Monday, July 26, 2004

Chicken Caesar Review: Boston Market

Boston Market's claim to fame is their rotisserie chicken that you can see cooking behind the counter. It makes for some juicy chicken, and so I had high hopes for their Marinated Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, which runs $5.29. It includes freshly cut romaine lettuce sprinkled with Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheeses, topped with garlic croutons, their own creamy dressing that blends the rich flavors of garlic, cheese and a hint of anchovy, and tender grilled chicken.

One thing that should be said up front is that the salad is pre-made and sold in a plastic container. It may be fresh as of that morning, but not fresh as of that hour. Instead of being tossed, the dressing and croutons are kept in separate plastic containers for you to combine yourself. There were pitifully few croutons, but there was plenty of tangy dressing to compensate. The lettuce is fresh and nicely shredded, so tossing your own salad is much less of a problem than I thought it would be. The cheese is in the center, but there is plenty of it and it also blends well. Both dressing and cheese have a very strong taste, and this is what really makes the salad memorable. Finally the chicken, cut in long strips, are very tender and complement the salad very well. Finally, you do get one of Boston Market's great corn muffins to go with your salad.

The trend I have found with four of these reviews so far is that the cheaper, the better. I don't know if this trend will hold, but I can say that Boston Market's Chicken Caesar is a delicious salad that is definitely worth the money.

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