Hello everybody! I am so sorry that it has been sort of quiet here on the tender front. In case anybody was wondering, I do have other things going on in my life besides eating chicken tenders. I have been rather busy and haven't gotten a chance to post here lately. But alas, here I am and I am finally ready to give my thoughts on some chicken tenders.
A week ago today I was able to try the chicken tenders at Olive Garden. I was out of town in Manhattan, Kansas, so I wasn't in full Double Tender mode. I did take some notes of my findings though. It is because of this that my review of OG's tenders will be a mini review. I didn't take any pictures either, so please bare with my mind. I will try my best to extricate my thoughts from a week ago.
As I am sure most of you are aware, Olive Garden is not known for it's chicken tenders. They deal mainly with Italian foods and such. That did not stop me from searching high and low on their menu looking for signs of tenders. Thankfully though someone very dear to me who works there gave me some tips. She told me that there are chicken tenders in the appetizer section. Excited, and ready to put my mouth on OG's tenders, I ordered the 3-choice appetizer. I chose calamari, fried zucchini, and chicken tenders. This put a dent of $10.75 in my wallet (pre-tax/tip).
Once I received my platter the first thing that I noticed was that there were only 3 chicken tenders on my plate. I didn't expect very much since this was an appetizer plate, but only 3?! What if I wanted to share my tenders with other people? I would have to split them like 10 different ways. In addition to the tenders, there were my other two choices and marinara and peppercorn ranch sauce.
True to my methods, I tried eating the tenders without any sauce. I was very wary because these tenders looked like they had been frozen in an igloo and then set outside in the sun to thaw. They were light brown with some tiny speckalage. My teeth broke through what looked like a dead fish wrapped in a tiny brown coat, except that the fish had no tail. The white meat was tender, but it did not taste that great at all. I knew without a doubt that if these tenders had any hope, it would be with the sauce. I first tried dipping a tender in the red marinara sauce. The taste improved but my satisfaction level did not. I tried the peppercorn ranch dip as well, and this only slightly helped. Even with a name like peppercorn, these tenders could not be eaten with much enjoyment.
As I said before, Olive Garden is not known for its tenders, but I still decided to give them a try to see if they are even worth getting. My final answer? Do not get these chicken tenders. If you do get the appetizer plate, get anything but the chicken tenders. You can get better chicken tenders in the frozen food aisle at any grocery story. I would only get these tenders if there were no options at all anywhere in the vicinity. But even I, Double Tender, would rather order something else than ruin my mouth with these tenders. Even though this is a mini review, I give these tenders a final score of 1. Only 1.0.
Olive Garden, if you ever want Double Tender to enjoy your tenders, you will need to put WAY more effort into making them instead of buying them from Jewel Osco. I know that sounds harsh, but it is reality. I want for you to have delicious tenders. I want for them to be so crispy and succulent and a joy to gnash upon. I want tenders everywhere to taste amazing, but that will never happen. That is why I have taken it upon myself to discover where the best tenders are hidden. That is my mission.
I was able to try Red Robin's chicken tenders last Friday, so I will be posting a full review of them very soon. Stay tuned for that, and thank you for sharing in my love of chicken tenders. I hope that you have a crisptastic afternoon. It is beautiful outside here in tendertown, and I hope that it is nice near you. Tenderize!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Twitter - Double Tender Has Arrived
So I decided to create a Twitter account. I have never used one before so it should be interesting. Maybe now I will discover what all the fuss is about. I have been told that I say ridiculous things, but I'm not sure how that will come out of my brain and onto Twitter. One thing I do know, I can/will/perhaps/i don't know/maybe? share live tweets of my chicken tender journeys or whatever is on my mind. I already have a few posts there. I don't have any followers, and I'm not following anybody, so I'm kind of existing inside of my own head still. If you want to find out what is on my mind, know when I post a new review, or anything else completely random you should follow me. There is my shameless self promotion. That's all I gots.
http://twitter.com/doubletender
Double Tender out!
http://twitter.com/doubletender
Double Tender out!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Buffalo Wild Wings - I Grew Chicken Feathers Today
I had the opportunity to review some more chicken tenders today. I had no idea that I would, and it was an extremely pleasant surprise! My mother called me up and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with her and her co-workers. My mom is the greatest mom in the world. Without a doubt. She is a nurse, and she works with some amazing nurses. Two of them came along with us on my journey. I don't know about you, but nurses are pretty awesome. They deserve more praise for what they do. Go nurses!
After finding out about these new lunch plans, I was super excited. It was decided that we would go to Buffalo Wild Wings. My mind started to go crazy. I would get to eat chicken tenders again! The last time was Friday night. Usually there is a bigger gap between the time I get to digest those delicious tenders.
