KFC Zinger Double Down UK Review
KFC Zinger Double Down UK Review
What they say:
Get it while it’s hot! The NEW Zinger Double Down is here – made with 2 fiery chicken fillets, bacon, and cheese!
Price: £5.99 meal with bacon /£4.99 alone (£5.79/£4.79 without bacon).
Calories: 840 kcal.
Before I even start giving you any details, let me tell you that I have just eaten what is hands-down the best fast food offering this country has seen this year.
KFC’s Zinger Double Down.
There is not a single thing about it not to like, so much so that at the summary at the bottom, for once I am not even going to include a “Not” section. This is all HOT, both figuratively and literally.
Everybody knows the Double Down – it’s the breadless chicken burger where the chicken IS the bun.
Simple, effective and delicious. And everybody knows how wonderful the Zinger is, and how fond I am of it – one of the all-time stars of the High Street (and retail parks and service stations these days).
So putting the two together, as has been done in other countries was a no-brainer, and there hasn’t been a better union since Harry met Sally.
The build is relatively straightforward, with two flat Zinger fillets forming the outside, holding in bacon, two slices of cheese, hot salsa and pepper mayo.
The two sauces are both great and I’ll come to them in a minute, but I have to point out the build – with some of The Colonel’s magic, there is no slide.
The whole build hangs together well and is easy to eat. It is also not huge, making for a pretty perfect lunchtime size.
If you are a hungry bunny, you might want to add a drumstick or some popcorn chicken to your order. Or another Zinger Double Down (yep, I was THAT close).
At the time of writing, Burger Lad® hasn’t had one yet but I just know that is a situation that will be rectified sharpish, and if I were you, I’d be hot on his heels.
This piece of Kentucky magnificence won’t be around long!
It isn’t a lot to look at (and mine seemed to come in a regular Double Down packet, not the Zinger version I’ve seen in promo shots, but hey, I am not eating the cardboard).
Taste-wise, you have the classic Zinger heat without any bread disruption so it’s a little more pronounced. The chicken texture and coating can’t be faulted and the very first bite tells you this is special and delicious.
The bacon is faint, and there is an option to have it without, saving 20p.
Don’t do that. Although it is faint, it adds some depth to this burger and alongside the cheese, is the only non-spicy ingredient. That’s not to say it’s too spicy, definitely not.
In my view, the wonder of the Zinger is that it has a perfect amount of heat, appealing to the California Reaper brigade just as much as the Chicken Korma crew.
And that brings me to the two sauces.
KFC has opted for a hot salsa (again, it isn’t too hot but it does give a sweet heat) as well as a pepper mayo which quite frankly I couldn’t get enough of.
I am not automatically a fan of mayo, and feel it needs to justify its presence every time. Let me tell you that this one justifies its presence and both sauces are applied in the right proportions, so you can taste them but don’t find they are all over your hands, your table, your chin and your feet.
With my build, the cheese wasn’t at all melted and I suspect that’s going to be the case most of the time. A bit of melt would give a better aesthetic, but frankly that really is clutching at straws because this is as close to perfect as Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet album.
The Zinger Double Down then – the best fast food promo of 2018 and you’d be absolutely bonkers not to try at least one before it ends on Sunday 12th August.
Admiral Burgerbar
Website: https://www.kfc.co.uk/our-food/for-one/burgers/zinger-double-down-bacon-and-cheese
Zinger Double Down
£4.99
Hot
- Right heat
- No slide
- Perfect sauces
Just had this now and have to say it was surprisingly good.
Absolutely hated the original Double Down with its sickly BBQ sauce and for some reason it kept sliding around and falling apart.
This is far better. Held together well and the combination of the cheese, zinger burgers and the sauces was delicious. My only minor gripe is that they use the salsa from the Zinger Tower which is great, but they used the pepper mayo from the mini fillet which to me doesn’t go as well. They should have used the sweet mayo from the Zinger Burger instead in my opinion.
Still, £5.79 for the meal isn’t too bad at all (was the original double down pricier? I distinctly remember feeling a bit ripped off last time). Overall a great addition to the menu and will try and get my hands on it again before they stop selling them!
I wanted to try this until I read that it’s “as close to perfect as Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet album” which summons up a mental image of this somehow being both unbelievably bland and tasting of dog shit at the same time. Quite the feat that.