Today’s Review: McDonald’s Grand Big Mac With Bacon

The Grand Big Mac is back, and this time you can get it with bacon. A pretty nice addition, but one they feel needs to be accompanied by one of the stupidest hashtag campaigns I’ve seen in a while. Basically, McDonald’s are trying to create a debate over whether the addition of two slices of bacon to a Big Mac somehow makes it no longer a Big Mac. There’s even a TV as where people give stupid reasons as to why it can no longer be classified as a Big Mac. But it’s a Big Mac, it’s called a Big Mac. You don’t put bacon in between two slices of bread and wonder whether you can still call it a sandwich.

But enough of that, does it taste good? Well, yes, it’s a Big Mac with bacon. The bacon is of a decent quality, slightly smoked and sufficiently meaty. I did get an overall taste similar to that classic BK bacon double cheeseburger at first, but then the Big Mac sauce kicked in and it was a pretty great experience. The beef, the pickles, the sauce and the bacon, all working in harmony. It’s good to see the Grand Big Mac back, and bacon just makes everything better. It’s definitely still a Big Mac.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Chicago Stack

There's a new burger adorning the Great Tastes Of America menu, and it's a doozy. Here we have two beef patties, bacon, both American and emmental cheese, BBQ sauce, mayo and pickles, all wrapped up in a cornbread style bun. So yeah, there sure is a lot going on in this burger, but how does it... stack up? Har har.

There are a lot of elements to tackle here, and they're all pretty good. The double patty is a nice touch, the only thing better than one burger is two burgers. The bacon is plentiful and thick, adding another nice meaty layer, while the pickles provide a little hint of saltiness to round it off. Double the cheese means more gooey creaminess, and the two sauces are spread on nicely, meaning this definitely isn't a dry burger. But while all the ingredients are great on their own, there's just a bit too much going on when they're all put together. The sauces are a bit of an odd combination, and the American and emmental cheese seem to blend into one. It's not a big problem, everything together still makes for a fine burger, and the cornbread bun is a pretty unique and tasty addition. Definitely a better Great Tastes burger than some, so grab it while it's around.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Burger King Bacon King

There's no Burger King in my home town anymore, so whenever I visit anywhere else with a Burger King, I just have to pay a visit. Normally I'm caught between having my all time favourite Bacon Double XL, or the special burger of the moment. Thankfully this time I didn't have to choose, as the main feature is a variation on that classic. This is the Bacon King, which is essentially a Bacon Double XL but with eight slices of bacon. Didn't take much more than that to persuade me. Also, it's loaded up with ketchup and mayonnaise, which seemed an odd combination, but I was all game.

Seeing as the Bacon Double XL is one of my all time favourite burgers, this would have had to do something very wrong for me to give it anything less than a perfect score. But as you know, bacon makes everything better, and increasing the count to eight slices just increases that meaty goodness. The original Bacon Double doesn't come with sauce, but I always load it up with ketchup, so that wasn't a big surprise. I was wondering how the mayo would fare, but it turns out it's all good, the combination of sauce and meaty goodness, alongside that gooey American cheese, makes for one amazing burger. It might set you back a few quid, but with the Bacon King, you're in for a treat. Even when this is off the menu, I might go in and add on more bacon so I can have it my way.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Grand Big Mac

You like Big Macs, right? Of course you do, it's a McDonald's classic. It's also 50 years old, and to mark the occasion you can now pick up the Grand Big Mac, which is like a Big Mac, but bigger. I know I've sometimes felt unsatisfied with just the one regular Big Mac, hopefully this would change things.

Grand by name, grand by nature, they could have just called this the Great Big Mac, because that's what it is. Composition wise, it's exactly the same as a Big Mac, which is delicious. Two beef patties, cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce and that fantastic Big Mac sauce. It's all here, and blown up to the size of a Big Tasty. A double decker burger in a Big Tasty size is nothing to scoff at, it's fulfilling and delicious, and I'm sure I'll be disappointed when it disappears and all that's left is the regular Mac. This is a great addition to the menu that's been a long time coming, but it's worth the wait.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Burger King Long Pepperoni

With no Burger King in my home town, it's a rare treat to visit the flame grilled paradise. But today was one of those days, and instead of capitalising on the festive treats on offer, I instead went for this recent addition to the menu. This is the Long Pepperoni, a long burger with two beef patties, cheese and pepperoni, topped with BBQ sauce. Pepperoni in a burger is not a new thing, but it's intriguing enough, I was excited to see what this burger would hold.

