Calgary Food Network Champion's Chicken Sandwiches: Cluck N Cleaver Review

If you've watched Top Chef Canada, Iron Chef Gauntlet, Beat Bobby Flay, or others, you may have seen Calgary's own Chef Nicole Gomes dominate the competitive cooking scene. As an avid Food Network watcher, when I saw her Calgary restaurant Cluck N Cleaver on Big Food Bucket List, I knew I had to find out how her skills translated to its menu.

Chef Gomes on Big Food Bucket List

So, I ordered three of their fried chicken sandwiches: the Mother Clucker, the Sando, and el Pollo Loco, each priced at around $15.

Mother Clucker

Their signature fried chicken sandwich, the Mother Clucker, has 1/4 pound of fried chicken breast covered in honey hot sauce with coleslaw and pickles, and most importantly a blue cheese mayonnaise which sounded really delicious when I saw this sandwich on TV.

Cat Approved

(...I was in fact, a bit scared of the blue cheese mayo because I have a love-hate relationship with blue cheese.)

In this case, I found that the blue cheese mayo was perfectly formulated. You could definitely feel that deep and slightly pungent blue cheese flavour, yet it complimented the hotness of the chicken without overpowering it. I think even people who don't usually enjoy blue cheese could enjoy this.

As someone who has a medium spice tolerance, I think the spice level of this sandwich was perfect. The chicken had a very crispy exterior that gave way to a satisfying, juicy bite of meat.

Overall, I'd rate the Mother Clucker a 9/10, and as I like to say, miam miam miam!

Sando

The Sando is a Japanese-inspired fried chicken thigh (1/3 pound) sandwich with shredded cabbage, tonkatsu sauce, and togarashi mayo. I hadn't heard of it before, but togarashi is a Japanese 7-spice chili mixture.

Oops... I crushed it a bit

This sandwich was more subtle flavour-wise... I'm still not sure if I know what togarashi tastes like. The shredded cabbage was very fresh and slightly pickled, but the crust on the fried chicken was a little more soggy. It was definitely less spicy than the Mother Clucker.

I would rate the Sando a 6.5/10, still miam miam because it was enjoyable, though not as impressive as the previous sandwich.

Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco was the last chicken sandwich that I tried, with a spicy fried chicken thigh, tajin mayo, and lime slaw.

Was too excited to take it out of the box

This one definitely had a kick to it. It was a bit on the spicy side for me, but I know plenty of people who would have enjoyed that. The slaw was really good and the chicken was super juicy. The initial hits of sourness from the tajin mayo worked well with the spicy sauce. 

Pollo Loco gets a 8/10, and yes, it was 'miam miam miam' - super tasty, though not as unique as the Mother Clucker.

The Verdict

I'm certain that Chef Gomes did not personally fry up my chicken, but her knack for flavour really shines through, especially in the Mother Clucker. The sandwiches are a little on the pricey side for a fried chicken sandwich, but also on the cheap side for a meal created by a Top Chef.

Though I probably won't be eating there regularly, I would definitely recommend trying it out next time you're in Beltline, since it satisfied my own anappetite for interesting food :).