Banana beer

So I started the experimental banana brew last night that I've been mulling over for some time now. I based it off of a vague, traditional Ugandan recipe, but made some significant changes. Most notably, rather than using only banana juice in the wort, I used puree'd bananas. 2 reasons for this.. First, juice extraction seems time and yeild restrictive. While I've read that there are scientific methods to yeild up to 75% juice, I'm certain I can't come near that. Secondly, the journal articles I've found regarding banana starch seem to indicate that it's kind of "self worting", ie: the ß-amylase breaks down the starches into water soluble sugar chains. This also means that it has high diastatic power, and can break down other starches, in my case, millet flour.

The most questionable aspect of this experiment is the amount of bananas I used. I was shooting for around 1/3 the total volume of the brew, (a 5 gallon carboy) which came out to be 5 bunches. This 1/3 figure was derived from the original recipe, but the 1/3 was the amount of banana _juice_. I expected the whole bananas to be less potent, but to also have a higher fermentable sugar output. since I have neither a metric or means for measuring these yet, it just called it even for the sake of experimentation.

After adding the banana slurry, I added sterilized water with millet flour mixed in. (note1: don't add flour to boiling water note2: the only place in town I could find millet flour was natures pharm) I then added a dry ale yeast starter that I had pitched about an hour earlier. The reason I went with this yeast was because I had it on hand, no other reason. Traditionally, the natural banana bacterias would be the sole fermentation agents, and may be something that I try later on, but for now I wanted to try and keep it as clean as possible. This included a dilemma as to whether I should heat the wort to try and kill the bacteria. (as I did with the last batch of cider) After talking to Belinda and Nancy about it briefly, it seemed like the heat might interfere with the natural starch->sugar process, and if my pitched yeast was strong enough, it would probably overwhelm the natural stuff anyhow.

There was little activity last night, but when I got up this morning I found a decent amount of off-gassing, as well as an airlock full of banana sludge. The brew had settled out and about half the carboy was traub. This is my main reason for doubting the amount of bananas added, but I'm hoping that the solids will continue to break down as the yeast works. To this end, I'm planning on agitating it daily, and I'm guessing I'll be changing the airlock daily as well. My only concern other than the solids is the mystery esters that may be produced.. but then again, if I knew what was going to happen, it wouldn't be much of an experiment.

Roast Burger? ..more like Gross Burger.

I've not posted any fast food in a while, so I guess it's time.

Arby's Roast Burgers have been available for a while, and once I realized that they were just roast beef sandwiches with "seasonings" added and dressed like a burger, I decided that I didn't want one. As is usually the case, the temptation of saving a few buck lured me in - the Arby's e-mail list sent out another round of "Free Roast Burger with the purchase of any drink" coupons.



To be concise, the Roast Burger was awful. The particular variety I had was the BBQ Bacon Cheddar. It's possible that some part of it was good, but there's no way I would have known because the BBQ sauce was kind of gross and overpowered everything else on the sandwich with the exception of the occasional stale tasting fried onion things on top. Now that I think about it, the BBQ was so overwhelming that I can't even remember eating the bacon on the sandwich. I couldn't really detect the "seasoning" at all, so I can't comment there, but I think it's safe to say this sandwich should be skipped. Regular roast beef sandwiches are way better.

Some recent food notes..

I haven't had time for any real writeups, but in the past couple of months I've had a Taco Bell taco with bacon on it(gross), ribs(not great, but edible) and "breakfast shots"(ok except for the cheese sauce. excellent packaging) at Burger King and other fast food disasters, but at the moment, I would like to mention a couple of local-to-Lafayette eateries.

First and foremost, I'd like to publicly state how much of a ripoff the Great Wall Chinese buffet near SR52 and Union is. I've only eaten there 2 times. The first was pretty good, and it was a little expensive, but within the realm of reality - around 8 bucks. I went last night, and had some decent, but standard chinese buffet food, but got a bill for $19 something. When I asked, I was informed that the buffet was $18 and the rest was the cost of a drink. I don't know how exactly this happened, but I can't imagine they would be as busy as they were if it was 18 bucks for a buffet. especially when En Lai has a better one and it's only $5. Either way, never going back there again.

Second, I've had some good sushi experiences lately. Unfortunately, the Bluefin Grill ended their all you can eat lunch sushi deal, but as a result, I found myself going to Ah-Z at Chauncey hill a lot. Ah-Z totally sucked the first time I ate there, but has improved vastly. The rolls are big, the rice is not to dry and the price is reasonable. They've also got a pretty good chicken katsu bento that comes with a salad, soup, and a couple pieces of tempura.

