Tucked away at the corner of The Esplanade and Princess Street is Cluck Clucks, a restaurant dedicated to fried chicken and waffles. The place is pretty hidden and not easy to find, so you gotta purposely look for it or know where you're going. I only found out about Cluck Clucks from my friend, who has been for dinner before and thought I should try it out.
Serving halal chicken, Cluck Clucks' fried chicken is cooked to order so all customers are informed when ordering that there'll be a wait of about 15 minutes. If you live or work in the area, you'll be happy to know that you can order Cluck Clucks (Instagram: @cluckcluks, Facebook: Cluck Clucks) via Ritual.
My friend and I went to Cluck Clucks twice so this post combines my two experiences there.
FIRST VISIT
WHAT THE CLUCK! (Solo $10.49, Combo $12.99)
2 pc bone-in-chicken, fresh waffle, choice sauce
Cluck Clucks fried chicken is on point. Crispy, golden, seasoned chicken skin with meat that's extremely juicy and tender. Delicious. As for the waffles, if you like them super soft, light and fluffy, this is the place for it. I personally like mine with a crispier exterior (i.e. crispy edges but still soft inside). The fries were seasoned well but a bit soggy. I didn't care for the Cluck Sauce; it had a sweet/tangy flavour and consistency that's similar to Italian salad dressing. Just not my thing. Thinking back I should have picked maple syrup as my "sauce", which is how fried chicken & waffles is traditionally served anyway (along with butter). The succulent union of sweet and salty, soft and crunchy, maple syrup and chicken may sound strange but it's unbelievably good.
CLUCK YEAH! (Solo $12.79, Combo $14.99)
Boneless chicken breast in between a fresh jalapeno and cheddar waffle with coleslaw, chipotle aioli, dill mayo
Other than the fried chicken, this Cluck Yeah! sandwich was my favourite item on Cluck Clucks' menu. The waffle - infused with the jalapeno and cheddar - was in many ways better than the regular waffle, both in flavour and texture (it was crispier for some reason). The chicken breast wasn't dry at all (dry chicken breast is my worst nightmare). Together with the creamy chipotle and tangy coleslaw, this waffle-sandwich was very satisfying to eat.
SECOND VISIT
1 LB WINGS ($7.99)
1 LB WINGS ($7.99)
These wings were massive. Much like the fried chicken pieces, these wings were also perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside. However, if I had to choose, I would pick their chicken pieces over wings because I like thicker skin (more crispy skin to eat!) I also find chicken thighs and drumsticks to be a lot more juicier than wings. Anyway, these were still very good :) An order of wings comes with your choice of sauce so we picked chipotle aioli. I didn't use much of it for the wings; I used it for the hand cut wedges instead (below).
3 PIECE FRIED CHICKEN ($8.99)
Includes regular side of fresh cut fries, hand cut wedges or coleslaw
Again, no complaints. I love how Cluck Clucks' chicken is not battered, just brined overnight and lightly dredged in seasoned flour. I absolutely hate fried chicken that's so heavily battered that after the first bite, the entire skin falls apart from the meat. We tried the hand cut wedges this time. They were OK, nothing to write home about.
CLUCKING LITTLE WAFFIES ($4.99)
Battered waffle tossed in cinnamon and brown sugar served with side of Nutella and maple
If there's one negative thing about Cluck Clucks it would have to the dessert, and my dessert-ordering experience. When we were ordering our fried chicken at the counter, the cashier asked if we would like to order dessert as well. I said we'll order that later since I didn't know what dessert I wanted yet, and I didn't want it to come too early. Insisting that we can order it now and that she can time it for us so that the dessert will come only when we were done our fried chicken, we gave in and picked our dessert.
Lo and behold, a kitchen staff came out with our Clucking Little Waffies when we were not even halfway done our fried chicken and wings. The thing is, I honestly did not mind ordering our dessert at the counter separately and having to wait for it, but the fact that the cashier insisted that she can time it for us, yet didn't deliver on it, really pissed me off (she actually came to our table a minute or so after, asking whether the dessert came at a good time. I told her "no", and that it came way too early, she just said sorry about that, smiled, and walked away). Anyhow, when we finally got to our Clucking Little Waffies, they were already cold.
To tell you the truth, when the Clucking Little Waffies came I actually stopped eating my fried chicken just so I can try a piece of Waffie when it was still hot. Even when hot, the Waffie was hard, not light or fluffy at all. The maple syrup also seemed watered down. Awfully fried waffles served as dessert, very disappointing. I would not order the Clucking Little Waffies again.
