I loved fried chicken…it’s my go-to “cheer-me-up meal” on a crappy day.  A great Friday night binge on juicy fried chicken can only be topped by a delectable Saturday morning brunch of Belgian waffles and maple syrup.  So when I heard you can have both in one meal, I had to have it!  I heard about this chicken and waffles craze on the west coast, but wasn’t sure I could find a binge-worthy version here in DC.  Well, I’m a researcher (that’s my day job) and I exercised my skills over the Memorial Day weekend to search out the best chicken and waffles spot in DC.  I was joined by my faithful family foodies to explore a sample size of four U street corridor staples: Oohs and Aahs, Marvin, Ben’s Next Door and Crème.  All have chicken and waffles on their menu.

Our journey began at Oohs and Aahs at noon on a Sunday. We were one of the first groups as they opened and sat in the stools right by the front doors.  It had the feel of sitting at a chefs table for a tasting menu but at a total hole in the wall joint.  Most of the cooks ignored us, but one of them got a kick out of our newbie giddiness and offered us samples of a couple of Oohs and Aahs favorites on the house.  I drooled over a bite of their slow cooked ribs, but this article is about chicken and waffles.  To our dismay, Chicken and Waffles is a late night specialty at Oohs and Aahs so we settled on an order of the freshly fried chicken that usually adorns their waffles.  It was spectacular.  The outer skin had a great crunch and great spicy flavor while the meat on the inside was soft and juicy.  I could only dream great dreams of how it would have tasted on a waffle with syrup and powdered sugar.

Next we ventured to Ben’s Next Door.  Coupled with discombobulated service and hair in our shrimp and grits, it was only our pure determination to complete our chicken and waffles challenge that kept us here.  (Yes, we also tasted Shrimp and Grits at all four establishments, but that’s a topic for our next blog.)  Unfortunately, their chicken and waffles suffered greatly along with their service.  To their defense is was Sunday afternoon on Memorial Day weekend…but on the other hand, Ben’s Next Door wasn’t born yesterday and they were making rookie mistakes.  With that said, Ben’s waffles were the best we had all day.  The waffles were slightly sweet, with a perfectly crisp shell and a moist inner sponge.  It soaked up the maple syrup without disintegrating.  Their chicken, on the other hand, was nothing to write home about.  It wasn’t dry, but it wasn’t flavorful either.  We were spoiled by the depth of flavor of the chicken at Oohs and Aahs.

Our third spot was Crème.  I was particularly excited about Crème doing some sort of a refined take on the chicken and waffles craze.  Instead they offered us underwhelming fried chicken atop a soggy waffle.  It was soggy even before we added syrup…not a good sign.  No twists or surprises except for how disappointed we were.  When the nice waiter asked why we took less than a single bit of our dish, we lied and told him we were full.  We didn’t have the courage to tell him how bad it was.

We finished at Marvin based on the genius suggestion of a work colleague.  The vibe at their open air roof-top lounge/restaurant with their live DJ (and a great one at that) was the perfect ending to our adventure allowing us to reminisce on the day’s discoveries over a cold beverage and great tunes.  They offered an interesting not-so-comfort-food and more-“let’s–chill-with-a-beer” backdrop with our last chicken and waffles tasting.  Though I expected a twist at Crème, it was Marvin that attempted an out-of-the-box amalgamation of chicken and waffles and country fried chicken.  Their chicken had a wonderfully thick and crispy breading.  For full disclosure, though I found the chicken juicy, my comrades did feel that Marvin fried chicken was greasier…especially when pitted against Oohs and Aahs perfection for fried chicken.  Marvin added a layer of collard greens in between the chicken and the waffle and placed it all on a bed of country gravy.  Not sure I was confident about adding maple syrup to that mix.  I tried it, but it wasn’t a hit in my book.  Sadly the waffle was soggy here too, though not nearly as inedible as at Crème’s.

So there you have it folks, our verdict is as follows:

1. Oohs and Aahs
2. Marvin
3. Ben’s Next Door
4. Crème

Before I go, I leave you with this teaser.  None of the four chicken and waffles establishments paired the dish with a sauce that married the sweetness of the waffle and the crisp savory juiciness of the chicken.  So our following mission is to invent a sauce that could solve this issue.  I know some purists may gawk at this effort, but we have to give it a try and will report back soon.

Till then…don’t waste calories on food that doesn’t taste good!

**I should add that in order to succeed in our chicken and waffles challenge we ordered only 1 plate of chicken and waffles per 3 people.  Otherwise, we would have abandoned our mission after Oohs and Aahs itself. 

Guest post by Jamie S.