Chicken Sandwich at Rotisserie du Canard - Comme Ci, Comme Sarnie


It's a glorious Wellington Sunday and that means one thing: Harbourside markets! I roll out of bed and stumble to the transformed parking lot and survey my options. My first choice, MexiCan is sadly not there this week, so I opt for the tried-and-true chicken sando from Rotisserie du Canard. They have been around since 2012 according to their Facebook page, and park up at Harbourside on a Sunday, Thorndon on a Thursday and Friday often and I have spotted them round Miramar. At $10 the chicken sandwich is one of the more affordable food truck options, and it is pretty filling. For $2 more you can get a duck sandwich, which I am dying to try, but I want to buy a plant too and my budget is limited.

Harbourside Market is outdoors, so the ambience can vary from 1/10 to 10/10. Today it is a perfect 10. Tables laden with colourful produce abound, and there is a variety of food trucks to whet your appetite.

As previous experience has taught me, the sandwich can be on the dry side so I order it with extra aioli. I am not charged extra, which I appreciate. Service is polite and friendly and my food is ready in a flash. While I wait I salivate over the golden rotisserie chickens. Remember that scene in "Beethoven...?" The sandwich is large, somewhere between the length of a 6 inch and a footlong at Subway. I take a bite. The baguette is pleasantly chewy and baked to a delicious tan. The serving of rotisserie chicken is generous and excellent value for money. Rotisserie is one of my favourite ways of cooking chicken, with its distinctive grilled taste it packs a real flavour punch, which chicken can sometimes lack. That's the good part. The bad part? It's dry.  Despite asking for extra aioli (which, by the way is excellent). On a scale of biblical flood to Sahara it's about an 8/10. It's a pity, the seasoning is just right and the flavours are spot-on, savoury and enticingly grilled. It is, as the French say "comme ci, comme ca" - an elegant way of saying "could be better, could be worse."

Perhaps next time I will try the duck (has a tendency to be less dry than chicken) and ask for extra EXTRA aioli. Still, for the flavour, service and ambience it has been an overall pleasant experience. You can't beat Wellington on a good day, or Harbourside Markets for a dazzling array of cheap eats.

Food: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: Varies according to weather
Cost: $10

Corner of Barnett and Cable Street every Sunday

Comments

  1. RepugnantMarch 7, 2019 at 8:49 AM

    Great review! Apparently, last Sunday was Wellington's busiest day ever. Not sure how that is quantified. Perhaps the number of chicken baguettes sold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wellington Cheap EatsMarch 7, 2019 at 10:56 AM

      The market was packed! Lots of lines for food trucks, so must have been a good day for business. I'd much rather support a local small business than a souless chain, and the quality of the food is almost always so much better.

      Delete

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