Miss Polly's (CLOSED)

Waffling Opinion

One of the benefits of working near Memphis’ Beale Street is having access to the assortment of touristy honky-tonk joints that mostly serve Barbecue, Cajun/Creole and Soul Food. Among this group is Miss Polly’s Soul City Cafe, whose signature dish is the Chicken and Waffle. The entrée is fascinating to me because I don’t see how fried poultry and a yeast-battered pastry soaked in maple syrup go together. I’ve tried eating this in the past at other places and never got satisfaction from consuming both elements at the same time. Seasoned fried chicken and a sweet waffle come off as a mismatch, for the flavors of the two conflict harshly. But despite the illogic of it, chicken and waffles is a popular American dish. So in the interest of this blog, I’d decided to try Miss Polly’s version of it to see if the entrée would change my opinion.

The Chicken and Waffle was as good as I expected. The "waffle" portion of the entrée consists of a huge Belgian waffle that was decent yet out-of-place in a Southern diner (the pancake batter-based American waffle is the choice of most restaurants that serve the entrée). Compared to other places that I've had it, the yeast-battered waffle was average in terms of taste and texture.
The same goes for the chicken breast, for the seasoning consisted of the usual spices associated with fried chicken. The meat was tender and juicy, complementing the eggs and grits that I got as sides. However, when I tried eating both the chicken and waffle together, I got the same clash of flavors that I experienced in the past. So for me, I will never see the light about chicken and waffles as a single entrée. By themselves, the two items are good, but not good together. This is not a knock on Miss Polly’s, but rather it’s that my palette isn’t down with it.

For me, the best part of the Chicken and Waffle dish from Miss Polly’s is one of the sides. The entrée comes with eggs cooked any way a person wants it. Scrambled eggs is my preference, but not to the point where it’s impossible to pick up with a fork. To that end, Miss Polly’s did an excellent job with it, for the eggs were soft yet firm enough to cut into. I also liked that it was lightly seasoned, allowing the flavor of the eggs to shine. The scrambled eggs are great on its own and even better with sausage and grits. In future visits, I might choose this as an entrée over Miss Polly’s premier dish.

Grits were the other side item that I ordered. The side wasn’t any better or worse than most places and I’m not a huge fan of it. However, the grits are better than its alternative, the home fries. I don’t like them because of the charring around the edges. When I had them with the gravy-laden Down South Skillet Scramble, I needed three margarine condiments to take the edge off the burnt taste. If I had gotten it with the Chicken and Waffle, it might have ruined my meal. Fortunately, the grits meshed well with everything, including the syrup-saturated waffle.
Overall, Miss Polly’s Chicken and Waffle is a nice entrée that will appeal to most. Although my personal tastes will never fully embrace it, I can approach it as a two-course meal if I’m really hungry. By the way, Miss Polly’s has other good entrées that will satisfy the appetite (a friend told me that the meatloaf is really good). However, the Chicken and Waffle is a unique experience that I urge others to try.

SIDE NOTE: For those who regularly read this blog, some changes in design have been made. My intention was to make it more user-friendly by condensing and arranging content in a newspaper-style format. Unfortunately, it is still a work in progress, which might lead me to taking the advice of an occasional drinking buddy who is a programmer for Wordpress. As many know, Wordpress provides the publishing platform for many blogs such as I Love Memphis, a website that has a design that I want to emulate. My friend assured me that Wordpress' software is easy to use, which might convince me to switch over from Blogger. If my troubles continue with this blog's makeover, that is exactly what I'll do. Wish me luck!

Website: www.MissPollysMemphis.com

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