McDonald’s – Page 5

Surf ‘N Turf Burger at McDonald’s

Published on April 5, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

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.

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.

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.

The McRib is Finally Back

Published on December 11, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

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.

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.

Chicken Big Mac at McDonald’s

Published on March 7, 2023March 10, 2023 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 5453 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/

On one hand, the Chicken Big Mac is what it is: it’s a Big Mac, but with chicken instead of beef. There’s not much more to it than that.

On the other hand, I actually found it to be way more delightful than I was expecting. Apparently it’s a limited time thing that’s going away in April, but I think it’s tasty enough (and different enough from a regular Big Mac) to be on the permanent menu.

The patties are interesting. They’re not just the McChicken patties you might expect; they’re thicker than a McDonald’s burger patty, but thinner than a McChicken. They actually reminded me more of an oversized McNugget than an undersized McChicken.

This will depend on the location you visit, but the patties in my Big Mac were hot and crispy, and that texture actually added a lot of personality to the Big Mac template.

As for the taste, the milder flavour of the chicken lets a lot more of the zippiness from the special sauce and the pickles shine through; even the slice of cheese becomes more pronounced when you sub out beef for chicken. Between that and the fried crispiness, the Chicken Big Mac really feels like its own thing, and not just like a gimmick you’d only want to try once.

Bacon, Egg & Smoky Gouda McMuffin at McDonald’s

Published on January 29, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1050 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/

I’ve said it before, but I think the McMuffin is a legitimately great breakfast sandwich that’s probably better than a lot of the fancier sandwiches you can find around the GTA. The rest of the McDonald’s menu is decent for what it is, but I will go to bat for the McMuffin any day of the week.

The Bacon, Egg & Smoky Gouda McMuffin doesn’t stray too far from the Bacon ‘N Egg McMuffin template, so yeah, it’s good.

As per the McDonald’s website, the sandwich comes with “a freshly cracked Canada Grade A egg topped with smoke flavoured Gouda cheese, Smoky cheese flavoured sauce and hickory smoked bacon.”

It’s tasty for all the same reasons a regular McMuffin is tasty (the egg, cheese, and toasted English muffin combo continues to be a winner), but with a distinct hit of smokiness thanks to the gouda and the sauce. It’s a solid breakfast sandwich.

Spicy Chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s

Published on January 7, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/

Hey, guess what? Spicy Chicken McNuggets are Chicken McNuggets that are… spicy. Shocking, right??

Well, I figured they might taste slightly different, or have some kind of different seasoning or something, but as far as I can tell they taste just like the regular version, but with heat.

That spice level isn’t exactly going to blow your face off, but it is there. I’d probably put it a notch or two above mild.

I got the Ghost Pepper dip on the side, and that stuff is actually quite tasty; it’s noticeably hotter than the McNuggets, and it’s creamy and delightfully zippy. The heat sneaks up on you. It doesn’t seem that hot at first, but by the time I was done, my mouth was nice and toasty. I’d buy a whole bottle of that stuff if I could.