Despite containing pepperoni, I can't say I noticed it all that much. A little added meatiness, with a small boost of flavour, but seeing as it was the selling point it was pretty disappointing. I wasn't too sure about the BBQ sauce in conjunction with the pepperoni either, and while it wasn't great, it wasn't too bad either. The rest of the burger is classic Burger King, lovely juicy flame grilled patties, and a decent helping of cheese. So it's not all bad, but as a pepperoni burger it's not a great effort.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Rustlers Gourmet BBQ Burger

You may think "gourmet" and "Rustlers" can't go together in the same sentence, but apparently you'd be wrong. Yes, there's a new range of microwaveable burgers that promise that gourmet experience, with only the finest ingredients, probably. I opted for this BBQ burger, which is served up in a brioche bun. It comes complete with streaky bacon, crispy onions and a smokey BBQ sauce. Just pop it in the microwave for a little over a minute and tuck into some fine dining.

Look at that gourmet goodness. You know, it turns out that when you're dealing with microwaveable burger buns, the difference between regular and brioche isn't that noticeable. I mean sure, this is a little smoother and sweeter, but it's still not a great bun. The burger is your regular Rustlers fare, a passable slab of meat that provides a quick hunger fix, and the cheese is just a slice of processed goodness. As for the other ingredients, they're not bad. The sauce is actually pretty good, nice and smokey, and there's a good amount of it to provide an even coverage. The crispy onions are a pretty good touch too, not the finest you'll find, but they elevate this burger above being completely mediocre. I would by no means call this a gourmet offering, but it's not bad.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: KFC Double Down

It's here, it's finally here! I know I said that yesterday about the dairy free Ben & Jerry's, but I'd only been waiting for that for a couple of months, whereas I've been longing for a double down for seven years. But now, the legendary "burger" has made its way to the UK, for all to enjoy (or vilify, depending on your stance). If you don't know what the Double Down is, and you didn't guess from that picture up there, let me enlighten you. It's a burger where the buns are replaced with chicken fillets. So we have two pieces of boneless Original Recipe chicken, in the middle of which resides cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce. You're either disgusted or drooling right now, so let's push on with the review.

For all the hype this received about being the height of disgraceful burger decadence, I don't see what all the fuss is about. KFC have brought out burgers containing two chicken fillets before, and this is essentially that but without the bun. Therefore it's healthier, less carbs, more protein, and a good amount of fat too. I was worried that after this long a wait I would be somewhat disappointed by the taste, but I have to say this does a pretty great job. The fillets are great, a nice chunky offering with that signature skin, and there's a good amount of cheese plastered inside. It seems to be a different kind of cheese, somewhat more authentic and creamier, and the addition of bacon really pulls it all together, it's a meaty, cheesy delight. On top of that is some amazing smoky BBQ sauce, making this a messy yet satisfying "burger". Maybe it was just the lack of bun that pulled the focus more to the meat, but this tasted different to any other KFC burger I've had. The Double Down has been a long time coming over here, and I'll be grabbing some more in the short six weeks that it's available. I suggest you do too.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: KFC Nashville Hot Burger

It's time for the third Southern Legends burger, around for two weeks only at KFC, it's the Nashville Hot. After being quite disappointed by the Alabama Cheese last time I was quite looking forward to this one, especially after the Nashville Hot chicken came out earlier this year. Unfortunately this burger has a piece of Original Recipe chicken instead of the revamped one, but it does come smothered in a Nashville hot sauce, as well as a helping of ranch sauce and pickles. 

I was hoping the chicken would make an appearance, so I was disappointed about the lack of smoky, flavoursome skin. Thankfully the sauce on top is pretty spicy, a nice big dollop that ramps up the heat while providing a smoky undertone. The ranch sauce was around to cool it down a little, but it wasn't overly noticeable over the hot sauce. The pickles are still a welcome addition to the burger, and although they go better with the Nashville coated chicken, they fare pretty well on top of a standard fillet. This is a fairly decent burger, an improvement on the last Southern Legends offering. Let's see what the last one has on offer.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: KFC Alabama Cheese

It's time for another KFC promo burger, this one also around for just two weeks, on the heels of the Texas Ranch. Here we have the Alabama Cheese, which consists of a brioche bun, chicken fillet, two slices of cheese, kethcup, pickles and mustard. I don't remember having mustard in a KFC burger before, so this showed some promise.