I also finally had a chance to stop in Maru sushi recently. It wasn't super upscale, but it's a nice place. I had an avocado and cucumber roll and a couple pieces of maguro. It was very fresh, and I got some soup and a couple of sides with it. The staff were super nice and the sushi menu was one of the larger ones I've seen. Definitely headed back there soon.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the Green Sprout. It's a cool little pan-asian bakery / eatery right across the street from Maru. I've been there several times and really like it. Of primary interest is their Baru sushi, which is kind of like a sushi salad served in a bowl. It's got rice at the bottom with sushi components like cucumber, imitation crab, fried egg, nori, etc piled up on top of it. It also comes with optional spicy mayo, wasabi sauce and a sweet soy sauce. It was altogether pretty awesome, and much to my pleasure they also have kimchi! They have a lot of other dishes I'm anxious to try.

Food review - Hawaiian Hut

I'm not sure if it's got something to do with the economy or other factors, but I just haven't been seeing many interesting developments in the world of fast food. As such, the fast food portion of my blog is shifting more towards the intermediate, sit-down, but still fast restaurants that seem to be popping up around here lately.

So today I am reviewing the Hawaiian Hut. Located at the River Road and State street intersection between Green Leaf and Kibu cafe, The Hawaiian Hut is as the name suggests, Hawaiian cuisine.. apparently. I say apparently because I don't really know what Hawaiian food is like. The menu seems to be mostly made up of a meat item served with rice and fruit. There are also a few salads, barbecue ribs and grilled salmon, etc. It seems like this is the only restaurant of the chain, but they have a franchise link on their site, so maybe more will come.

I was unsure what to get so I took the cashiers advice and hat the Teri Hamburger Steak in the smaller size. It consisted of two small hamburger patties cooked in a very weak teriyaki sauce with a pineapple ring on each. The burgers were served on a bed of diced avocado, mango and tomato with a side of rice and some raw pineapple slices. Everything was about as one would expect. In fact I think I was a little let down that it wasn't any weirder than it was. It was all tasty though. I think the avocado and mango were the best part for me.



The bottom line is that Hawaiian Hut has some pretty good food, but the value (nine dollars and change for a small meal and drink) is not really there. I think the bright simulated cabana decor might be a draw for the place, especially on a cold day like this, but the price tag still seems a little off when you consider that I can totally pig out next door at Kibu for less. Still, definitely worth a try, and could be a nice place for dates, etc.

Hawaiian Hut Teri Hamburger Steak - 7/10 stars

Toppers pizza

So I managed to get "Free food for a year" from Toppers pizza. The deal was that the first 50 customers on opening day won. I researched and monitored the event, but was too apprehensive about what the free food for a year actually entailed to brave a 24 hour wait in freezing rain. I did stop and talk to the first two guys early in their sit. Said they were just bored. Anyhow, I alerted my brother to the situation, as he too is a fan of free food. I had given up on the idea of waiting, but got a text from him the day of the event at 7:30a saying there were only 35 people in line. (The store opened at 10:30) By the time my brain started working, I figured that there was still a possibility I could win, and headed to the store. I got there at 10:20a and was #66 in line. That wasn't all-she-wrote though. 13 more FFFAY prizes were to be raffled off. I waited around and got the last one. Oddly, only 3 people who came to the "event" didn't win. They got free pizzas though.



As it turns out, the terms of the deal are that I have a coupon book with one coupon for each week for a specific item. This week it was a 12" grinder. Next week it's a large 2 topping pizza, etc, etc. At around $10 an item, I figure the coupon book it worth around $520 - not bad for waiting in line for a half hour!



For those unfamiliar with Toppers, (as I was) it's worth noting that it is a Wisconsin based franchise with the first store opening in Champaign, IL. (I am noticing a trend with "college" oriented restaurant chains starting in C/U.. see La Bambas) The West Lafayette store is their first in Indiana. The food seems to be of good quality. The chain's image seems to be mildly goofy and pop culture centric.. For example, when calling for an order, you get hold options like "hear Morgan Freeman read a page from his diary", etc. You can check out their site at www.toppers.com

So anyway, the food.. So far I've had the bacon stix and a baked italian grinder. The bacon stix were pretty good. Similar to Mad Mushroom cheesestix and covered in bacon. They have several other topped cheesestix, and I will investigate those in the coming weeks I'm sure. The grinder was not bad. It was pretty basic, with bread like Quiznos, and for what it's worth, a 12" is definitely enough for two people to split.

