Are millenials to blame for the rise of the spice bag and the fall of the snack box?

super_furry

Because I know someone has to be. Time was every takeaway worth their salt and vinegar would offer a decent snack box, but over the past 10 years the quality of snack boxes has been diminishing, leading us to where we are today. The chips are fine - the chips are always fine - it's the chicken that's suffering. Dry and tasteless lumps of rubbery flesh 'coated', and I use that term loosely, in a soggy, beige and bland flavouring.

All this has coincidended with the rise of spice bags - crap chips, too much garlic salt and chilli and dry and hard lumps of fried chicken substitute. Millenials are far too willing to accept this, abandoning the snack boxes of their forefathers for the more exotic taste of the spice bag. So how do we fix this? Is it time to make snack boxes great again?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Dafuq is a spice bag?

Dr Crayfish

The one time I had some of a "Spiced Bag" or whatever you kids call them, the chicken was like some kind of reconstituted meat gel that was deep fried beyond any kind of resemblance to poultry. Apart from that it was quite nice.

Donal55

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Dafuq is a spice bag?

You haven't lived.

GingerLily

I've never had either!!

Edit: it was all about the 3in1 in my day

Floppybits

Millenials are to blame for everything.

frag420

That the shtuff they do be shmoking and selling in prisons...bags of spice!?

Turns ya into a tree!

Jimmy Garlic

Decent chippers still do decent snack boxes. Spice bags are a Dublin thing, none of that muck down the country.

Donal55

GingerLily wrote: »

I've never had either!!

What about the spice bag?

suicide_circus

It's amazing how kfc chicken is just about the shıttest rendition of southern fried chicken I've ever encountered

mansize

Do they eat it in Safe Spaces™?

Badly Drunk Boy

I never liked snack boxes but the 'chicken' in spice bags is terrible rubbery stuff. Salt and chilli chips can be great (but unhealthy).

airportlackie

Spice boxes are unreal

BattleCorp

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

Spice bags are a Dublin thing, none of that muck down the country.

Nah, I'm culchie as fcuk and we have that sh1te down here in the bog.

Tried them a couple of times, woeful tack altogether.

fizzypish

suicide_circus wrote: »

It's amazing how kfc chicken is just about the shıttest rendition of southern fried chicken I've ever encountered

I've always found KFC fascinating. Every time I've eaten it I'm left feeling nauseous for about an hour afterwards. I don't have a delicate stomach either. To the OP's question, increased battery farming has probably led to the decline in chicken quality.

Dravokivich

Always preferred getting the dinner box myself.

HellSquirrel

Millennials are to blame for -everything-. Once you remember this, you're probably okay.

Although I prefer the spicy box to the snack box, I gotta admit. And I'm a millennial, albeit only barely.

D0NNELLY

Alec's chipper Beaumont.. single handily maintaining the quality of the snack box since nineteen diggity two.

faceman

Had to google Spice Bag. Invented by the Chinese yet the culchies in this thread are blaming the Dubs.

Not sure if that's racist

D0NNELLY

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

Decent chippers still do decent snack boxes. Spice bags are a Dublin thing, none of that muck down the country.

Me bollix. Every chipper in the country is serving that bag of shïte.

jameorahiely

Millenials wouldn't be able to handle the bones in snack boxes. There'd be a choking epidemic. Zuped up chicken nugets is safer for the childer.

BrokenArrows

suicide_circus wrote: »

It's amazing how kfc chicken is just about the shıttest rendition of southern fried chicken I've ever encountered

I used to think this too. Hated KFC while i lived in Ireland.

Ive been living in the UK for the past 6 years and there is a world of difference between KFC UK vs IE.

Not sure why that is.

sbsquarepants

Snack boxes were never all that - the chicken was just never right.
I don't get the hatred for KFC, sure the colonel has single handedly saved the world from bland tasteless fast food, show him some respect god damn it.
Without him what would you have - some fúcking clown, that's what:mad:

MonkstownHoop

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Snack boxes were never all that - the chicken was just never right.
I don't get the hatred for KFC, sure the colonel has single handedly saved the world from bland tasteless fast food, show him some respect god damn it.
Without him what would you have - some fúcking clown, that's what:mad:

And a self appointed burger king! He's not my burger king!

