I was super excited to try Jolene's when I saw the advertisement online! I was even more excited to know that lazy dog was behind this new restaurant... I'm a regular patron and enjoy their menu and food quality as well as the atmosphere.
The flavors all look very interesting and I ended up trying the Nashville hot bone in as well as the Kung Pao boneless.
The boneless wings were far better than expected, great portion size, excellent amount of breading and texture as well as a decent sauce. Something in the sauce is a little bit reminiscent of oyster sauce, The first few wings are great, then the sauce gets a little bit redundant afterwards. Maybe some acidity could help lighten it up a little bit?
I was most excited about the Nashville hot and was really hoping for big juicy bone in wings with great texture! I guess 2 out of 3 isn't bad... The Nashville hot sauce is great, just the right amount of heat and acidity you can keep going back for more! Best part is, it's not too salty! The wings are really good size, large and juicy! Where they fall short is in texture... The skin is soft and soggy, reminiscent of raw chicken thigh skin. These Wings didn't get hot enough to even render the fat immediately under the surface of the skin. It made the texture unbearable, I actually peeled most of the skin off of all of the wings before eating them as the texture ruined the experience. I know they were not, but I feel like they were boiled instead of fried.
I guess I am just stuck making wings at home as no one in Southern California can seem to get this right... I really wanted to like these and was really excited about them, not a big boneless wing eater, but it's the only thing I'd go back for, if I went back.
Jolene's if you're listening please fix this wing texture and either give me a crispy skin or a crunchy coating. I eat wings once a week and would love nothing more than to eat them there!!!
Also I had the umami sauce as well as the Nashville hot ranch, both were great, neither were overpowering and both were light enough to allow me to taste the wing sauce underneath. read more