I'm looking forward to trying out the pizza. I will report on it when I get the chance and see how it fits in Lafayette's pizza landscape.

Unlimited sushi rolls?

I am somewhat apologetic that my food bloggings have drifted towards the local lately, but I must admit that not much in the realm of fast food chains has really interested me much lately.

So anyway, another local item of interest - the Bluefin Bistro in downtown Lafayette has been doing unlimited sushi rolls for lunch the past couple of weeks. At a $7.95 buy-in, I had to give it a shot. I'll save an overall review for another time after I've had a regular meal there, but for the purposes of this post, I will say that the place is still pretty nice, albeit pretty empty. The wait staff was helpful and not annoying, and the food was more than I'd expect for $8 all you can eat.

That said, the sushi wasn't _awesome_; merely good. I suspect the lunch special changes things a little, but overall, the rice was a little more dry than I prefer, and the rolls contents were a little skimpy. The special menu consisted of pretty much the standards, with the biggest outlier being the Bistro roll which was asparagus tempura. The rest of the regular menu was somewhat adventurous.

Regardless of the quality, the value is pretty darned good. I recommend checking it out, and I'll definitely be going back to try their full menu.

Bluefin Bistro Lunch Special - 8/10

Long John Silvers "Freshside Gille" - Gilled tilapia

I'm kind of reluctant to post this review.. You may or may not know, but I'm a long time fan of LJS. Yes, I know it's greasy and to most people pretty gross, but since an early age, it's been a comfort food for me. As I've gotten older and become more aware of what I put in my body and the effects of my diet, I have often wished that LJS would add some "healthy" items to their menu. Some grilled fish and steamed vegetables would be great, and no other fast food restaurants offer such things.. at least not here in Indiana.

I was glad to see that they had actually done it with their "Freshside Grille" menu, but something kept me from ordering it until recently. I think this is perhaps the biggest hurdle in introducing "healthy" items to an existing fast food menu - people know your menu for those not so good for you items, and that's going to be their motivation for going to that restaurant. ie: I only thought of LJS when I wanted greasy fish.

I finally got around to trying it, and went with the gilled tilapia. It was disappointing. The fish really didn't taste a lot like fish. it was covered in some weird seasoning that was entirely what I'd expect from fast food. I don't know why they put so much on - it seemed like it was once a decent fillet of fish. The fish was served on a bed of rice with little flecks of carrot in it. It wasn't bad, I suppose. Additionally, there were two sides, a vegetable medley, and a piece of corn on the cob. I opted for slaw instead of the corn. The LJS corn is quite tasty, however it's a little messy, both by the nature of corn on the cob as well as the pseudo butter they drench it in. I was hopeful about the vegetable medley, but it was even worse than the fish. It appeared to have been cooked in a copious amount of some kind of oil, and the carrots, squash and green beans in it really tasted nothing like they were supposed to. I must say that it didn't taste bad, but it was as if any natural flavor in the food had been removed and replaced with fast food chemicals. Boo. Lastly, there was a bread stick. It was a weird one indeed, tasting more like a donut than any breadstick I've ever had. I really couldn't speculate as to how it was prepared; the flavor said deep fried, but the appearance said baked. It, like everything else in this meal, was covered in some kind of oil.

I was going to try the other two Freshside selections, but I just plain don't want to. It's certainly edible food, but mediocre in that it really isn't fresh at all, and also because, at least to me, it just isn't as good as the fried foods they sell.

LJS Freshside Grille - grilled tilapia 4/10 stars

Some of my favorite local meals.

I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but I'm just now getting around to it, prompted by a delicious meal a couple of weeks ago. These are Lafayette, Indiana restaurants, so if you're not local to here I apologize.

One of my favorites for the past year or so is an establishment near campus called Kibu Cafe which specializes in Japanese and Korean cuisine. The most popular dishes there seem to be their huge bowls of noodles. I have a bit of an aversion to extended soup eating, so I've not tried them. What I do get though is their lunch special, which includes an entree (Spicy Chicken, Sweet and sour Pork, Chicken Teryaki, Kibu Chicken, or Bulgoki depending on the day of the week) rice, wontons, kimchi, fish cakes and soup. The portion is large and could pretty easily be split, or half saved for left-overs. I have become pretty partial to their soup which is kind of an eggdrop type with cabbage, potatoes and lots of pepper. The sides are pretty excellent too. I highly recommend this to anyone. If you are scared of so-called "ethnic" foods, go on Chicken Teryaki day - it's a pretty safe bet. I don't even like Chicken Teryaki, but I enjoy theirs.



