Slim Chickens
Slim Chickens portrays itself as an authentic Arkansas originating, Delta dwelling chicken joint. It prides itself in “southern hospitality” with promotion of such ethos on every other wall. The look and feel of the outlet is modern fast food-esque with the self serve screens on entry, however, the seating feels more like a restaurant with food mainly delivered to your table. In addition, drinks and condiments/utensils are self service, bar their house dipping sauces bought and brought with your order. I will admit, they do remove that fast food place feeling once seated in their décor and setting, similar to how Nando’s does in its fast casual ways.
As the name might suggest, Slim Chickens serve all things chicken. Now chicken at times may not be overcomplicated, a piece of good fried chicken does not require a great deal to make it a good piece of fried chicken. But I do believe that a purveyor of chicken has to have a accompaniment or flavour booster of some kind. KFC to use an example have their infamous yet secret 11 herbs and spices. And in the UK, KFC also have a chicken gravy that is lauded over (other international KFC gravies may vary). In Slim Chickens case its their sauces that are, I believe, intended to be their unique selling point, what makes the customer come back time and again.
Slim Chickens offer a whopping 14 dipping sauces which can be seen below:
It’s nice to see some American house favourites like Ranch and Honey Mustard, some spice options, a little originality and innovation in Inferno and Slim Sauce, but in all honesty I found the sauces to be lacklustre, though I didn’t try them all. In all I tried (don’t judge me) Blue Cheese, Buffalo, Cayenne Ranch, Garlic Cheese, Gravy Mayo, House Ranch, Korean BBQ, and Spicy BBQ. Of these the only sauce that stood out to me was the Spicy BBQ which I got on their wings. It had right amounts tang, smack, and heat. But otherwise the Blue Cheese resembled just that without any new perspective, Buffalo fell a little flat on the sandwich you can see below. The Garlic Cheese didn’t pack punch of either of its name’s sake, the Gravy Mayo tasted Christmas-y if that’s at all possible, and the Korean BBQ wasn’t sure what it was trying to be. Both Ranch sauces had the base right, the buttermilk came through in particular, but similar to most of the sauces they didn’t hit you right in the tongue like sauces should. Might I add that any additional sauces dependent on meal come at extra cost.
Hot Buffalo Sandwich meal with Garlic Cheese and Cayenne Ranch sauce
This brings me to the chicken itself. Slim Chickens goes simplistic, no fuss breading (apart from what appears to be speckles of black pepper) cooked without dryness, tender and relatively moist. But without sauce the chicken is pretty basic, and with the sauce hitting with mediocrity one starts to wonder that whether the price to pay is entirely warranted and whether one’s wallet should bear the cost. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t wow. You can crave KFC gravy, a Big Mac from McDonald’s, or the like, but my experience didn’t leave a lasting impression that made me feel as if I will crave a Slim Chickens anytime soon. To compare I still crave Popeye’s sauces (which are free) and chicken to this day, and I haven’t had them for probably 5 years since they are as faraway as the Midwest USA.
Chick’s (3 Tenders) Meal with added Korean BBQ wings and Texas Toast
I have to say I’m disappointed, because although I wrote about KFC, I feel we’re due a much better chain attempt at the Southern favourite. But we’re back to square one. I would say instead of spending your hard-earned cash in somewhere like Slim Chickens, spend local instead and try one of the wonderful street food outlets dotted all over NI at the moment. They are doing extraordinary things with the basic concept, particularly in their sauces and those should instead be experienced.
