A new hangout in my area is Bells and Whistles. Here, you’ll find a beautiful, airy space that’s clean in design serving up classic American roadside fare but upscale. All their items are made fresh with locally-sourced ingredients.
There’s a skeeball and basketball area to shoot some hoops while you’re waiting for your food or just to spark up a little rivalry while you enjoy some craft beer.
Today we ordered the KFC, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Chilli Cheese Dog, Garlic Fries, Onion Rings and Skorboy Q.
The KFC or Korean Fried Chicken ($12) is tossed together in a sweet, tangy and spicy sauce along with cilantro, broccoli, cauliflower, green onion, sesame seeds and pickled cucumber. This is a good portion to start with and had a nice crispy exterior but still tender on the inside.
You can substitute the salted fries on any burger/sandwich for onion rings or garlic fries for an extra $2, so we did that. Otherwise you can order the sides for $7.
The Crispy Chicken Sandwich ($17) features a crispy breaded buttermilk chicken and lettuce, pickles and black pepper mayo. The bun it’s served on was toasted slightly and added to the overall crunch of the sandwich (but still being soft when bit into). I liked this sandwich a lot, it wasn’t greasy and had a nice, definitive crunch to it. The pickles and black pepper mayo give it a nice, clean after taste.
I paired it with garlic fries – tossed in roasted garlic puree, parsley, parmesan and served with a garlic rosemary aioli. These garlic fries is the reason life is worth going on for. The roasted garlic puree is a concentrated punch of flavour while the parm added to the flavour without detracting from the main attraction. The garlic rosemary aioli it’s served with is a nice touch, is it needed? I don’t personally think so, but Brian thought it was delicious.
Brian ordered the Chilli Cheese Dog ($9), served with an all beef weiner, ballpark chilli, aged cheddar on a toasted bun. I’m normally not a fan of chilli cheese dogs, but this is one I can get behind. There’s a good balance of flavour – the chilli is not too salty but still quite meaty in flavour while the cheese gave it a bit more weight. I’d like to see a little bit more chilli on this dog though!
He paired it with onion rings and these are so good! The breading is crispy, crunchy and not too greasy. The onion inside is still cooked but hasn’t lost it’s crunch as well. It’s served with a tangy honey mustard sauce, which was a surprisingly good pairing. I don’t think I can have onion rings without a sauce like this now.
We finished our meal with their premium soft serve ice cream (made with Foothills Creamery dairy products).
We ordered the Skorboy Q ($6). The chocolate soft serve is drizzled in pretzels, Skor and oreo cookies. The ice cream is a sweet treat after all the savoury goods and not too overly sweet. The creaminess is perfection. It’s lightly sprinkled in pretzels, Skor and Oreo crumbs which gives it a good crunch. The ice cream portion is good for two people to share and not too overwhelming.
What we didn’t order is a local brew – which I’ll be back for anyway. They had a lot of sours on the menu when I came and also a Milk Stout with Coconut that intrigued me. They rotate their taps frequently, but you can always check their website for what’s on.
I’m definitely a fan and will be back to try more of their menu (they have a brunch menu too!).
Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Value: 4
Ambiance: 5
OVERALL: 4.5
For more information on Bells and Whistles, check out their website here: https://www.bellsandwhistlesyvr.ca/