Unfortunately I can't rate this one too highly. It's a pretty bland burger, especially coming off the last burger that had that classic hash brown to make it into more of a tower. The pull here is in the double cheese, which is nice to have, sure, but it doesn't do too much for the flavour. The ketchup is good enough, but the mustard, while possessing that nice mellow American flavour, isn't plentiful enough to really stand out. Also, as far as I could tell, there were no pickles in my burger, I didn't realise they were meant to be in there until I just read the description to type up for this review. It's a shame, I think the pickles would have elevated it into something pretty decent, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed with this flat, sauce-ridden burger. Let's hope the next one's better.

My rating: 2/5 

Today's Review: Hungry Horse Waffl-Icious Burger

Another burger review, I'll turn into a burger at this rate. But anyway, here's another unique burger from the Hungry Horse summer menu, after the interesting (and disappointing) experience of the pizza burger from the other day. This one also forgoes buns, instead opting for waffles, for that all American experience I suppose? I've had chicken and waffles before, and it can be a pretty great combination. This burger features a southern fried chicken breast, lettuce, bacon, burger sauce and maple syrup, sandwiched between two savoury waffles.

I was expecting great things from this, and while it was definitely something different, it's probably not something I'd try again. The chicken was pretty good, as was the bacon, but the burger sauce and maple syrup combination was a little odd. I got used to it after a while, and must admit it wasn't too bad, but it's not a pairing I'd have on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the waffles pose the biggest problem here, they're just really dry, they were literally crumbling as I made my way through the burger, and apparently "savoury" in this case means "devoid of flavour". A sweet waffled would have been better, but I guess anything would have been better really. This burger had promise, but failed to deliver again. By all means try it out for a unique experience, but don't expect it to be a good one.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: KFC Texas Ranch Burger

It looks like KFC are going down the same road McDonald's have with the Great Tastes range. KFC's version is the Southern Legends tour, four burgers to be released over the next eight weeks, starting with this Texas Ranch. It consists of an original chicken fillet, Monterey Jack cheese, a hash brown, lettuce, deluxe BBQ sauce and ranch sauce.

I was pretty excited for the ranch sauce, because ranch is a pretty great dressing. Unfortunately it's not as good as I'd hoped. It's nice and creamy, sure, but it's not particularly packed with ranch flavour, especially with the BBQ sauce overwhelming it. The BBQ is good though, smoky and sticky, which works really well with the chicken and hash brown. I wonder what it would be like with just the ranch sauce present, but I fear that might be a little too bland. As for the rest of the burger, it's pretty much a Fillet Tower in a brioche bun. The main difference here is the sauces, and they're not pulled off particularly well. A perfectly edible burger, but I was expecting something a bit more unique to start off this promotion. Hopefully the others will step it up a notch.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Hungry Horse Leaning Tower Burger

Pizzas for burger buns. It used to be the stuff of dreams, and then only the stuff of over the top internet food shows. But now you can experience the pizza bun at your local Hungry Horse. I would try to employ some fancy words to describe it, but just a look at the picture gives you all you need to know. It's a burger, but instead of buns, there are pizzas. Also it's topped with pepperoni, and it has bacon in it, just because.

I was looking forward to this as soon as I saw the menu, it's a dream come true, two fast food wonders combined in holy matrimony. But the reality wasn't particularly great. I know Hungry Horse isn't best known for its fine cuisine, but I figured they could put together a better quality burger than this. The beef patty tastes like one of those frozen Birdseye ones, while the "buns" are basically like the mini Chicago Town pizzas. It seems like I could probably pick up the same ingredients from the frozen aisle at Tesco and make my own burger for a fraction of the price. The pizzas weren't particularly well done (I like a somewhat crispy crust), and overall the marriage of pizza toppings and burger just isn't particularly fantastic, it's just like having a pizza with a big hunk of meat on top, except you're eating the whole thing with your hands. I appreciate the experimentation, and to be fair it's not a truly awful burger, it just seems cheaply put together, and just isn't all that tasty. 

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Tennessee Stack

Not the most presentable picture of a burger, but hey, that's what happens when you go bun-less. At least they stacked it up and put it in the appropriate box, instead of flat in one of those breakfast trays. Anyway, here we have the last Great Tastes burger for the year, in the form of the Tennessee Stack. This one seems less ambitious than some of the previous offerings, but sometimes it's nice to have a simpler burger. This one consists of two beef patties, smoked cheese, bacon, lettuce, grilled onions and a Tennessee BBQ sauce. 

