Tag: fast food

Surf ‘N Turf Burger at McDonald’s

Published on by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Surf 'N Turf Burger at McDonald's
Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke 
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

McDonald’s recently introduced a “Remix Menu,” featuring a few fun combinations of regular menu items.  Yes, this is all technically stuff you could have been ordering all along, but that would require either:

  • Ordering two separate items and then winding up with a bunch of extra bread, or
  • Trying to explain an unnecessarily complicated custom order to an overworked cashier who has no time for — or interest in — your nonsense.

I didn’t particularly want to do either of those things, so this promo is actually kind of exciting to me.

Surf 'N Turf Burger at McDonald's

The new menu consists of a burger/chicken combo, a Junior Chicken with a sweet chili sauce, an apple pie McFlurry, and the one I tried: the Surf ‘N Turf burger, which features all the stuff you’d normally find on a McDonald’s cheeseburger (cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and little onions) with a Filet-O-Fish patty crammed in.

Surf 'N Turf Burger at McDonald's

It’s… fine?  It’s not offensive to eat, but it turns out there’s a reason the cheeseburger / fried fish combo isn’t a thing.  The two items don’t particularly complement each other.

McDonald’s beef isn’t super flavourful, so most of the taste here comes from the Filet-O-Fish patty.  But the texture of the burger is much more prominent.  So you’re basically eating a sandwich with a beef texture and a fish flavour.  It’s weird.  And again, it’s not gross, but I can’t see a scenario in which I’d ever want to order this again.

French Onion Cheeseburger at Wendy’s

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

French Onion Cheeseburger at Wendy's
Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

French onion soup is delicious.  That’s just a fact.  If you disagree with that statement — sorry to break it to you, but you have bad opinions about soup.

Cramming French onion soup flavours into a hamburger is such a foolproof idea that I’m shocked you don’t see it more often.  That’s not to say that you never see it (I actually reviewed a French onion soup burger for my burger blog a few years ago), but I think this is the first time I’ve seen it at a fast food joint.

French Onion Cheeseburger at Wendy's

The burger, as per Wendy’s menu: “A quarter-pound of fresh, never-frozen Canadian beef, two slices of cheese, caramelized onions, crispy onions, and a seasoned mayo sauce. Your favourite fancy soup is now your favourite fancy burger.”

(Is French onion soup fancy?  I feel like any dish whose primary appeal is gobs of melty cheese can’t be classified as “fancy,” but maybe I’m wrong.)

The burger doesn’t do a particularly great job of capturing the flavours of a bowl of French onion soup, mostly because the cheese is American rather than the traditional gruyere (or even something vaguely gruyere-like, which does exist in processed cheese form).  On the other hand, it’s delicious, so who cares.

French Onion Cheeseburger at Wendy's

It’s a really, really good fast food cheeseburger; one of the best I’ve had in quite a while, in fact.  Gooey American cheese and griddled onions are best friends on a burger, the crispy onions add some nice texture, and the seasoned mayo sauce adds a nice dose of creaminess and richness.

And the patty itself was reasonably juicy and had a decent (if very mild) beefy flavour.  Of course, that’ll depend on the location you visit, but I feel like Wendy’s is the most consistent fast food chain in that regard.  It’s good more often than it’s not.

A Healthy Food Court Option at Poulet Rouge

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Poulet Rouge
Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://poulet-rouge.ca/en

I hadn’t heard of Poulet Rouge until very recently, but apparently it’s a Quebec-based chain that’s been around since 2012.  They basically have one thing on the menu — grilled chicken bowls — though it’s extremely customizable.

You can pick the flavour of your chicken, the base (brown rice, quinoa, lettuce, or poutine — it is a Quebec chain, after all), the sauce, and various veggie toppings.

Poulet Rouge

I ordered the mini size, which — true to its name — comes in a comically tiny container.  It’s packed with stuff, though, so it’s enough for lunch if you want something that isn’t too heavy.

I got the volcano hot chicken on brown rice, and topped it with spicy mayo, olives, cucumber, hot peppers, and a scoop of avocado mash (which costs a bit extra).

Poulet Rouge

It’s not bad at all.  I wouldn’t say it blew my mind, but for something from a mall food court (that’s relatively healthy, no less), it’s pretty tasty.  The ingredients taste fresh, the flavours are nice and zippy, and while the grilled chicken breast is a bit on the dry side, it’s got some nice char from the grill.

I don’t know if anyone is going to get too excited about this place, but it’s solid food court fare.

The McRib is Finally Back

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

McRib Canada
Location: 2439 Steeles Avenue East, Brampton
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/

The McRib!  It’s back!  Sort of — for some bizarre reason, McDonald’s has chosen to only bring it back to five random locations in the GTA, mostly in Brampton.  But you know what?  This is the first time in like a decade that the McRib has come back to Canada, so I’m certainly not complaining.

McRib Canada

I seem to recall that the last time the McRib came back, it wasn’t as good as I remembered.  But my McRib nostalgia is strong, so of course I had to try it again.

It’s good!  I was wrong, it’s good.  It helps that I got a freshly-prepared one — it was quite dry last time, and that definitely wasn’t the case here.  It also helps that I ordered it without onions, and with extra pickles instead, and yeah, that’s the way to go.  Raw onions are for jerks.

McRib Canada

It comes absolutely slathered in a slightly smoky, sweet-but-not-too-sweet BBQ sauce, which is a pretty big part of its appeal.

Maybe I just got lucky and got a very well-prepared one, but I think is probably one of the better things on the McDonald’s menu.  Hopefully it’s not another decade before they bring it back again.

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC
Location: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale)
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

The Festive Chicken Sandwich at KFC is one of those things you pretty much have to try.  Or maybe that’s just me?  Maybe normal people don’t feel an odd compulsion to try every weird new thing from a fast food joint?  Who can say!

The KFC website describes the Festive Chicken Sandwich as “buttermilk marinated chicken fillet and savory stuffing, drizzled with buttery garlic oil, plant-based mayo and cranberry sauce.”

It’s an amazing idea in theory, though in execution, it’s just okay.  The main problem is that the fried chicken and the stuffing are both so salty that the whole thing adds up to a pretty serious salt bomb.

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC

I’ve never particularly thought about how much KFC’s fried chicken kinda has the same flavour profile as cheap, store-bought stuffing — but once you’re eating them at the same time, it’s pretty much all you can notice.

The cranberry sauce is actually pretty essential to offset some of the sandwich’s saltiness and cut through the richness a bit, but there wasn’t that much of it, and there’s only so much it can do.

As for the “buttery garlic oil,” if it was there, it was completely overwhelmed by the chicken and the stuffing.  I couldn’t taste it.

Otherwise, the sandwich was fine.  The chicken itself was pretty dry and had obviously been sitting out a bit, and the overall flavour is very one-note salty.  But it’s not unpleasant to eat, I guess.