GLaDOS

Spice bags are overrated.

Barry Badrinath

GLaDOS wrote: »

Spice bags are overrated.

Couldnt agree more.

The flying mouse

faceman wrote: »

Had to google Spice Bag. Invented by the Chinese yet the culchies in this thread are blaming the Dubs.

Not sure if that's racist

There Chinese dubs.

sbsquarepants

MonkstownHoop wrote: »

And a self appointed burger king! He's not my burger king!

The burger best of a bad bunch, just doesn't have the same ring to it though:)

foggy_lad

GingerLily wrote: »

I've never had either!!

Edit: it was all about the 3in1 in my day

Back in my day we went into Greasy Mick's and he'd put on a feed of chips and some chicken and tell us to help ourselves to the pot of crubeens on the big turf fire, Crack open a large bottle and sit on the window sill eating and drinking till we were full as ticks then off home to suffer.

There is nothing in a real chipper that has come out of a machine like them spice bag floor sweepings or chicken nuggets or other mechanically recovered meat shoite

Fuzzytrooper

Who cares? So long as my sacred battered sausage and battered burger remain then all will be well.

irish_goat

Can someone explain what is in a spice box and a snack bag?? I'm guessing neither beat a chicken box from Derry.

Advbrd

GingerLily wrote: »

I've never had either!!

Edit: it was all about the 3in1 in my day

Or a spit roast as we used to call it.

Jayop

Ye free staters need to embrace the glory of the Northern cowboy supper. Two battered sausages, chips and beans in a curry chip tray and covered with vinegar. Now that's a feed fit for a man after having a heap of pints.

Jayop

irish_goat wrote: »

Can someone explain what is in a spice box and a snack bag?? I'm guessing neither beat a chicken box from Derry.

A spice bag is chips and chicken strips covered in spice in a bag. A snack box is chips and two bits of chicken and normally a leg and a thigh with breadcrumbs in a box.

foggy_lad

irish_goat wrote: »

Can someone explain what is in a spice box and a snack bag?? I'm guessing neither beat a chicken box from Derry.

Spice bag is strips of chicken like "meat" made by machine and coated in the cheapest spicy mix available fried up with the other crap from the oil filter in the chipper.

Snack box is chips and pieces of chicken, leg breast and thigh and wing which is often coated in some southern fried coating.

Snack box is dearer than spice bag but the mark up on the spice bag is massive compared to the snack box.

osarusan

Never eaten a spice bag.

I haven't eaten a snackbox in about 15 years, and even then never eaten one sober or earlier than 1am.

Those were good times.

foggy_lad

Spice bags are most likely popular because of the private school crowds thinking they are great eating shite fried in dripping.

blue note

I just can't see the attraction of chippers to be honest. I get about 4 a year and they're always disappointing. The last one I had I got a battered sausage with and they cut it all the way down the middle, so it was fried in the middle! WTF! A battered sausage should essentially be steamed inside the batter, instead of losing all it's juices into the frier and being dried out from cooking it like that. And the chips are beyond greasy, they're soggy. And the burgers from them are terrible - I really don't understand how they're so difficult to do well.

So basically I see threads about chippers and I just can't understand how people love them so much. But they really, really do - enough to get animated about things like snack boxes and spice bags. I've no problem with this by the way, kind of envious that other people can enjoy a cheap treat so much.

Jayop

blue note wrote: »

I just can't see the attraction of chippers to be honest. I get about 4 a year and they're always disappointing. The last one I had I got a battered sausage with and they cut it all the way down the middle, so it was fried in the middle! WTF! A battered sausage should essentially be steamed inside the batter, instead of losing all it's juices into the frier and being dried out from cooking it like that. And the chips are beyond greasy, they're soggy. And the burgers from them are terrible - I really don't understand how they're so difficult to do well.

