I had the world’s most delicious dinner yesterday. Was it at some trendy independent bistro? A five-star restaurant with linen tablecloths? No indeed! It was at a fabulous hybrid Long John Silver’s/A&W Rootbeer location.
This is a chain I visit, at most, once a year. Five years can pass without a visit from me. I am well aware that a Long John Silver’s meal contains my recommended monthly allowance of fat. For the most part, I just don’t “do” fast food anymore. However…
My dinner was perfection at almost every turn. The Chicken Planks? Deliciously crispy and salty on the outside, tender inside. The coleslaw? Tangy with just the right amount of creaminess. My husband gave me his tiny corn on the cob, which was a little bit soggy but sweet and tasty. The fries were unexceptional, but still nicely crispy. The hush puppies, although a bit different than the more cornmeal-heavy ones I remember, were light yet bursting with grease and pleasantly onion-flavored. I had a wonderful, icy-cold glass mug of A&W rootbeer with my dinner, and it was a refreshing beverage and dessert all in one. Best of all, Long John Silver’s has gone back to including “crunchies” with your meal.
For those of you who do not recall the glory days of Long John Silver’s, crunchies are little fragments of batter that fall off in the deep-fryer and are scooped out with the cooked food and served as a little bonus. When I was in high school, my boyfriend and his friends would stop by Long John Silver’s after school and get a bag of just crunchies (for free, if I recall correctly). Then Long John Silver’s cut way back on the crunchies. Maybe it was during their ill-fated “health conscious” period when they were offering grilled seafood options and steamed vegetables. Anyway, it was a supreme disappointment that has been wisely rectified.
I should mention that even though Long John Silver’s is mainly known for seafood, I do not like seafood at all. My personal culinary rule is: no bottom feeders and nothing with an exoskeleton. For me, Long John Silver’s is all about the Chicken Planks.
So that was my wonderful supper yesterday. I was fully prepared to pay a severe gastrointestinal price for my transgression, but weeks of protein shakes, healthy little lunches and sensible dinners must have paved the way for one “get out of jail free” evil meal. Thanks, Long John Silver’s! Until next year, or the year after…
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