Pan-Fried Chicken -- Stroud's Restaurant and Bar, Fairway, KS
By
the time Vodka and Mezcal cross state lines and enter Stroud's
Restaurant and Bar, home of Simon Majumbar's Best Thing I Ever Ate LAST SUPPER dish, we have already consumed two breakfasts and are about to
embark on a barbeque crawl.
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| We Are Nothing If Not Devoted to Our Cause |
Which means, naturally, that we order a full fried chicken dinner including all the proverbial bells and whistles.
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| Including a Complimentary Basket of Crackers, Because Why Not? |
We
are here for the pan fried chicken, and perhaps sensing how overwhelmed
we seem by the menu, our waitress proposes that we get the lunch
special with two pieces of chicken, green beans, potatoes, a soup or
salad, and cinnamon rolls.
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| So, You Know, a Light Meal |
As it happens, said waitress is the only person this entire trip to take even a slight bit of interest in the fact that
we do not live within a five-mile radius.
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| There's a Whole World Out There |
She also reveals that she has
worked at Stroud's for thirty years -- "before you girls were born" --
and the fact that she thinks we are still twenty-something endears her
to us immediately.
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| Feel Free to Card Us for the Pitcher of Diet Coke |
In a surprising turn of
events, the salad that arrives before the rest of the platters proves to
be the most unexpectedly pleasing part of the meal.
 |
| Rabbit Food with a Side of Cholesterol |
Doused with a
gallon of homemade ranch and a healthy smattering of cheese and
croutons, it has the exact carb-to-lettuce ratio that we're looking for.
 |
| Preparing to Lick the Plate Clean |
While
we decline to order a cocktail -- even after we spot a beverage called
the "chicken choker" -- Stroud's offers a full bar, which somehow seems
off-brand for a restaurant that also boasts an entire corner's worth of
styrofoam to-go containers.
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| We'll Take Our Artisan Cocktail with a Side of Non-Disposable Waste |
When Mezcal requests a Diet Coke, an entire
pitcher is placed on our table -- a portion soon matched by the bevy of
food assembled before us.
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| The Midwestern Version of Pre-Gaming Thanksgiving |
First things first,
the chicken about which Simon Majumbar had raved is nothing more than
okay.
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| It Even Looks Like It's In Desperate Need of a Salt Shaker |
While the meat itself is quite moist, it has next to no flavor,
and the skin is similarly lacking in seasoning.
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| Juicy but Also Blah |
After Vodka drowns hers
in salt and hot sauce, it is more enjoyable, but still not up to the
standards of many of the other fried chickens featured on Best Thing I
Ever Ate.
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| "Kansas Fried Chicken" Doesn't Exactly Have the Same Ring to It |
The green beans, mashed potatoes,
gravy, and cinnamon rolls are all similarly good enough, but not
outstanding.
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| And Considering This is Vodka's Third Cinnamon Roll of the Trip, She Should Know |
The whole experience feels very similar to Babe's Chicken Dinner House in Texas, where the leftover potential is even more
important than the meal itself.
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| Have Some Potatoes with Your Gravy |
Sadly for us, and for Stroud's rating,
we have too much eating ahead of us to partake in a doggie bag, and we
head out empty handed.
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| So Much Styrofoam, So Little Time |
"Remember, girls," our
waitress calls after us, "you won't be young forever!" And with that
uplifting goodbye, we head back down the yellow brick road and out of
Kansas without a single chicken bone in tow.
Stroud's Restaurant and Bar's Pan-Fried Chicken: 3 stars
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