So basically I see threads about chippers and I just can't understand how people love them so much. But they really, really do - enough to get animated about things like snack boxes and spice bags. I've no problem with this by the way, kind of envious that other people can enjoy a cheap treat so much.

You go to the wrong chipper.

Rumpy Pumpy

foggy_lad wrote: »

Spice bags are most likely popular because of the private school crowds thinking they are great eating shite fried in dripping.

Bizarre comment.

Anyways, all this talk about there being a wide variance in quality between chippers is nonsense. The vast vast majority of them all order the exact same food from the exact same supplier. Luigis is getting the same pre coated chicken as Mario's. It's how they compete against other fast food providers in terms of offering a bag of greasy muck for about 7 euro.

empacher

Remember when supermacs used to sell kebabs. Those were the days.

blue note

Jayop wrote: »

You go to the wrong chipper.

I've picked chippers based on "this one will change your mind, it's amazing." And my housemates quite like the chippers in my area. I just don't really like chipper food.

One exception I will make is beschoffs. That place is actually decent.

SEPT 23 1989

blue note wrote: »

I just can't see the attraction of chippers to be honest. I get about 4 a year and they're always disappointing. The last one I had I got a battered sausage with and they cut it all the way down the middle, so it was fried in the middle! WTF! A battered sausage should essentially be steamed inside the batter, instead of losing all it's juices into the frier and being dried out from cooking it like that. And the chips are beyond greasy, they're soggy. And the burgers from them are terrible - I really don't understand how they're so difficult to do well.

So basically I see threads about chippers and I just can't understand how people love them so much. But they really, really do - enough to get animated about things like snack boxes and spice bags. I've no problem with this by the way, kind of envious that other people can enjoy a cheap treat so much.

What do you feast upon after a day on the porter?

Jayop

blue note wrote: »

I've picked chippers based on "this one will change your mind, it's amazing." And my housemates quite like the chippers in my area. I just don't really like chipper food.

One exception I will make is beschoffs. That place is actually decent.

Any chipper that's destroyed a battered sausage like you described should be avoided at all costs.

blue note

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

What do you feast upon after a day on the porter?

Crisps, chicken wings probably in frank sauce, sausages are good. A Chinese or Thai the odd time if I need a take away although I usually find the Chinese disappointing too. Or if I can motivate myself to cook a proper dinner that's by far the best.

I'm not pretending to be particularly healthy, I just don't love the chipper food!

I do love a good kebab or burger, but i wouldn't go to a chipper for either.

blue note

Jayop wrote: »

Any chipper that's destroyed a battered sausage like you described should be avoided at all costs.

That seems to be the norm the last few times I got them.

I should say I actually worked in a chipper for a summer while in school - cunninghams in tramore. I dont mind saying since it's changed owners a couple of times since. I'd also defend that one as a decent one - food was made properly, they made their own batter for the sausages and fish, chicken was coated there, not bought in coated. And everything was clean - very high kitchen standards. I don't know if chippers used to be better like the op was saying or have I just gone off them as I got older. I think the latter.

Supergurrier

Won't anyone spare a thought for the pudding boxes

Walter H Price

Chinese chips are far nicer then chipper chips , Salt and chilli chicken all day long over the ****e southern "fried" (mostly over done in an oven) **** out of a chipper and vinegar (with the exception of a good balsamic) has no place on or near food.

The snack box is dead long live the spice bag and the 4 in 1

lawred2

Deep fried brie all the way

_Jamie_

Walter H Price wrote: »

Chinese chips are far nicer then chipper chips

God, no. Chinese chips are awful.

Never had a spice bag but it sounds like glorified chicken nuggets and chips. I like snack boxes and at least it's proper meat, even if cheaply reared, not reconstituted shite.

Riddle101

I've had a few snack boxes in the past but always found them too greasy, and wasn't a big fan of the chicken either. Only had a spice bag once any couldn't finish it. Too spicy and salty for me. Nowadays I just order a batter burger and chips, or if i'm the Chinese, a Large Special/3 in 1.