Friends, it’s apples and oranges.
Two new chicken and waffle offerings have hit the Columbus dining scene. Locally based White Castle has released a new Chicken & Waffle breakfast sandwich, and the North Market’s Taste of Belgium just added waffles and chicken to the menu too. How different could they be?
Well, you can get White Castle’s version without ever getting out of your car.
You can hold it in your hand.
And it’s $2.69.
Meanwhile, the North Market has yet to install any drive-thru windows, so a trip inside amongst humanity is required. And the chicken and waffles at Taste of Belgium are huge, unwieldy, sticky, fork-and-knife things – with a $10 price tag.
For the ten bucks, you get four times as much food, though. Both outlets use real chicken meat (not nugget parts), and both outlets serve the dish all day long. But really and truly: the two offerings are very different.
White Castle’s comes all wrapped up in paper. Inside the little bundle is a tidy sandwich with soft waffles on the outside, breaded chicken inside, and a little dab of gravy plus lots of chips of crunchy bacon. There’s a ramekin of Mrs. Butterworth’s for dipping, but the sandwich has a nice thing going without tbe syrup.
Over at the North Market, one of those glorious yeasty waffles with deep pockets is topped with a mammoth piece of fresh fried, cracklin’ chicken breast. The house douses it first with hot sauce, then with syrup, and both soak right into the breading creating a sublime, sticky combo.
An epicurean has to pick the North Market version. It’s an almost artisan take on a southern classic. That said, ain’t no shame in hitting the drive through for a White Castle waffle sandwich: it still beats something like a McMuffin, hands down.
For more information, visit www.whitecastle.com and www.authenticwaffle.com.