Texas Chicken: Mesquite BBQ Burger

When I saw that displayed in a Texas Chicken outlet, the first thing that came to my mind is "Yes! Looks like Texas-style Pulled Chicken!". And boy oh boy do I love it. (Read HERE for more info)

So anyways, I had some time to kill so I got me a meal.

Mesquite BBQ Burger Combo ($6.60)

Firstly, let me say - that is NOT how it looks in the first picture.
Not at all.

I mean. I don't mean to sound like some Action Jackson dude but...
Is it my imagination or is that bun missing some sesame seeds compared to the first pic above?
Okay never mind. Small issue. What's important is the meat right?

Well, that didn't go very well either.

I'm sorry but that chicken tasted funky.
You know the 'chicken' taste you get when you either don't wash the chicken properly or if the chicken has been kept too long? Well, this had that taste. And if I can still taste it through all that BBQ sauce, then you know what I mean.

Call me fussy if you want but I'm pretty sensitive to this kind of thing and I surely didn't expect it here.

Texas Chicken claims that they make all their food items freshly and they use the freshest ingredients.
This did not seem to be the case at all.
And we pay $6 for this which is no small amount and can get us a meal at almost all other fast food joints

I ordered that meal at about 10.45am which is when the store has JUST opened.
That means 1) either they're lying about the 'made freshly' part or 2) they served me leftover chicken.
But hey, I'm not going to make wild accusations without trying to confirm things right?

So I went to their website and tried to send them some feedback and hopefully get a response.

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"Hi Texas Chicken. I just have a quick enquiry. For your Mesquite BBQ burger, is the chicken meat fresh (as in is it prepared from meat which specially cooked for the Mesquite BBQ burger) or is it made from meat which may have been left-over (from perhaps chicken pieces which were not sold the day before)?

I had it this morning at your Tampines outlet at about 11am this morning. The burger was hot which means it was freshly prepared but the chicken meat had a distinctly 'stale' taste to it. And to me, if BBQ sauce cannot mask that taste then that chicken may not be fresh.

I am not making any accusations but I'm just curious about this matter. Hope you can shed some light.
Thanks."
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I didn't get a response after 2 weeks so I re-sent it again.
I have not gotten a response even up til now.

Adam's Verdict:
Mesquite BBQ Burger 1/5

I'm not sure if this was my bad luck to get the stale chicken burger or if anyone else has experienced this.
For all I know, this might be someone's favourite burger and I just happened to get the wrong one.

I've heard that Taxes Chicken sells some pretty tasty Fried Chicken.
But I think I'll stay away from the Mesquite BBQ Burger.

Texas Chicken (Tampines Mall)

Tampines Mall
4 Tampines Central #04-23/24/25/26
Tel: 6783 5373
www.texaschicken.com.sg

Operating Hours:
10.30 am to 10.30 pm (Sun to Thu)
10.30 am to 11.30 pm (Fri & Sat)

Swensen's - Breakfast

My darling wife tells me one day that Swensen's offers a special breakfast menu on weekends and public holidays. This is big news because they were offering a dish that I was absolutely obsessed with at the time...

So we put in our best efforts to wake up early on weekends when I wasn't working so we could visit Swensen's. It would only be like 2 months later that we finally managed to make our way down!
Would it be worth it?

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict ($12.90)

Eggs Benedict!
I'm a sucker for Eggs Benedict and I'm a sucker for smoked salmon.
So with this dish, I'm automatically a double sucker!

And it's pretty rare to find a Halal version of Eggs Benedict because it normally consists of ham or bacon instead of the smoked salmon. So thankfully there seems to be a new trend of this Halal version being offered at a few eateries so that's great!

Did you know that Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon (instead of ham) is actually called 'Eggs Hemingway'?

So how were the Eggs Benedict at Swensen's?
Well....

Unfortunately the eggs were not very well-poached. When I think of Eggs Benedict, I think of poking into the egg and the runny yolk just flows out and spreads the whole thing with yolky goodness. The yolk in this case was pretty much just about 4/5 cooked so it was mostly solid with just a little bit of runny parts left as you can see from the picture above.

The Hollandaise Sauce (normally egg yolks, butter and lemon juice) was a little bit on the sour side. Perhaps too much lemon juice I reckon? Plus it only came with some baked beans and no other trimmings like a side salad or anything like that so many might find the price tag a little hefty.

The best part of the whole dish was the sourdough bread the eggs are served on.
Swensen's still has some of the best sourdough I've ever had and that was the best part of this dish.

Hearty Steak & Eggs ($14.90)

The other dish we tried was the Hearty Steak & Eggs.
That's right. Steak for breakfast. Fierce or what!

It comes with a slab of steak (which is a pretty decent size) smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms, a sunny-side up, BBQ baked beans and 2 special buns with a surprise inside!

In case you were wondering, those are the BBQ baked beans that come with both the Eggs Benedict and the Hearty Steak and Eggs. They're actually not bad at all!

The 2nd picture shows the steak all sliced up. Not really the thickest steak ever (well, it IS breakfast) but it's cooked well enough so that it's still tender and juicy. Unfortunately the sunny-side up was again a disappointment. I guess Swensen's just doesn't do eggs the way I like em...

Oh and I almost forgot the buns!

Surprise!

That's actually baked honey butter cream in the middle of a Ciabatta bun!
It's actually really tasty! Just think of soft butter with a sweet honey tinge to it!

Adam's Verdict:
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict 2/5 -- Hearty Steak & Eggs 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict 1.5/5 -- Hearty Steak & Eggs 2.5/5

There are actually quite a number of other breakfast items being offered. More traditional breakfast favourites like pancake, waffles, french toast, omelettes and even sandwiches!

But yet again, the service at the Tampines Mall Swensen's left a lot to be desired.
Not the first time but I sure hope it's the last time.

Swensen's (Tampines Mall)

Tampines Mall
4 Tampines Central 5, #03-30
www.swensens.com.sg
Tel: 6781 5489

Operating Hours:
10.30am-10.30pm (Weekdays)
8am-10.30pm (Weekends)