ottawa foodies

This place is exactly what one craves in the winter. A delicious, char-grilled whole chicken with a side order of plantains. Unpretentious delectable food.
Just walking into this place, you know the chicken will be great - the inviting smell that lingers is enough to make you return.
I ordered ahead and my chicken was ready to go when I arrived. Note: they accept cash only.

The chicken is unreal. Cooked perfectly, and the jerk spice is just right for heat and taste. You can get them to crank up the heat if you want it.

The couscous is ok, and the fried plantain are delicious. I have had some issues getting food in a timely manner, calling ahead and then sitting around for about 30 minuites... and i have trouble communicating with the staff, (i dont speak french) but with the help of some pointing and gesturing i was fine. Great stuff. Cooked over REAL charcoal

This is the stuff! Probably the tastiest grilled chicken you'll find in Ottawa. Certainly better than the rotisserie stuff.

The marinade options are Lemon Herb (no heat), Medium, Hot, and Extra Hot. The Extra Hot had a pretty good burn to it. If you pick jalapeno peppers off your nachos and munch them as though they were cucumber slices then Extra Hot is for you! ;-)

Well... Nandos chicken is spicy enough to be quite tasty, but even the hottest option didn't have much burn to it last time I went.

If you don't like things too spicy, you'll be happy to know they have three choices of sauce/marinade:
* Hot
* Medium
* Lemon and Herb

If you prefer your mild wings with sour cream you're probably best off choosing Lemon and Herb. It is heat-free. :-)

Thinking about hitting this spot on Saturday while Xmas shopping on Merivale (I know - insane).

Is the Piri Piri chicken very hot/spicy? I don't really care for anything too spicy. Mild wings with lots of sour cream are my style.

Don't know if anyone else in the country is selling this stuff commercially, but it's damn tasty.

When you come to Chu Shing for dinner, their BBQ chicken is a MUST ORDER dish. This is their specialty and they do a very good job. No other Chinese restaurants in Ottawa can beat this in my opinion. Very crispy skin with juicy chicken meat (marinated)!

New User 5293, did you mention any of these problems to the staff? Every time I've been to Foolish Chicken I've had no problems with the food, and the first couple of times the owner came round and checked on us to make sure everything was all right (which it was, and then some). If you don't tell them there was a problem, how will they know?

I'm all for voting with one's wallet, but I'm also fond of giving places a chance to improve if they don't satisfy, especially if they've impressed me before.

I've been to the Foolish Chicken 5 times and last evening was the last time I will be going. The first visit was great. I had the pork ribs with sweet potato fries. Since then I've had one other good experience. But last evening I had the rotisserie chicken, and I must say, Costco's rotisserie chicken is MUCH better and less expensive. The chicken was dry, and the sweet potato fries weren't freshly made. The whole meal seemed to have been made earlier in the day. This is not the first time my meal has not been freshly made. This is very dissapointing given that my very first experience was terrific. I don't get how it could be so bad when this is what they do-chicken and ribs. Take pride in your food!