I'm not proud of this, but nothing has truly given me absurd joy like knowing that Taco Bell brought back the Naked Chicken Taco.
The Naked Chicken Taco is a Taco Bell aberration that consists of a breaded chicken piece that's been shaped to form a taco shell, filled with shredded lettuce, tomato and some kind of sauce.
It shouldn't be good. And to be fair, it's not like, magical. But it should be bad and shameful and a sin, but it's delicious, especially when you bomb it with fire sauce.
As a person raised in Texas, I have never had good memories of Taco Bell. Why would I eat Taco Bell when there was like … good Tex-Mex I can eat? But as time has gone on, I've felt an increased… fondness, I guess? Maybe it's being far away from Texas and having limited access to good Tex Mex. Maybe it's because of the Munch Squad. Maybe I just like how ridiculous Taco Bell memes are! I don't know.
So when a Taco Bell came back to Australia, not just to NSW but ridiculously close to my house, obviously I had to have the meme food.
And understandably, most stuff was just… okay. I learned very quickly that it was better scarfed down within the first 15 minutes, but even warm the crunch wrap supreme was never really… crunchy. The tacos were cheap, but not so cheap as to be worth it. And crucially, they didn't have like, the doritos locos taco or any of the other buckwild creations I'd heard of. Until the naked chicken taco.
And it's like… kinda nice? I can't help it! I like it! And I refuse to feel bad about it. It's a joke food, but it's also a pleasant surprise! Don't we need more pleasant surprises?
2020 has been awful surprise after awful surprise for 10 straight months. I'll take one nice surprise, even if it's wrapped up in a crispy chicken taco shell.
What weird pleasant surprises have you had recently?