True Flavors

    My friend loves chicken and waffles, so I'm always on the search for the next best chicken and waffles restaurant to bring her to. We love Dame's Chicken and Waffles in Durham (see a previous blog entry on Dames,) we like Mr. Wonderful's Chicken and Waffles in Raleigh (especially the buttery Sweet Jesus sauce!) but we may have found a new favorite in True Flavors. Despite its apparent popularity, True Flavors is tucked away in an unobtrusive little shopping strip. There is no waiting area, so while you hover outside the restaurant on the sidewalk you can gaze longingly at the window displays of pound cakes and cookies the size of your face.  Fortunately, while we waited there was a small farmer's market for us to peruse. After interogating a local hipster on the virtues of True Flavors, he confirmed that the place was great and that they had breakfast sandwiches of immense girth. He proceeded to warn us with some barely masked contempt that we would only want to order one of these sandwiches if we wanted something filled with meat and sugar, to which we unanimously responded with an enthusiastic yes. He looked at us with renewed disgust, but no matter, our number had come up!  Fortunately, we made it early enough to avoid the line that formed outside on the sidewalk. Contrary to its dull surroundings, the inside, though small, is bright and welcoming.  Our server was exceptionally perky and pleasant for the a.m. and happy to offer her recommendations. After being totally sold by the hipster's contemptuous description of the  Southern Comfort Chicken Biscuit, three of our group decided on that, while my other compatriate stayed true to our original mission of chicken and waffles. We ordered a mix of collared greens and fried apples as our included side items.  In order to whet our appetites for our carb heavy biscuit sandwiches, we were provided with nothing other than big fluffy biscuits and jam. Eating these seemed like overkill, but not having had our entrees appear yet, we did so with gusto. The locally roasted coffee was refilled in our cups every time they dipped below halfway full. When our food came out our eyes pretty much bugged out at not only the size but how amazing it looked.

                                                    Southern Comfort Chicken Biscuit


                                     
                                                                     Side of Baked Apples

      The chicken biscuit was filled with a fried chicken filet, a fried green tomato slice, cheddar cheese, and a fried egg all on a giant biscuit topped with a chili honey glaze. So yeah, essentially a heart attack, but man it was good.  This is the kind of breakfast that requires you to go back to sleep immediately following. So what could beat the biscuit capable of making a farmer's market hipster cower? The chicken and waffles.


                                                                  
                             Chicken and Waffles

   The chicken and waffles were available as a deep fried or pan fried chicken breast drizzled with that same chili honey glaze. My friend went for the pan fried upon the recommendation of the waitress who suggested that it was slightly more moist. The chicken was served with a sweet herb butter, presumably made with the herbs from their tiny indoor herb garden, and the butter is what put it over the top for us.  The accompanying tower of mini buttermilk waffles was an impressive sight. As any fan of chicken and waffles can tell you, the combination of savory and sweet makes for the perfect brunch entree, and this was no exception. Served with a side of eggs, the chicken and waffles was no small meal either.
                                     
                                                               Mixed Berry Pound Cake

   We were all sorely tempted to try one of the fabulous sounding shake combinations, such as the
Banana Split with vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries, brown sugar fried bananas, chocolate chips, fresh whipped cream, salted nuts and cherries. Unfortunately, none of us could muster the room to order one.  One friend did manage to to order a slice of the mixed berry pouncake from the window for us all to try a bite of. It was outrageous, dense and moist, enough to sell me on pound cake which I generally avoid. He ultimately reached his limits with his ambitious dessert order and had to bring the rest home.  He proclaimed it one of the best brunches he had ever had and we all immediately discussed plans for coming back.  We did wind up going back only a few weeks later and wound up trying the delicious milk shake combinations as well as the Butter Burger.  The chocolate chips made the Banana split Milk Shake awfully hard to drink with a straw, as did the cake pieces in the Strawberry Shortcake Shake. While I didn't get to taste the butter burger, my friend really enjoyed it.  Based on the giant onion rings ordered by another table, that's definitely something I would want to try on another occasion. True Flavors is an apt name, if you can take a break from watching your caloric intake, then check it out!