Another more recent favorite is the small, but tasty menu at the Black Sparrow downtown. They started off with only upscale bar appetizers like olive plates and hummus, but have expanded to more robust items. My personal favorite is their take on the cuban sandwich. It contains roast pork, sliced ham, swiss cheese, chipotle slaw, yellow mustard and pickle, served on a baguette with fries, salad or soup. I have to say, this has consistently been one of the best prepared meals I've had. The pork is roasted expertly. It's difficult to believe that they do it in house. Also, I went with the salad the last time I got this, and it was remarkably fresh as well.

To keep with my food review theme, here are the ratings:

Kibu Cafe Teryaki Chicken - 10/10 stars
Black Sparrow Cuban Sandwich - 10/10 stars

a cornucopia of whitecastle oddities (BBQ pork and Chicken Italiano)

good ol' whitecastle seems to do a good job of tossing out interesting "limited time only" products now and then. this seems like it'd be rather important for them lately since it appears that every restaurant in the world is trying to cash in on the "sliders" small burger format in recent times.


i have to admit that when i first saw the ads for the BBQ pork sandwich i was a little grossed out. i'm not the biggest fan of loose meat sandwiches, and whitecastle really doesn't seem like the place you'd want to get one. i'd also heard some terrible rumors regarding non-meat pork parts showing up in the sandwich. these things in mind, it took me a long time to build up the nerve to try one out. i rolled into town at 2am after an hour of interstate travel last week and felt the time was right.

first off, i feel like i should dispel the "parts" rumor. my sandwich didn't have anything weird in it.
it was really ugly though. they wrap them in paper before putting them in the traditional WC box, i assume so you could eat them on the go and not get too messy. as far as the taste - it was exactly what you'd expect. tasted like the bbq that you'd get at a pitch in. not really my thing, but some people dig that stuff. kind of made me want baked beans and potato chips. i would ordinarily say that this is the kind of cheap stuff that parents give kids when they don't really want to go to the effort of cooking, but, i also think that WC has hit upon a reasonable niche here. it's not like to can get a loose meat sandwich at a drive through anywhere else, let alone at 4am.


i noticed something else when i entered the castle.. they were pushing a chicken italiano sandwich. (as well as those awful ranch chicken rings.. bleh) i gave the chicken a shot. it was quite a bit like the honey chipotle chicken they once had. basically a chicken breast sandwich with garlic mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. the verdict? good, but definitely not awesome. the marinara was not the same kind as is given out with cheese sticks, and was just kind of weak. the cheese was awesome (and probably good on other stuff too), but unfortunately the sandwich was assembled in such a way that the cheese never had the chance to melt. i'm actually going to recommend skipping this one unless you are super into chicken marinara. value on the dollar aside, just wait for BK to bring their italian chicken back. it's better.

Whitecastle BBQ pork sandwich - 8/10
Whitecastle Chicken Italiano sandwich - 6/10

McDonalds "Southern" Chicken Buscuit

I don't eat at McDonalds too much these days, but I was tempted when these "Southern" Chicken biscuits came out because I love Chik-Fil-A's chicken biscuits, however, their restaurants are too far away and are closed on sunday - the day when I'm most likely to want this.


I hit the drive through and scored this biscuit and a hash brown for 2.98. a fair price for a breakfast if you ask me. Despite being a little too greasy, it was good. McD's biscuits themselves are pretty tasty, so no qualms there. The chicken was fairly generic, however it was at least a real piece of breast meat and not reformed chunks like a McChicken. I did not find the breading terribly "Southern", neither was it as good as Chik-Fil-A's.


One side note - halfway through the biscuit, I ate my hash brown. When I resumed eating the biscuit, it tasted weird. I've only experienced similar taste clashes with taco bell (steak or chicken before ground beef makes the ground beef taste gross) and I'd assume that a company that engineers all their flavors like McDonalds would make sure this wouldn't happen.. So I don't know whats up there.. Maybe I'm just over sensitive, but I'd save the potatoes for post biscuit if I were to do it all over again.


