Roast Chicken Review: St-Hubert's

Please see part 1 of this series for the backstory and criteria.

In many ways this is the review that L. is dreading because St-Hubert's is his favourite restaurant ever and I am notoriously not that big a fan. I will go so far as to say that I do prefer dining in to take out and their coleslaw is pretty good.

Chicken: Skin was more chewy than crispy and very salty. The meat wasn't that dry, but very mealy -- a quality I detest in chicken. 6/10

Fries: Colder and greasier than I remember them. Must be a side effect of having had to wait an hour for the delivery guy. 4/10

Coleslaw: Warmer and soggier than the dine in variety which I quite enjoy. In fact, I generally do not like coleslaw, but their original vinegarette style is usually refreshing and delicious. I will give them the benefit of the doubt on this one because of the delivery delay. 7/10

Gravy: Thin, very salty and a little spicy. The spice would normally seal it for me, but the salt content kind of skeeves me out. 5/10

Biscuit: The St-Hubert's "biscuit" has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Tell me it doesn't look exactly like the bottom of a McDonald's bun that's been squished:


Barely edible, even with St-Hubert's Sauce. 2/10


Overall score: 24/50

Roast Chicken Review: Coq au Bec (Part One of a Continuing Series)

First off, a little background:

Not long after I met L. he began extolling to me the virtues of a Quebequois institution known as St Hubert. It's a chain of restaurants specializing in roast chicken and ribs and doesn't really exist much outside of Quebec (although I understand there are a couple in Ontario, but that's about it). I had initially assumed that this obsession with roast chicken was just another one of L.'s quirks, a personal fetish nourished by happy childhood memories of meals out with his mom. But no. On our visit in July it quickly became apparent that this obsession was not unique to L. People in Quebec really like their roast chicken, often referred to as "Montreal style rotisserie chicken". It doesn't matter where you go in Montreal, you will be within walking distance of roast chicken. Even the shwarma places offer the option of half a roast chicken.

And so I decided that despite not really caring for roast chicken (too dry and mealy for my tastes) I would strive to rate the various roast chicken options as fodder for my blog. In order to make sure the comparisons are fair, only the traditional chicken breast dinner will be rated. In most cases, a dinner consists of five parts: the chicken, french-fries, gravy, a biscuit & coleslaw. Each part will be rated individually on a scale of one to ten, adding up to a total score out of 50.

First up is Coq au Bec

Chicken: Surprisingly moist and flavourful. Not too greasy. The skin was crisp, salty and spicy in just the right combination. Overall, kinda delicious. 8/10

Fries: A whole different story. Greasy, squishy and obviously fresh from the freezer. Could even have been imported potatoes (for shame!) Reminds me of the fries I ate at the ice-rink concession stand as a child. 4/10

Coleslaw: A little on the scary side. Basically just weak, hair-like strands of cabbage, with a sneezing of carrot thrown in for colour; floating in a sour vinegar marinade. 2/10

Gravy: Not too salty or too spicy. Good, thick consistency that sticks well to the fries. Easily the best part, next to the chicken. 8/10

Biscuit: Tasteless white roll. Cold, but edible with a bit of gravy. 3/10

Overall score: 25/50