Now, I have been to Buffalo Wild Wings before and eaten their tenders, but I've never sat down and microscopically investigated their crispy tenderness. I was prepared this time though with my trusty Chicken Tender Diary in hand. Below is how I grew my chicken feathers:
Location: Buffalo Wild Wings in Warrenville, IL
Name of Item in Menu: 5 Chicken Tenders with fries and drink lunch combo
Price: $7.99 (before tax/tip)
Once served -->
Since the name of these chicken tenders in the menu was 5 chicken tenders, I pretty much knew how many chicken tenders I was going to get. Thankfully I did get 5 once I was served. I would have been sad if there were only 4 there or something. Having 4 tenders doesn't seem right. It needs to be a more powerful number. These tenders were elevated on a basket platter, much like the one from Famous Dave's. In fact, it could probably be the same basket thingy they were so similar. On this basket was a nice piece of paper with tiny little buffalo roaming on it. My tenders felt very safe. The buffalo were protecting them and making sure that nothing could get to them besides my fingers.
These tenders had a nice girthyness to them. They were thick and meaty, but smaller. Compared to IHOP, these tenders looked like they had been taken care of. There was nothing fishy going on with them. They looked very well prepared. They had a nice dark brownish color to them, mixed in with some spice dots. In addition to the tenders, I got some fries that dangled next to the tenders. My sauce sat in the corner awaiting instructions.
Once Eaten-->
I took a bite of a tender without the sauce. My mind went to eleven. I felt like I was in space traveling through hyper speed. Chewbacca moaned and I glanced over at him and smiled. This was AMAZING. Without the sauce, this tender exploded in my mouth with flavor. The texture was perfect. The spices were perfect. The white meat was perfect. The heat was perfect. In a word, it was perfect. Like one commenter asked me, I think this tender was the closest taste of a heavenly chicken tender I have experienced. I didn't even want to try the sauce. I just kept eating. It was that good. So I ate a whole tender without the sauce. After that I decided to begin the dippage.
Now, I was a little confused as to which sauce the waitress actually gave me. I ordered honey BBQ and mild, but only got one sauce. It had a good kick to it, so I'm guessing it was one of their basic sauces. Maybe someone can tell me. Either way, I loved the sauce too. After dipping my tender in the sauce, I wanted to keep doing it. The sauce added an even more intense level to this already phenomenal tender. Since there was a little kick, my mouth region burned with intensity for the duration of my meal. It was like there was a war going on in my mouth. There was such fierceness. I liked it though. My sinuses got a good workout. This helped ward off the cold I was recovering from too.
It was so easy and pleasurable to eat these chicken tenders. They went down my throat tube with such ease that I barely felt like I was eating. But I was, and I was eating such good tenders that my mind couldn't believe it. Can there really be a chicken tender out there better than this, I thought? Surely I can't have hit the pinnacle of my journey already. Regardless, here are my ratings for Bdub a wub na dub.
Name of Item (2) - BORING. 5 chicken tenders? Seriously? Spice it up a bit Bdubs. I know you called them tempting tenders or something on part of the menu, but c'mon. Get more creative and use your namesake. Call em' wild or something.
Display (4) - I loved having my tenders protected by the elevated buffalo. They were so adorable and tiny sitting there on the piece of paper. My tenders were also arranged nicely and I wanted to eat them immediately.
Texture (5) - Perfect blend of perfection in a perfectly shaped tenderized white meat chunk that my mouth engulfed with joy. Easy to crunch into and no issues with the tenders getting down my throat.
Taste (5) - With or without the sauce, I was happy to shove these tenders in my mouth. I could not believe how amazing they tasted. I wish I could've eaten 6 instead of 5.
Fun Factor (5) - Obviously since my brain was in chicken tender heaven on earth, I was having a great time. Again, seeing those little buffalo made me smile. I liked them. I also had a lot of fun eating with my mother and her amazing co-worker-nurses.
Overall (5) - I would rate this a 5.5, but I need to stick with my scale for now. Basically, I loved these even more than Famous Dave's, and those were GOOD too. That just gives you an idea of how great these tenders were. I would highly recommend these tenders to anyone. Highly. Like, get over to Bdubs right now and eat them. Seriously. You will not be disappointed. If you are, then I don't think you really love chicken tenders. But everyone is entitled to their own taste buds. In my mind I want to believe that everyone will enjoy them.
And there you have it. My 3rd review. I'm already starting to get some requests in for places to visit. I totally want to go to all of them, but obviously it will take some time (and money) to make those journeys. But make them I will. Yoda told me that. He's a cool guy. I have some exciting ideas for the future of Double Tender as well. The possibilities are limitless. For now though, I, Double Tender, bid you farewell. Have a peaceful night that is filled with laughter and crunching on chicken tenders. May the tender be with you.
After finding out about these new lunch plans, I was super excited. It was decided that we would go to Buffalo Wild Wings. My mind started to go crazy. I would get to eat chicken tenders again! The last time was Friday night. Usually there is a bigger gap between the time I get to digest those delicious tenders.
