Farmboy; all about food but definetly not rotisserie chicken

 

This week I decided to return to the ready-made rotisserie chicken, but this time I thought I would visit my local Farmboy store. Now, I should mention that Farmboy is considered a market style grocer, offering a premium shopping experience with an assortment of unique food items. I had never tried the food from this place and was excited to include them into my tastings.

The store doesn’t carry everything a grocery store does but its forte is freshness and in store food preparation. Nonetheless, I was still able to pick up a few items and opted for their rotisserie chicken.

While I thought I would find the ready-made food counter in the front, it was not. Instead, the chicken was located in a hot food case near the back of the store on an end, but near the ready-made food area. I have to say, they carry a lot of prepared foods and they look good. For some reason, I did not get that usual whiff of chicken loving goodness leading me to it's resting place.

Although I arrived promptly at what I consider the dinner hour, there certainly weren’t that many chickens left. In addition, these chickens were sitting in what appeared to be a paper bag. There’s a small viewing window to peer through but you get the ‘full Monty’ on these birds. It’s always a guessing game trying to pick out the best in show; they all have the usual kind of look to them, browned to perfection with a bit of char. 

 I arrive home and within minutes I’m ready to unpack this chicken. Okay, so it’s in a paper bag right, but it’s also sitting on a paper food container. Impressive, kudos for being environmentally responsible here. I pull out the chicken out of the bag leaving it cradled on that paper container while I inspect it further. Not a whole lot of seasoning here. In fact, it looks pretty bare and there doesn’t appear to be any juice in the container either.

 Okay, it definitely looks cooked, the skin looks tight. Let’s get to it. I take a knife and start slicing into the breast. It’s still steaming a bit and you can smell chicken. Hmm. It cuts. That’s it. It doesn’t seem all that juicy. I mean it’s moist sure, but more on the dry side that it doesn’t flake with the cut. I’m a bit concerned here. Next, I try cutting into the thigh. Sure, it’s juicy but again with thigh and legs they normally are. I’m not getting a good feeling about this at all.

I suspect that it is overcooked. I peel off some breast meat to eat. That’s amazingly dry! What happened here? I then try a bit off the thigh where I cut into it. It’s okay tasting. Palatable I suppose. I think I want to say that it’s void of any flavour. This is a real disappointment. I try the skin. It has a chew to it but it’s also tasteless.  

 I’m in utter disbelief. How can Farmboy offer this kind of quality? It’s inconsistent with their motto. Was this a one off I wonder? I paid $9.99 for this and I’m wishing I had my money back. 

It’s reminiscent of the time I tried Metro chicken, but much worse. The only positive that I can mention here, it appeared that the chicken has less fat tucked under than what I was used to seeing. As for the size of the chicken, I think it is reasonable for the price, but if it doesn't taste great, is it really worth it?

In conclusion, I had high hopes for this rotisserie chicken and it failed me. At this point, I cannot recommend Farmboy rotisserie chicken if that is how they cook them.  

Has anyone picked up a Farmboy rotisserie chicken?  If so, what did you think? Am I right about this?

Let me know, leave a comment below.