McDonald’s 1955 Burger
Review of McDonald’s 1955 Burger
Website: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/product_nutrition.beef.164.1955.html
What they say:
Inspired by the 50s, served today with 100% beef, bacon, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, caramelised onions, seasoned ketchup and our special smoky sauce.
Price: £4.09 for the burger only.
Calories: 660 kcal.
McDonald’s re-releases the 1955 Burger in 2013 and Burger Lad® decides to give it one more chance…
I first tried the 1955 burger during the infamous “Burgers in Berlin” tour and on that occasion I really was not impressed. When I saw this was coming to the UK I decided I would give it a miss but after some reflection had a change of heart. I am pretty certain the German version was lacking the “special smoky sauce” so wanted to see how it compared.
The Head of UK Communications had also tweeted me on the day of release asking me to check it out so with that sort of invitation who was I to refuse?
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| Copyright McDonald’s UK… |
Now when we created the Marty McFry burger we would have loved to use this as 1955 is the year Marty travels to in Back to the Future but instead we went with the Big Mac. We’ll get around to creating some new secret menu items soon but in the meantime let’s step in the DeLorean and revisit 1955…
It’s amazing what you can achieve in half an hour on a rainy and blustery day. I left the office, went through the drive-thru, did the usual photo shoot and filmed an episode of Burger Lad® TV in addition to actually eating the damn thing and getting back. So how was it this time around?
The burger was handed to me very quickly. Too quickly for my liking and two words echoed from a voice in my head…”burger slide”. But I was surprised as the 1955 had not suffered from this infliction but it was lukewarm so I’d bet a pretty penny it had been sat waiting for the midday Maccies masses.
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| I’m lovin’ a promotional box shot… |
The cost hurt me a bit at £4.09 considering earlier in the week I had been to The Tavern and had their amazing burger, fries and a pint Monday deal all for ten of your English pounds.
Anyway…
I am not a fan of fresh tomato but I made myself try the burger as it was intended. There were two huge slices on-board and anyone that is a fan of tomato on their burger would enjoy this. But not me – the flavour is too distinct for my liking so I removed them and carried on.
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| Big money, Big Prizes, Big Tomatoes… |
The patty is very big on the 1955 burger and I can see why it would weigh-in at 660 calories. It was bordering on dry but there was a slight taste of beef and overall had no major complaints. The bacon on board was a bit of a sad state. It looked dwarfed sat on top of the patty below and I wondered if I had been short changed in the bacon department.
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| The real 1955 burger… |
An element of the 1955 I was really looking forward to was the smoky sauce. It was quite faint but by the end of the burger you could distinguish it and it gave a semi-pleasant after taste. I was glad too as the ketchup lingered with it but luckily for me it wasn’t as sickly sweet as most ketchup can be.
Now the caramelised onions on the Berlin version were pretty impressive but on this there were not enough of the things. You could taste them (although not as sharp as fresh onions) but I just found they lacked something. Maybe a few more would have changed the impression I had of the 1955. They were cut quite big as well compared to their German cousins and could possibly have done with more “caramelisation”.
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| The return of the lift the lid… |
The bun was a decent size and coped admirably with its contents but some of the lettuce spilled out into my car (I really must get myself back in the restaurant). Due to the sheer size (and trying to talk to my iPad) it took me a while to eat this.
Judging by the Facebook comments I would say this is a pretty popular limited time offer so imagine it will do well in the number of units sold. The BCO is also running alongside the 1955 as well as some tempting sounding Spicy Chicken McBites.
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| Did this beat its Berlin Brother…? |
The McDonald’s 1955 burger is fairly enjoyable, “alright” even. I can’t say I will be having another because at 660 calories and £4.09 it is quite expensive for what it is. I believe this will be the last limited time offer before we get the Christmas promotions but again I may be proved wrong.
If you haven’t tried this before and you are a fan of fresh tomato then I would recommend it to you. The smoky sauce does give it a pleasant after taste but I was disappointed with the onions and bacon. You can see my full reaction to it, filmed on a secret burger location on our latest episode of Burger Lad® TV:
In the meantime let’s take one last look at the 2013 release of the 1955 burger from McDonald’s with new improved recipe. Was it a mouth-watering trip back in time for me? I’ll let you decide on this occasion.
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| Last promotion before Christmas…? |
Burger Lad®
I tried this burger today, was not all that impressed really. some of the filling just flopped out like the tomato and I could not be bothered to scoop it back into the burger, I just wanted to hurry up and finish it really. I did not know what the price would be but I asked for a 1955 burger meal and then I was asked if I wanted large and I said regular and then I was asked if I wanted wedges and I said yes. All in all a 1955 Burger regular meal with wedges and coke cost me £5.79. Wish I never bothered and got myself a mighty bucket for one at KFC.
Thanks for reading and the comments. Shame you did not enjoy it.
As you can see below at £6.70 I got a different standard of burger.
https://burgerlad.com/2013/01/real-burgers-8oz-bbq-classic-steak.html
Just to let you know this was also released in the UK last year. It's a shame that they did not do the Coca-Cola glasses this year as that had been a tradition from 2006 – 2012.
Thanks for reading and the comment. Yes I think I said the 1955 burger was re-released for 2013 as I believe they were first launched in 2011.
Burger Lad out.
I think you were fairly unlucky, I just had one and, in McDonald's terms, it was pretty spectacular. I got plenty of the smoky sauce – almost like a 'grown up' Special Sauce, and a good helping of caramalised onions. With these, I didn't care for the lack of cheese. Very impressed.