All in all, a reasonable sandwich. Get Chik-Fil-A instead if you have the option, but if not, this will do.



Southern Chicken Biscuit - 7/10 stars

The arrival of Sonic - Re: Breakfast Burrito

A Sonic drive in has recently landed in my neck of the woods. I love sonic. I used to drive 2 hours to go to the closest one. So, I was in a rush to visit the local Sonic as soon as it opened.
On my second trip I thought I'd stray from my normal fare of double cheeseburger and cheesy tots, and tried the breakfast burrito. I got mine with bacon because often times, fast food sausage grosses me out. (I will sample sonics in the future and report back)

This is a simple menu item, so my description wont be super in depth, but I think for products like this, it's worth telling you what you really get, as opposed to the dressed up menu photo.
There were two big differences from the picture:
1. the burrito innards were not all scrambled up in the eggs. the eggs were in the form of rectangular sheets, as fast food eggs often are, and the cheese and bacon were just on top of the egg.
2. it was about half the size that I perceived from the photo.

That said, it was a tasty burrito. I fear most breakfast offerings of the sort (I can't take more than one bite of a McD's burrito), but this was pretty good. i got the combo with tots, and I'd say it was a "right size" meal for me. The price wasn't an awesome deal, but it was acceptable.

A "Super Sonic" breakfast burrito is also offered, which appears to have potatoes, onions and peppers.


Sonic Breakfast Burrito - 7/10 stars

Burger King Cheesey Tater tots

These things inspired me to blog again.. Not because they are good, but because they are a total waste of money.

I got these because a local brew pub here in my town has something similar, and I love em. The BK version is far inferior. Since I didn't get to include a photo this time, Let me explain what these are.. They are a kind of disk shaped potato thing, about the size of two of BKs breakfast hashbrowns stacked atop one and other. There is some manner of breading on the outside, and the inside has coarsely diced potatoes and cheese.. Of course they are deep fried.

Here's the big problem with these guys - heat. The weird breading on the outside keeps all the heat in, ensuring that you burn your mouth even if you eat every other part of your meal first in hopes that they will cool off. i even bit a corner off each one to help them cool and it still wasn't enough. The second problem was grease. don't get me wrong, I understand how deep fryin' works.. but when they hand you something that just soaks the cardboard box it's contained in, it's not terribly appetizing.

anyway, I say avoid. If you must experiment, get the small.

Cheesey Tater Tots - 1/10 Stars

Whitecastle's Honey Chipotle chicken sandwich

It took some time being subjected to the ads before this sounded good. I'm not typically a chipotle fan, but it all worked out because the sauce was more honey than chipotle.

[a note about the photos: i set out to photograph the food as is, to help you, the consumer, deal with all the weird things they do to food in commercials and photos to make them look good. typically the food _doesn't_ look good, as in this case - it's kind of beat up.. please be sure and read the review though, as to not judge the book by it's cover alone]

The first thing I noticed about this $1.59 frankenstein is that it's on a whole grain / wheat looking bun. This is interesting because whitecastle has never done a different bun style. I find it odd that they would alter their production for just this one sandwich.. but, lo- it was some tasty bread. It went with the sandwich much better than the wheat bun on that chic-fil-a grilled chicken I had a while back.

The sauce, as I said, wasn't all that spicy. A little bit of tang to it, but mostly a sweetness. Not bad. The chicken breast was the larger size (which came about after they introduced the "chicken ring" sandwich and the "alaskan" fish sandwich - a poorly publicized move in my opinion).

The bottom line? I will get this again. I wouldn't eat 2 or three of them in a row, but it would make a great addition to a typical bag of burgers.

Honey Chipotle Chicken sandwich - 8/10

Burger Kings Chicken fries

It's true! I didn't die of a fast food induced heart attack.
this episode is about 2 months late, but for those totally out of the loop, I give you BK's chicken fries:



plain and simple - these things are a total scam. Don't waste your money. They are the same thing as the chicken tenders except half the size and twice the cost. The only redeeming quality of the chicken fries lies not in the product itself, but in the package.
As you can see, the box is shaped such that it might find adequate perch in an auto cup holder (although it wouldn't stand up in mine). Also, the box has a cut out for holding a dipping sauce. good idea, but not worth the inflated price. It's kind of like when senators tack on some stupid thing to an otherwise good bill, and it makes everyone vote against it..

the box should come with all sides / small items.