No bun for me, I know, but it's supposed to come with a simple flour topped one, so I don't think that would add much to the overall flavour. What we do have here is... nice, I'll give it that, The sauce has a lovely sweet, smoky flavour, which is accentuated a little by the cheese, although the cheese isn't particularly flavoursome. The rest of it is pretty run of the mill, no surprises. It's a decent burger, but it doesn't do anything particularly great. Compared to what else has come out over the last couple of months, this is pretty middle of the road. Not bad, but I know they could do better.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Louisiana Stack

Just because I'm low carb, doesn't mean I can't enjoy a burger! I just have to enjoy it with no bun... So today I took the plunge and popped into McDonald's for their latest Great Tastes burger. This is the Lousiana Stack, consisting of two beef patties, pepper jack cheese, red and yellow peppers, lettuce, spicy ketchup and mayo. It's meant to come in a spicy bun, which sounded pretty good to me, but I resisted, hoping I could still get a good enough effect.

This is a good burger, but I've got to say it's largely down to the sauce. The spicy ketchup is great, it has a real kick to it, and blending together with the mayo it creates a great combination of creaminess and heat. The spice in the pepper jack cheese isn't particularly noticeable, but I guess it adds to the overall heat created by the sauce. The peppers are a nice touch, soft and with a bit of extra flavour to liven up the lettuce. I prefer the peppers to tomato, that's for sure. As for the bun, I'm afraid I can't comment, but it sounds like it would round this burger out quite nicely. I guess they could have gone a little easier on the sauce to let the other flavours shine through a bit more, but I'm not too mad, this is a good burger.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Five Guys' Bun-less Burger

I mentioned a few days ago that I'm on a low carb diet, and while I've posted a few snack reviews since then, they're just ones from the archives, and there won't be many carby, sugary food stuffs on my plate for a while. So far it's been going well though, so I expect I'll be re-introducing carbs not too far down the line. But today for my dinner I picked this up:

You may think things are dire if I'm eating a chunk of lettuce in my car. But a few bites reveals the good stuff.

Yeah man, there's a burger in there. You see, I was near a Five Guys, and having been there before I know they do good burgers. What I also remember is that they offer any burger bun-less, which is right up my street at the moment. So in I strolled and ordered a bacon cheeseburger, with some toppings thrown in for good measure. They're all free you know, but I went with the mushrooms and jalapenos for their nutritional balance. Then they asked if I wanted lettuce instead of a bun. That's a pretty neat way of solving the bun problem. Lettuce is probably the least dangerous food going, so it'll be good for dieters, celiacs and anyone else who has problems with buns.

The result was a pretty novel and handy way of getting a burger in my mouth. They used a substantial couple of leaves that covered everything nicely, and I managed to get through the whole thing with hardly any spillage of juices or grease. The burgers are as fantastic as always, so it's nice to see Five Guys offer this alternative to those who can't do bread. They even asked me a couple of times to make sure I wasn't going bun-less due to allergens, so their attention to detail is pretty great. If I could eat all my burgers like this while I'm dieting, I'd be pretty happy.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: KFC Dirty Louisiana Burger

I look forward to the KFC promo burgers, and while the Christmas offering wasn't their best, it was a pretty bold idea. I would expect them to turn to something more traditional, but instead we've got the Dirty Louisiana, a monster of a burger that combines a whole heap of stuff. There's the chicken fillet, obviously, the classic hash brown, and two slices of cheese, we've seen that before. But amongst these layers lie not one, not two, but three sauces. There's the classic Supercharger, a "deluxe" BBQ, and a pepper mayo. You know what else is in here? Gherkins, because why not? Oh, and it's all topped off with a new style of bun. 

KFC could probably have stretched those new elements out into two or three burgers, but they've gone all in, and it's worth it. This is a beast of a burger, and it tastes great. I figured the three sauces would be a bit much, but they all work pretty nicely together. The supercharger provides the spice, the BBQ adds a smoky element, and the mayo is creamy with a lovely peppery kick. Gherkins in a chicken burger seemed a bit of an odd addition, but they give a bit of crunch and a satisfying tang on top. All layered on top of a substantial piece of fried chicken and a nice hash brown. The bun is good too, a good soft texture that brings it all together. I'm glad I tried this out as early as I could, it means I can get a few more in before it goes away, and I suggest you do the same.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Festive Cheese Feast

It's winter, and that can mean only one thing. Cheese, apparently. This is McDonald's offering for the festive season, featuring both cheese and cheese sauce, for all your cheesy needs. Aside from the cheese there's the good old beef patty, lettuce and onions, and some bacon thrown in for good measure. 

