KFC Review – Westmoreland Street, Dublin, Ireland – 14/07/22
Summary
Chicken 15/20
Sides 7/10
Service 7/10
Magic 8/10
Total 37/50
The story
Dublin is a city close to my heart. A global hub for literature, drinking, and rugby, it’s always ticked a lot of boxes in my books. Two areas that the city has always been sadly lacking in however, are both its quantity of KFC restaurants and the quality of those restaurants’ output. Having spent a bit of time there in the past, I’ve sampled near every outlet in the city, and have even at times even been tempted to agreeing with the locals that the favourite in the bog, SuperMac’s, is the superior offering. Just to be crystal clear, I have never given in to this temptation.
After a covid enforced break of a few years from the city, my better half and I went for a vigorous morning walk along the coast of the beautiful Irish sea to build up a suitable hunger for the good stuff. We then visited the newest, and at my previous visit the best, KFC in town to put our critical faculties to good use and see how the best of Dublin could stand up to the rest of the world so far.
The order
There were a good few local delicacies on offer, so we went a little beyond the usual choices to get a sense of the beating heart of a Dublin KFC. We got a 2-piece quarter pack, a tenders combo, two gravys, a tub of baked beans (you read that right), and a pottle of sweet chilli chicken pieces.
This all came to the outrageously expensive price of $47.71. At the time of writing that’s 32 euro, which is daylight robbery now that I think about it. In fairness to Westmoreland Street KFC, I did accidentally pay this on my Australian Card so I’m sure the bank also abused me in the transaction. But all the same, consider me scandalised.
This all came to the outrageously expensive price of $47.71. At the time of writing that’s 32 euro, which is daylight robbery now that I think about it. In fairness to Westmoreland Street KFC, I did accidentally pay this on my Australian Card so I’m sure the bank also abused me in the transaction. But all the same, consider me scandalised.
Chicken –15/20
There was a lot to like in KFC Westmoreland Street’s chicken, but also a few pitfalls to be aware of.
To start from the positive and work my way down, them tendies were worth logging out of WoW for. Shaped like terrifying piece of space detritus (don’t forget), crisped to perfection, and succulent on the inside, they were everything that a chicken tender should be.
The pieces of original recipe are the fulcrum and the most consistent menu offering restaurant to restaurant. Westmoreland Street was no exception. I was blessed to receive a baseball and a wing piece. The wing piece had such a large chunk of breast meat on it that the chicken who donated it must have been the talk of the town when it was still alive. The pieces were well cooked and tasted better than a beer on a hot day. The only slight downside was that the coating was a little pasty in the wing crevasse. Not a crippling weakness but definitely a diversion from perfection.
If the original recipe pieces were slightly diverted from perfection, the sweet chilli chunks were absolutely sundered from decency. The pieces themselves were a nugget / popcorn chicken hybrid that could have been okish if they weren’t lathered in an abysmal excuse for sweet chilli sauce. All sweet and no chilli, the sauce amounted to a Fanta jus. Unfortunately for both of us this insult to the Colonel significantly reduced both my enjoyment of the chicken and KFC Westmoreland Street’s chicken score.
Sides – 7/10
As we all know the new experiences afforded by travel offer the ability to significantly broaden the mind. If you’d told about baked beans at a KFC while I was in Australia, I’d scoff at you. But there in the flesh I opened my mind to the exotic treat. Unfortunately, they weren’t very good. Not terrible either, but definitely not warranting their inclusion on the menu. They had a tomato sauce with a hint of BBQ added, absolutely unnecessarily, just to sweeten it up some more.
The chips were an unpeeled, hand cut deal. If they cost 10 more dollars you could bloody near call them artisanal. As such, I was very prepared to turn my nose up at them. But to my pleasant surprise they were, in and of themselves, not bad at all. The skins gave them a nice little bit of extra grist. They were unfortunately also entirely unseasoned. The idea is to be healthier but if you’re heading to KFC and looking to cut down on the old salt intake you want your head read.
The gravy was quite disappointing. While the texture was thick and consistent, as with in Venice, I suspect that the gravy was more granule than chicken grease which is obviously a disappointment. A heavier dose of pepper in there too than anywhere else I’ve sampled to date.
Finally, to drink we had sparkling water. This was a real innovation and something that KFC Westmoreland Street got a lot of marks for. It’s a simple addition but it gives you that help to get through the grease and cleanse the pallet without smacking you with a dose of dreaded dental decay.
Service – 7/10
I was cajoled into using a touch screen to order. As regular readers will know this isn’t a favourite of mine because it removes your ability to specify. That said, the food was ready at warp speed which made up for the grubby interface I had to paw at.
Magic – 8/10
KFC Westmoreland Street had one of most grim bathrooms I’ve ever been in, potentially the worst if we’re limiting it to times when I’ve been sober. You will note that I’m going with grim rather than foul. The bathroom reminded me quite a lot of the dungeon that you start in in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion. It had some sort of secret entrance that needed to be navigated and a Dwemer gentleman helping to guard it. Bizzarely, this added a lot to the experience. KFC isn’t the sort of place that you expect to find a paradisiac bathroom experience and I was glad to see Westmoreland Street sticking true to its roots. That said, it was also fairly grubby which is inherently unpleasant. So 10 points for the lols, -2 for the dire need of a mop.
Mingin or Finger lickin?
Finger lickin 🙂
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