KFB in Australia - Boneless Hot & Spicy Box review

To bone or not to bone? That is the question posed by every man, woman and child upon first casting their eyes over the Colonel's menu boards. It's a highly controversial subject even here at KFB headquarters. For some, chicken on the bone represents the OG - the truest expression of that special flavour. After all, it led to the 'Finger-lickin' good' slogan back in the day. For other, bones simply get in the way and take up unneccessary extra space and weight. To my mind, there's a time and a place for either option and last Friday, that time and place led me to go boneless and try KFC's new Boneless Hot & Spicy box here in Melbourne.

It's at this point that I should point out that I was severely hungover at the time of sampling the box of delight. As we've previously covered on KFB though, there's nothing finer than KFC when it comes to curing all but the most extreme of hangovers. It was game on.

Now I know what you're thinking - what right does a bread roll have to be in the mix when it's not part of a burger? We'll get back to that later. For now let's focus on the chicken: 3 sizeable chunks that were reasonably well-coated in ETC (extra tasty cripsy) rather than Original Recipe.

It was time to delve in. We've said it before and we'll say it again: thigh meat just isn't as well-suited to being used in a boneless dish such as this or a burger. While it was relatively fat and certainly sinew-free and even though it was clearly well-marinaded, it just didn't have that firm, bouncy texture we love from a good hunk of breast. Something to note: according to KFC's site, the boneless pieces could be either thigh or breast - my colleagues and I however were all served the former.

So let's get back to the bun. I was reliably informed by an Aussie chum of mine that the bun was to be filled with all the other boxed ingredients, thereby turning it into some kind of elaborate sandwich. This of course had to be tried.

The result? It was delicious. Though the bun itself was overly sweet, it complemented the saltiness of the fries and chicken well. The mash and gravy, though still not anywhere near as good as a pot of UK 3-step gravy, added some interesting extra flavour.

So what was missing you might ask? More chicken of course! The UK's Boneless Banquet For One not only features mini breast fillets coated in Original Recipe but also adds a small tub of Popcorn Chicken to the mix. Close then, KFC Australia, but not quite what we'd hoped for.

Oh, the hangover? Yup, pretty much cured post-chicken. The Colonel strikes again.

Taste: 7
Value: 6.5 ($10.95 for the meal or about £5.50)
Innovation: 3

Overall: 6/10