Okay, so it just sounds like a bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese, and basically that's what it is. But it's actually pulled off pretty well. The beef patty is of a higher quality than the kind you'd get in your Big Mac, and the bacon has a nice smoked flavour to it. The lettuce is, well, just lettuce, but the onions are nice sizeable chunks that have been grilled pretty well. Still, while all those elements are very nice, there's not much outstanding about them. Thankfully the cheese is pretty well represented, the sauce is a nice light, creamy experience, and it helps to bring all the other ingredients together. Not an amazing, one of a kind burger, but this is a nice cheesy offering that provides a festive feeling.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: KFC Colonel's Christmas Burger

It's the most wonderful time of the year, the time when the fast food joints roll out their festive burgers. This year KFC are getting in on the game, and they've actually knocked up a pretty novel burger that has a lot more Christmas spirit than some of the other offerings around. The is the Colonel's Christmas Burger, which consists of a chicken fillet, hash brown, cheese, lettuce, cranberry sauce and stuffing mayo, 

Yes, stuffing mayo, cranberry sauce! It's like a Christmas dinner in a bun, except not really. I applaud the creation of the stuffing flavoured mayo, although in execution it is a bit hit and miss. It does taste like stuffing, herbs and all, the authenticity is actually surprising, I'll give it that. But it's a very overpowering flavour that pretty much dominates the burger. Thankfully the cranberry sauce is on hand to deliver a nice sweet layer of flavour. It's a little thick, and provides something of a sharp contrast to the mayo, but it does help to take the edge off that stuffing taste. The chicken fillet is as good as ever, and the hash brown is always a welcome addition. Not so sure about the cheese slice, I know it's a classic burger ingredient, but mixed with stuffing and cranberry sauce it seemed a bit out of place. All in all, this is a very interesting combination, which works to some extent, although that mayo is just a bit much. I applaud KFC's efforts, but I can't see this becoming a classic festive treat.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Mexican Stack Burger

It's time for the final burger in the McDonalds Great Tastes of the World promotion, not that you'd know that from only reading my reviews, because this is the first one I've written about. What can I say, my release schedule is confusing and inconsistent. Anyway, this burger is around for a mere two weeks, although at the time of writing we're down to one and a half, so time's a-wasting. This is a Mexican inspired burger, boasting two beef patties, bacon, pepper jack cheese, habanero chilli mayo and mango sauce, all wrapped up in a paprika topped bun. Also, there's lettuce. There's always lettuce.

Habanero and paprika? Sounds spicy, and it is actually. It has a fairly nice kick to it, not enough to blow your head off (sadly), but the mayo packs a decent punch, with the cheese and bun providing a consistent mellow heat that takes a bit of the edge off. The mango sauce isn't overly noticeable, which is a shame, I think I'd have enjoyed a bit more fruitiness. It seems like the focus here is the spice and the meat, and this burger does deliver on both fronts. The double beef coupled with the bacon is pretty juicy and filling, and the cheese melted between the patties provides a nice hint of heat that helps to carry the spice throughout the entire burger. So all in all, this is a pretty damn good Mexican themed burger. Could use more of that mango sauce though.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: KFC Original Recipe Stacker

I tend to make a visit to KFC whenever a new promo burger comes out, although the last one was a little disappointing, basically a smaller version of the previously released Zinger Stacker. This new one follows the winning formula of the Stacker, but uses original recipe chicken instead of the Zinger fillets. It definitely looks stacked in that picture there. This burger consists of two original recipe fillets with cheese and lettuce, covered in both barbecue sauce and new baconnaise sauce.

Yeah, baconnaise, I guess that was the selling point for me. Some may say instead of baconnaise, why not just have bacon and mayo, but I was intrigued to find out what it would taste like. Quite simply, this is a great burger. I really loved the Zinger Stacker because it packed a substantial amount of chicken into the bun and layered on some great sauces, and this one is no different. The stacked chicken made it difficult to fit into my mouth at times, which to me is a sign of a good burger. The barbecue sauce is a great addition, but we all know barbecue sauce and chicken is a magic combination. The main thing is that there's a definite bacon taste present here, despite there being no bacon, so the baconnaise really does a good job. It's creamy and meaty, and just works really well with the chicken. This is another great stacked burger from KFC, I hope they continue this trend in some way, could this be the next step towards getting the Double Down released over here...?

My rating: 5/5