Fast Food Review: KFC's Famous Bowls

by Kat Kinsman, Posted Aug 9th 2007 @ 1:10AM

My friends have a running joke about my weird machismo when it comes to restaurant ordering. If there's cold calves brain, fermented bamboo curry, or pickled goose web on the menu, it's gonna end up in my mouth. It may or may not go any further than that, but at least I've tasted it. However, despite my fearlessness, there's an item about which I've got endless (admittedly morbid) curiosity, but have yet to sample – the KFC Famous Bowl.

When dissected, there's much to love. As my good pal John Devore of Maxim Radio's The Devore & Diana Show says, "It's all the good s&*! you want to eat – all together in one bowl!" True – corn, chicken, cheese, rice, biscuits, gravy (mmmm...gravy...) and mashed potatoes are delicious in their own right, but all a-glop together, it...well it just seems like something for which I'd have been reprimanded for stirring together on my plate as a kid.

But, there are things we do to better ourselves as people – rounding out our experiences and broadening our horizons and whatnot. Today was going to be the day my taste buds and the Colonel's unholy creation went mano-a-tongue-o in the culinary coliseum, but Mother Nature intervened. A tornado in my home borough of Brooklyn left most of NYC un-navigable by public transportation, and I couldn't get to a KFC. Divine intervention? You tell me. Use the comments section to share your impressions of the KFC Famous Bowls, and I'll happily post the highlights.

And enjoy this stunning review by blogger Jeff Kay.

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Reader comments (Page 5 of 15)

8-19-2007 @10:34AM GitoffMYlawn said... Its like a party in my mouth, and everyones invited. perfect culinary treat that is very nutriuos.
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8-20-2007 @10:14PM Mark said... I"m surprised people like them. I didn't. First off, the chicken bits tasted a bit stale. Second, it was, well, kind of confusing. I couldn't tell what each mouthful contained. It was like astronaut food in a tube.
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8-19-2007 @10:39AM Kandi said... I have never tasted the KFC Famous Bowl. My husband seems to enjoy them very much since whenever he makes a lunchtime stop at KFC(which is a few times a month) it seems to be his entree of choice. I think its disgusting and very much like the writer of the article described as "...something for which I'd have been reprimanded for stirring together on my plate as a kid."

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8-19-2007 @10:39AM Lisa said... Not exactly health-food, but ya gotta love favor of all those fat calories!
Haven't you ever eaten Shepherd's pie or Tater Tot casserole? Comfort food until your pants get too tight!
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8-19-2007 @10:54AM IluvMika said... I see what u mean by tasting different foods but KFC's bowl doesnt really fall into that same category, but that bowl is really disgusting and unhealthy, it would probably be better if u made it at home.
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8-19-2007 @10:43AM Cynthia said... My sister and I have a running joke about this thing. How many gross, high-fat items can be crammed into one bowl? "Its mashed potatoes topped with corn, topped with fried chicken, topped with gravy, topped with cheese, topped with sour cream, topped with guacamole, topped with fudge and nuts, topped with lard..."

I mean seriously... This thing was so overwhelmingly greasy and heavy that I couldn't eat it...and I'm no health nut. It was just....ewww.
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8-19-2007 @10:59AM christine said... I love the KFC bowl!! My step mom HATED when we mixed food..... esp corn and potatoes. She didn't like the taste and the sight grossed her out. lol
As for the Heart Attack Bowl and Fattest Nation comments....... well, folks, we aren't supposed to LIVE on this stuff. It's called MODERATION. Stop blaming the fast food companies :)
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8-19-2007 @10:49AM Pat said... I like all those items individually.... but there is something about putting them all in one bowl that grosses me out. Sometimes my teenaged son will beg me to stop for one, and I relent. He loves it. Eating it rarely is ok, health-wise. Making a habit of it is not good. I do like one kind of "bowl" that we can get locally. It's rice, fresh steamed veggies, and grilled white chicken, with teryaki sauce. Nothing bad in that one. But, that is the only time I can stand to mix food together.
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8-19-2007 @10:52AM just me said... I have nothing against the bowls, me myself i wouldnt eat them they just look gross. And I have this thing about food being mixed all together like that. I dont like my foods to touch.
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8-19-2007 @10:54AM Jerry said... KFC Famous bowls? Yeah, they can look pretty disgusting, but I LOVE'M!!

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8-19-2007 @10:59AM Lana Zvada said... I happen to love this!! It's a quick complete dinner. Hey, when you eat all this it's going to end up being all mixed together in your stomach, eh? A very easy way to get a three course meal in one bowl. And it's delicious.
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8-19-2007 @10:56AM Marc said... One famous bowl is 850 calories, therefore I have not had one in AWHILE
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8-19-2007 @11:05AM Craigp4805@aol.com said... I like comedian Patton Oswalt's description of KFC's Famous Bowls: "Despair in a Bowl." He says it looks like the kind of a meal made by a drunk person arriving home after the bars close. And while I love mashed potatoes, how does KFC manage to make something that soupy taste burnt? Not a fan. I eat a lot of crappy food, but not this one.
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8-19-2007 @11:03AM Pat said... I like all those ingredients separately. But, there is something gross about them all being in the same bowl at the same time. My teenaged son sometimes begs me to stop there and get him a bowl.... I relent, because doing this rarely is not bad for you. Doing it routinely is definitely bad health-wise. The only kind of bowl I like is when I put rice, fresh steamed veggies, then grilled white chicken pieces and teryaki sauce together. They are done in layers. Perhaps it is the mashed potato, corn and cheese, together in the KFC bowl that grosses me out...
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8-19-2007 @11:04AM John said... It is the name that gets me. What did these bowls do to get famous? Like Paris Hilton? It seems to me KFC invented it and dubbed it Famous from the get go.
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8-19-2007 @11:08AM chris said... delish!!!! love it! all those folks who whine bout the calories, fat...need to learn moderation and self control. This, as most things, are FINE if you get off your butts and exercise, eat things like this occasionally......
not DAILY! Americans have poor control......that's not the colonels problem. They are genius for capitalizing on the idiots who think it's ok to live on junk food ALLLLL the time. Get some willpower, and exercise.... then enjoy this fabulous atleast once. (Though I do wish they came in a smaller size....I can't eat that much....it's ALOT of food. and it comes with rice OR potatoes......not both)
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8-19-2007 @11:11AM Athina said... This is absolutely the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. I ate one bite, and had to throw the rest out. Visually, it looked like a bunch of left over garbage, and taste-wise, everything gumped together was just not appetizing in the least.
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8-19-2007 @11:12AM Bon said... One time.....I got REALLY wasted and put together some sh!t like that. It was delicious at the time but it plugged me up for 3 days.
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8-19-2007 @11:17AM LarryzLadySTar said... Looks (and smells) pretty much like the slop we threw to the hogs when I was a kid. I like corn. I like mashed potatoes. I like gravy, and all the other stuff they put in there...BUT NOT ALL TOGETHER! That's just gross and totally unappealing.
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8-19-2007 @11:23AM tonia said... i.....um......dont quite know what to say.....i personally have NOT had this big bowl o' KFC goodness.....but my husband and friends have and they all love it......but they would eat cardboard if there was enough ketchup........however the more i think about i would probably like the potatoes, chicken and gravy mixed together with a biscuit.......no cheese though(whats that about?) and i would have to have the corn seperate...........and this 'me' person who commented above me........why do you find it necessary to comment the same comment 3 times in a row?........
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