i live in a world where chicken tenders and fries are 18 bucks

While I totally understand inflation is real and there's no such thing as eating out cheap anymore, the prices of some things legitimately disgust me.

So I'm looking around the online map and thought hey, chicken. I could go for that. With me being me, I see three chicken places that might look good and read the menu for each to see what they offer and what the prices are.

Side note on that: If the restaurant doesn't show a menu WITH prices right up front when I go to look them up online, I don't go there.

I look at the menus, and see the prices.

This is when the disgust happened.

The places I picked were just slightly upscale compared to typical fast food joints, as in places where a small amount of effort is put into the atmosphere and the food is of a better quality, supposedly. However, this is nothing that would be considered fine dining. This is chicken tenders we're talking about here.

All three places had chicken tenders where after tax, the damage was $18. For a large amount of food? No. Just three tenders and a handful of fries NOT including any drink.

I went to the grocery store instead and got sushi. The one I frequent actually does a good job at it. And the price? Three full rolls for $10 out the door. The rolls were Philly, "Caterpillar" and "Shaggy Dog", and were only sitting for maybe an hour at most before purchase. Were they good? Yes.

All of the disgust I had for the chicken places was due to two things. The price, and knowing what it is I'm being served. I know that chicken is bottom tier frozen crap, and the only thing making it "better" compared to fast food slop is sauce and/or seasoning and nothing else. Same goes for the fries.

I can buy that same bottom tier frozen chicken, the same bottom tier seasonings, the same bottom tier sauces, and the same frozen cheap-ass fries myself at the grocery store for a price significantly south of $18. And it doesn't take much skill to whip up tenders and fries.

Sushi, on the other hand, does take some actual skill to make. That's a skill I don't have (yet). Are bottom tier ingredients used to make the sushi? No. This isn't to say highfalutin premium tier ingredients are used, but it is a notch or two above whatever the chicken places use.

Ultimately, the sushi is more difficult to make, has better ingredients (at least for the grocery store I go to), and most importantly isn't overpriced. Getting three rolls for $10 is a decent deal because that's $3.33 (and a true $3.33 at that) a roll.

At the chicken places, it's $18 for overpriced bottom tier crap that anybody could make. These chicken places have no view (a parking lot doesn't count), no real atmosphere to speak of, and... yeah, sucks. Pass.

What does it take to make decent tenders?

Any frozen chicken tenders bought at the grocery store, canola oil if frying (doesn't mess with the flavor as much), salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika.

And if you want that "secret country flavor", if you bake, pour a little pickle juice over the tenders after baking while they cool. I'm not kidding. While that's not the correct way to add the pickle flavor, it works in a pinch to get bottom tier frozen crap to taste better.

If you fry the things, you'll need a decent frying pan set. Preferably a set with glass lids so oil doesn't splash all over the stove. Fry at medium heat.

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