When Wendy’s recently invited me to taste their newest chicken temptation, Sweet and Sour Asian Boneless Wings, I thought, “Perfect. My husband and I can finally get out for that anniversary dinner I’ve been promising him” (so sad, but so true). Unfortunately, he chose this month to go on a radical healthy eating kick in preparation for his upcoming triathlon (!)
I turned to my roster of back-up dates, and really couldn’t think of a better group to test these premium boneless wings than my ten-year old son and a couple of his friends. I picked them up after a day at hockey camp and headed off to the nearest Wendy’s. Who better to review a selection of fast food menu items than hungry pre-teens?
I explained their mission clearly and they took their reviewing quite seriously. Who am I kidding?…ten-year old boys take nothing seriously! Fortunately, if there’s one thing they take semi-seriously, it’s food. Having armed them with some Cordon Bleu training, I sat them down in front of the specimens and moved over to a table across the restaurant from whence I could pretend I didn’t know them let them get to work.
These new treats are light and crispy-breaded chunks of 100% whole chicken breast. They come hand-tossed (and we watched the staff toss!) in a variety of flavours. They’re priced at $4.99 ($6.99 in a combo) and each order has about 7-9 good-sized morsels. The boys dug into them quickly and eagerly and finished off the Sweet & Spicy Asian first (these were quite flavourful with spicy chilies and garlic). Next they enjoyed the Honey BBQ (I found these a little drenched in sauce, but the boys liked the sauce, comparing them to their favourite ribs). Finally, the boys ate a few of the Bold Buffalo. These were the spiciest of the three, and the least popular with my testers (in fairness, they’d ingested a lot of food at that point and were slowing down a little). I liked these ones; they had the flavour of my favourite bar chicken wings.
Overall, the boys and I enjoyed the chicken. They had a lot more spicy bite to them than I expected, and the meat was tender and seemed of good quality. They’re a nice alternative to burgers the next time you need some fast food.