Review: Carl's Jr. - Hand-Breaded Chicken and Waffle Sandwich

Carl's Jr.'s Hand-Breaded Chicken and Waffle Sandwich features a battered, breaded, and deep-fried chicken breast filet served with maple butter sauce on a warm Belgian waffle.

It's priced at $4.99 in my area but I received this courtesy of Carl's Jr. (they've also been floating around a coupon where you can get 2 for $6).

Interesting, the chicken filet here appeared to be the about the same size as the Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich. Given that the Belgian waffle is smaller than the bun on the Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich, the result is a more meatier feeling breakfast sandwich.

While the chicken filet is a decent size for maybe five years ago, it's notably smaller than the generous filets found in the recent crop of chicken sandwiches from Popeyes, KFC, and Burger King. The chicken was moist and crust was thin and crackly. However, the seasoning tasted mostly of salt, which left the maple butter sauce and waffle to carry the day in terms of flavor.

Thankfully, the waffle and maple sauce were up to the challenge and provide sweet but mild maple syrup notes with a touch of richness. It added needed flavor but didn't threaten to overwhelm the mild taste of chicken.

The Belgian waffle was one of the better ones I've had from a fast food chain. It was similar to a toasted store-bought packaged liege waffle (but minus the pearl sugar), which normally costs at least $1. Liege waffles are basically waffles made with pastry dough rather than a batter. There was an occasional crispness at the edges, a flaky quality to the crumb, and a mild sweetness.

Overall, Carl's Jr.'s Hand-Breaded Chicken and Waffle Sandwich turned out pretty well. It's somehow a better value than its chicken sandwich counterpart (which costs $6.29 in my area), while offering more in the way of flavor and texture as well.