Tasteless gravy at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken

I'd read good things about Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken on Urbanspoon but maybe the one in Port Coquitlam had a new chef or an off day or what not because my experience really didn't match up.

It's been ages since I had fried chicken, so that should have given them a huge advantage from the start. Long abstinence = strong craving, right?
I opted for one of the lunch specials: 3 pieces + fries + gravy for $6.99. Two pieces spicy (thigh, drumstick), one piece classic recipe (wing). I didn't opt for take-out and just ate it there, so it came freshly made and piping hot. I let the chicken cool a bit and worked on the fries first.

The fries were okay. Nothing special and probably not triple-cooked ultimate fries, but hot and fresh. The gravy was sadly flat. Almost tasteless. I was honestly really shocked.

The chicken wing with classic recipe was okay, but it didn't have quite the same amount of batter as the thigh and drumstick. That was so-so. The so-called "famous recipe" didn't leap out at me. It was also, however, not as salty as I remembered KFC to be, and being more sodium conscious these days, that didn't really bug me.

The thigh and drumstick had really only one thing going for it, and that was the crispiness. Again, not very salty. Enough of a spicy kick to have a bit of zip in your mouth, but it was barely more than mildly spicy for my palate. Again, nothing special.

Since the gravy was a complete bust, I have to wonder if it was just an off day. In case it is not, then I recommend Lee's for less salty fried chicken (but skip the fries and gravy). For crispy fried chicken, KFC and Church's are fine and much more accessible than a mere three franchise locations, two of which are way out east in PoCo and Langley.

Also, where were the mac and cheese wedges?

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Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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