Curious about what was going on with them, I did some research and found they are all across Ontario, but no dine-in location. An address check revealed them to be a ghost kitchen out of Jack Astor's. Now I'm a fan of Jack Astor's as a chain restaurant. I especially love their Buffalo chicken fingers. So I was down to try them. Renegade claims they treat their chicken right which made them also appealing:

"Our chicken is always Canadian-raised and antibiotic free, sustainably farmed, never frozen and marinated for a minimum of 24 hours before it’s hand-dipped, fried and tossed in our signature secret blend of seasonings. We’re also a proud scratch kitchen. We bring in fresh, whole ingredients and anything we can make from scratch, we do–from our sauces & seasonings to our fresh buns that we bake in-house daily."

One weekend we were looking for delivery ideas, my wife came across a deal on UberEats: Buy one of Renegade Chicken's sandwiches, get a second for free. I think the delivery fee was free (or really low) so we were set. We also got a wing combo and an extra side. 

After about 40 minutes our meal was at our doorstep. It came in a big paper bag, stacked with food. On top were some napkins, some dips, and a large package of anti-bacterial wipes; a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

One thing I liked about Renegade Chicken was the packaging: the containers were all compostable cardboard clamshells and cardboard cup. The sticker to seal them maybe not so much.

When we ordered the sandwiches, we had the choice of Regular, Buffalo Dill, Nashville Hot, or Renegade (which wasn't really explained but seems to be more of a BBQ sauced sandwich). Each is topped just slightly differently. 

We thought we would get the Nashville 1) because we like Nashville Hot Chicken and 2) because we were already getting Buffalo wings so the Buffalo Dill would be redundant. Regular was too plain and Renegade too much of a chance. The Nashville Hot came in the sandwich sized clamshell, but was also wrapped and well labeled inside. That's a lot of packaging.

When I opened mine up, it was a mess. There was shredded iceberg lettuce coming out everywhere. There was so much lettuce and even a near-core part. It did hold up to the delivery trip and wasn't that warm/soggy which was a good thing.

The bread was really fresh and soft. There was lots of the Cool Ranch sauce, which could have just been mayo, but it was creamy and tasty. There were some crinkle cut dill pickles, and then the Nashville Hot chicken. The chicken was hot (temp), crispy, tender, and sauced up well. 

This was a really good sandwich; fresh, flavourful, and textures I love. It reminded me of an elevated Burger King Chicken Sandwich (which I actually really like). Flavours were balanced between the spice, the creamy, the crunchy, the sweet/sour pickles. The downside was that the Nashville Hot didn't taste like Nashville Hot. Like really at all. Just a slightly spicy chicken sandwich. But it was good.

LJ wanted the Mac & Cheese - a side was $2.99. It says it comes with "asiago, cheddar, cream" and topped with shredded cheddar (which was just melted by the time it got to us). This was a creamy mac. Super creamy, like a paste. I wasn't a fan (I didn't hate it, but I'm never crazy about Mac & Cheese) but LJ really liked it. It just seemed plain to me.

Inside the large clamshell were the wings, the 1lb of fries, 3 dips, and some pickles.

The fries are clearly Jack Astor's type of fries: fake fresh-cut fries with the skins on and are skinny. I say fake because I'm pretty sure they come frozen with the skins on and then fried in house. I like them though. Actually I like them for dipping not so much to eat on their own. I had asked for an extra Ranch for dipping, which they gave, and I love their ranch.

We also got 2 other dips to try out: Sambal Aioli and Smokey BBQ. The Sambal Aioli was a creamy sauce that actually tasted like their ranch and a blue cheese mixed together, with just a little chili. It was good, but I wouldn't get it again. The Smokey BBQ tasted like a mix of Bulls Eye and Jack Daniel BBQ sauce ... it was ok but again I would pass on it next time.

As mentioned above, the wings came in the container with the fries, dips and pickle. Oh the pickles were tart, but also sweet. A little too sweet to be a real dill. It worked on the sandwich but I didn't love them solo. 

The wings come in a breading/batter that is thin and kept the wings semi-crispy. The wings were lightly  pre-tossed in sauce but also came with a container of sauce to really make them saucy.  In the above photo you can see a wing that wasn't very saucy, that I then re-dipped in the sauce at the bottom of the container. 

The size of the wings were about a medium in length, but they were pretty meaty. The chicken itself was really tender and there was no issue of pulling the bones apart.

You can see how the wings first arrived before adding the extra sauce. The wings were just ever so wet, but mostly dry, with some sauce resting at the bottom. These wings tasted good as is, but retained some crispiness during transport. But I appreciate they sent reinforcements.

Jack Astor's makes a great Buffalo sauce, which means Renegade Chicken makes a great Buffalo sauce. In restaurant, Jack Astor's bring the freshly fried wings to your table and they sauce and toss like some fancy restaurant. I didn't recreate that exactly but I did sauce those wings up nicely. 

The sauce is creamy and orange in colour. It has a big buttery flavour that is almost too rich. I went with their Hot and let me tell you, this is a true hot sauce. It's not killer, but it has a kick and a bite the way a hot should.

FINAL SCORE:

I am down for Renegade Chicken. The sides are ok, but the chicken, the main show, is where it's at. The sandwich was good: fresh, crispy, soft, tangy, spicy. It hit all the right texture and taste notes. The wings were also good. Not as big as I would like, but a nice coating, great texture, and deliciously decadent Buffalo sauce. Would order from them again, especially with deals like BOGO. 10/14

Renegade Chicken

310 West Hunt Club Road, Ottawa ON (and other locations)

renegadechicken.ca