Chicken fries - 2/10 stars

Taco Bell "Crunch Wrap Supreme"

The Crunch Wrap Supreme is an interesting... thing? Sorry, I really don't know how to refer to it. It consists of a flour tortilla filled with ground beef, nacho cheese, a tostada shell (a flattened taco shell?), lettuce, sour cream, and tomatoes. No, it's not like a burrito - it is folded up into a hexagonal disc.

Is it good? Well.. I didn't think it was bad. Definitely not a new taste. Taco bell was really playing the "Texture" card with this one, which, aside from the chalupa/gordita, was a bit of a departure for the company. The thinness and toastada shell yielded a crisp entree, even after driving home with it - something I had assumed would soggy this beast up.

In reality though, I think Taco Bell is really banking on the success of their quesedilla and associated "portability" based ad campain, because the Crunch Wrap Supreme is really just a double decker taco supreme sans beans and repackaged for easier on-the-go eating.... thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Crunch Wrap Supreme - 7/10 stars

chik-fil-a grilled chicken sandwich

Chik-fil-a makes some tasty stuff. unfortunately, all of the tasty stuff is deep fried.
so, i went out on a limb and tried the grilled chicken sandwich there. It looked flavorful in the picture on the menu....

.. it wasn't. In fact it was pretty bad. Really no flavor at all save for a little from the wheat bun (bleh) and the tomato on top. It wasn't utterly disgusting, but it wasn't good either.

I recommend staying away from this thing.

chik-fil-a grilled chicken - 2/10 stars. boo.


also, if you're like me and love the chik-fil-a waffle fries, try the ore-ida brand waffle fries from the grocery. they actually taste _better_ than the chik-fil-a ones.. even when they are baked in the oven!

ore-ida waffle fries - 9/10 stars

I am lifting my ban on fazoli's

Many years ago I stopped eating at fazoli's for two reasons.

First, their entrees had been going down hill for a while. They did away with the manicotti, which was my favorite part of the "sampler trio". Then they started using a pre-made, frozen lasanga which was quite disgusting. The pizzarino was to be the savior of their menu, but it went away pretty quick.

Second, they were REALLY skimpy with the "free" breadsticks. This annoyed me to no end, because, after my favorite entrees went away/became crappy, I mostly just went there for the bread, and bought spaghetti so I had some sauce to dip the bread in.. not only would they not give me any more than 1 up front, ("you don't need them now, the breadstick person will be around shortly") but they would only give me 2 at a time when the breadstick person came around. ..and the guy wouldn't come around that often either.. once a half hour or something ridiculous.
This may not seem bad to many of you reading this, but I have eaten as many as 27 breadsticks in one sitting. (with a half order of lasanga) It got to the point where I could sit there for a hour, and only get 5 breadsticks. boo.


Once again, mass media marketing sucked me in. The [return of the] pizzarino and spaghetti combo had an awfully attractive price. ($4.something)
the entree was pretty mediocre. The pizzarino was barely cooked, and less than luke-warm in the middle, and they forgot to put sauce on my spaghetti.. BUT, the breadsticks flowed like the blood of the disbelievers in ancient babylon.. er.. something.

The size has gone down. They are probably only 60% of the size they were, but I can live with that.

Since finding this out, I have also tried their 9" personal pizzas and found them to be satisfactory, although not as good as their old pizza by the slice, which is now apparently gone. meh.

so, way to go fazoli's, your entrees still suck, but at least you are getting the breadstick thing correct now.

white castles new garlic chicken breast sandwich

I went in wanting a burger and a fish sandwich, but the marketing materials took hold and I had to go for the new garlic chicken breast sandwich combo despite is high-for-white-castle price ($5.something) I kind of hoped that it was grilled chicken, which would be totally awesome in that size, but it wasn't... typical breaded stuff with garlic flavour, although the portion was a lot larger than the standard chicken breast sandwich.. at least thats what i thought.

Upon opening the bag, I thought they not only forgot to put the cheese on, but also added mayo without my knowledge. I wasn't really happy about this, but took a bite... ahh, not mayo... mozzarella. It all began to make sense.

The chicken itself was a little on the tough side, and the flavor was unimpressive, but not offending.
It appears that the largest shortcoming of these palm size poulty sandwhiches comes hours after you eat them... I can't stop belching awful garlic burps.

I'll give the white castle garlic chicken breast sandwich 5 stars out of 10. definitely worth a try, but I don't think I'll get it again.