Now, I have been to Buffalo Wild Wings before and eaten their tenders, but I've never sat down and microscopically investigated their crispy tenderness. I was prepared this time though with my trusty Chicken Tender Diary in hand. Below is how I grew my chicken feathers:
Location: Buffalo Wild Wings in Warrenville, IL
Name of Item in Menu: 5 Chicken Tenders with fries and drink lunch combo
Price: $7.99 (before tax/tip)
Once served -->
 |
| There were tiny little buffalo camped around my tenders |
Since the name of these chicken tenders in the menu was 5 chicken tenders, I pretty much knew how many chicken tenders I was going to get. Thankfully I did get 5 once I was served. I would have been sad if there were only 4 there or something. Having 4 tenders doesn't seem right. It needs to be a more powerful number. These tenders were elevated on a basket platter, much like the one from Famous Dave's. In fact, it could probably be the same basket thingy they were so similar. On this basket was a nice piece of paper with tiny little buffalo roaming on it. My tenders felt very safe. The buffalo were protecting them and making sure that nothing could get to them besides my fingers.
These tenders had a nice girthyness to them. They were thick and meaty, but smaller. Compared to IHOP, these tenders looked like they had been taken care of. There was nothing fishy going on with them. They looked very well prepared. They had a nice dark brownish color to them, mixed in with some spice dots. In addition to the tenders, I got some fries that dangled next to the tenders. My sauce sat in the corner awaiting instructions.
Once Eaten-->
I took a bite of a tender without the sauce. My mind went to eleven. I felt like I was in space traveling through hyper speed. Chewbacca moaned and I glanced over at him and smiled. This was AMAZING. Without the sauce, this tender exploded in my mouth with flavor. The texture was perfect. The spices were perfect. The white meat was perfect. The heat was perfect. In a word, it was perfect. Like one commenter asked me, I think this tender was the closest taste of a heavenly chicken tender I have experienced. I didn't even want to try the sauce. I just kept eating. It was that good. So I ate a whole tender without the sauce. After that I decided to begin the dippage.
Now, I was a little confused as to which sauce the waitress actually gave me. I ordered honey BBQ and mild, but only got one sauce. It had a good kick to it, so I'm guessing it was one of their basic sauces. Maybe someone can tell me. Either way, I loved the sauce too. After dipping my tender in the sauce, I wanted to keep doing it. The sauce added an even more intense level to this already phenomenal tender. Since there was a little kick, my mouth region burned with intensity for the duration of my meal. It was like there was a war going on in my mouth. There was such fierceness. I liked it though. My sinuses got a good workout. This helped ward off the cold I was recovering from too.
It was so easy and pleasurable to eat these chicken tenders. They went down my throat tube with such ease that I barely felt like I was eating. But I was, and I was eating such good tenders that my mind couldn't believe it. Can there really be a chicken tender out there better than this, I thought? Surely I can't have hit the pinnacle of my journey already. Regardless, here are my ratings for Bdub a wub na dub.
Name of Item (2) - BORING. 5 chicken tenders? Seriously? Spice it up a bit Bdubs. I know you called them tempting tenders or something on part of the menu, but c'mon. Get more creative and use your namesake. Call em' wild or something.
Display (4) - I loved having my tenders protected by the elevated buffalo. They were so adorable and tiny sitting there on the piece of paper. My tenders were also arranged nicely and I wanted to eat them immediately.
Texture (5) - Perfect blend of perfection in a perfectly shaped tenderized white meat chunk that my mouth engulfed with joy. Easy to crunch into and no issues with the tenders getting down my throat.
Taste (5) - With or without the sauce, I was happy to shove these tenders in my mouth. I could not believe how amazing they tasted. I wish I could've eaten 6 instead of 5.
Fun Factor (5) - Obviously since my brain was in chicken tender heaven on earth, I was having a great time. Again, seeing those little buffalo made me smile. I liked them. I also had a lot of fun eating with my mother and her amazing co-worker-nurses.
Overall (5) - I would rate this a 5.5, but I need to stick with my scale for now. Basically, I loved these even more than Famous Dave's, and those were GOOD too. That just gives you an idea of how great these tenders were. I would highly recommend these tenders to anyone. Highly. Like, get over to Bdubs right now and eat them. Seriously. You will not be disappointed. If you are, then I don't think you really love chicken tenders. But everyone is entitled to their own taste buds. In my mind I want to believe that everyone will enjoy them.
And there you have it. My 3rd review. I'm already starting to get some requests in for places to visit. I totally want to go to all of them, but obviously it will take some time (and money) to make those journeys. But make them I will. Yoda told me that. He's a cool guy. I have some exciting ideas for the future of Double Tender as well. The possibilities are limitless. For now though, I, Double Tender, bid you farewell. Have a peaceful night that is filled with laughter and crunching on chicken tenders. May the tender be with you.
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