The Best Thing I Ate All Week: Fried Chicken and Waffles from Bells and Whistles

I’m a firm believer in honesty in a relationship, but I think there’s a few truths that should be saved until you’re firmly rooted. For example, I’d wait several years to tell a potential partner that I think reality TV is a complex performance art or that I’m such a sore loser that I can’t make it through a board game night without having to lock myself in the bathroom and give myself a talking to. Some truths just make you seem like a bad person.

So I waited several years before I told my partner that I don’t like pancakes or waffles. I’ll eat them, sure, but I’ll never get them at a restaurant or make them myself. For a guy whose love language is cooking batter on a skillet, that was a tough pill to swallow. Almost as hard as having a partner who is constantly publicizing your personal business for the sake of a magazine story.

Sweet foods in the morning just aren’t my thing. You’ll never catch me ordering pancakes or waffles at brunch. Eggs benny all the way.

Of course, fried chicken changes that.

Maybe it was the spring sunshine, maybe it was our indulgent conversation about the reality show The Ultimatum, but I decided to get chicken and waffles at Bells and Whistles last Sunday. It just felt like a treat yourself day. And the dish delivered. The chicken and waffles has a more-is-more ethos when it comes to flavour and texture: sweet (syrup) and salty (fried chicken), crunchy (chicken again) and creamy with a little kick of spice (chili yogurt). It was the perfect size for breakfast—which matters, since this meal is basically impossible to reheat in a way that isn’t deeply disappointing. There was just the right amount of everything, from the on-the-thinner-side oat waffle (my preference—it’s definitely more chicken than waffle) to the dash of dill across the plate. It’s also $16, which happens to be cheaper than the same dish at my other breakfast go-tos (Colony’s chicken and waffles are $18.25, Deacon’s Corner is $17, Nelly’s fried chicken waffle benny is $18, Jamjar’s chicken french toast is $21).

Much like my relationship with a pancake-lover, these chicken and waffles prove that opposites attract. That’s better relationship advice than you’ll get from The Ultimatum, anyway.

Bells and Whistles (Dunbar & Fraser) Chicken and Waffles
$16
4497 Dunbar St
bellsandwhistlesyvr.ca

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