Thanks for reading and the comments. Glad you had a good one, I think it was the fresh tomato that I disliked the most.
The Mixed Chicken Sharebox is also recommended.
Burger Lad out.
…as is the Mud Pie McFlurry
My God! Is this supposed to be food?
Just had one now and it was like a wannabe BK Whopper with sh*t sauce served in it by the bucket-load, and I have seen more bacon on a vegetarians toothpick, caramelised onions – where were they? and the bun was a sad sweaty state. The one good thing about this was the actual burger, they should have just gone with a large bacon chease burger and just put tomato sauce on it. Urgh! that sauce is still lingering, never tasted anything as gross.
Thanks for reading and the comments.
Good feedback and suggestions. I wonder if anyone from McDs is reading…
Burger Lad out.
Tried this burger last week – my lasting impression in one word: vile.
Incredibly sloppy, the tomato didn't do the burger any favours, and worst of all, the spicy tomato sauce utterly ruined it for me – I couldn't detect the smoky sauce at all.
The BCO, on the other hand, a pretty solid recipe. Still, though, I can't wait until the Big Tasty makes an inevitable return.
Hi BurgerLad,
I tried this burger on Tuesday from my local McDonald's. I usually shy away from 'Maccies' as I think they're a bit overpriced for what you get but with the nostalgia advert I felt I had to give it a go. Anyway, I think you paid over the odds for yours, mine was £3.79 which, while still expensive, was at least shy of £4 which is extortionate for just a single sandwich.
I'm not sure how I'd rate mine. There was plenty of the 'Smoky Sauce' as you put it, and I must admit, the stuff is beautiful. The aftertaste is very nice. While the sandwich looked impressive (after I neatened it up) I too was left with a rather sad looking piece of bacon, small in size; clearly not enough to add much to the flavour and this was a let down. I'm neither for, nor against tomato on my burgers. I don't ask for it explicitly but I don't remove it from burgers that come with it usually, but I have to agree it was totally overpowering, so yes, I removed it as well after the first bite. It was far too much.
I also found the burger was poorly stacked. I don't put this down to the burger ingredients entirely; I assume part of that is down to whoever is cooking it up but mine was so poorly put together, that a piece of lettuce actually fell out of the burger while it was in the bag being handed to me from the drive-thru. Pretty poor in my opinion, these guys do it all day for christ sake.
The burger patty was of good size and I was satisfied with this, but I just felt the burger was a bit greasy… too greasy I guess. I cannot put it in any other way. I started off eating a burger, but by the end it had started to disintegrate into a sloppy, greasy, saucey (lol) mess. For me, a gourmet burger should remain consistent throughout eating it, not fall apart as grease takes over the bun. I note that I don't consider Maccies gourmet but it was worth a try.
Anyway, at £3.79, I doubt I'll be having another any time soon. If only you'd been to my University (Durham). There was a local pub that offered a Beer & Burger deal for just £3.99!! Admittedly, the beer was Foster's, so that was nothing to shout about but in truth the Burger was fantastic, the patty was a really chunky piece of good quality beef and the chips were great too. It was difficult not to get addicted, but I mustn't lie, me and a friend once went every day at lunch for about 3 weeks. At that price it was impossible to resist!! We only stopped when we both started feeling rough in the afternoon, but I still put that down to the beer, which as I said, Foster's, piss water.
This is quite possibly the best comment we have ever had. Thank you for taking the time to give us your 1955 experience.
If you would like to be a guest reviewer then get in touch via Twitter or the contact section above.
Thank you!
Burger Lad out.
And yes where I go they do charge extra…
Tried this burger the other week and it tasted so bad, it's the first burger I've ever thrown away and not finished. Just awful – absolutely no idea what Maccies were thinking. I certainly won't be going back to them until this thing is off the menu.
I had the 1955 burger around a week ago, and really did not enjoy it. The burger itself had suffered from more "burger slip" than anything I've ever had from McDonalds in the past. I usually go to McDonalds once every two or three months, preferring to each out at what I deem to be a "proper" burger restaurant in the big smoke (London!)
The only thing I've never been able to critise McDonalds for is their accessibility. I'm a wheelchair user, and whilst their counters are too high to interact with the staff member properly, normally they at least try to make things a little bit easier if they can. That is of course, unless they are busy, then they don't seem to give a damn.
Anyway back to the burger. The sauce was there, it looked as if the person assembling the burger had taken the bottle of the burger sauce and the lid had fallen off the bottle.
If I hadn't grabbed it in such a rush I would have likely returned it, given how absolutely awful it looked and tasted. However, to be fair, the patty was rather nice, and seemed, unlike everyone else's, to have been topped with cheese, which was entirely unexpected, given that it's not listed as one of the ingredients.
Fortunately I live fairly close to the local McDonalds, so when I got home, I put the patty into a ciabatta roll that I had lying around, after removing some of the excess sauce.
There were no onions that I could see, and the lettuce was not very plentiful either. However, once in the ciabatta roll, the patty tasted very nice indeed, even if it was still a mighty bit sloppy still.
I wanted to share this, because after having read the comments and experiences left by other people, I felt that I had something relevant to contribute.
stfu
Hey thanks for taking the time to share your experience and post the comments.
If you want to do a guest review ever get in touch.
Burger Lad out.
I thought this was pretty horrible as well – and I generally quite like McD's specials.
Had 1955 for lunch today to satisfy curiosity , admittedly is looked less impressive in the box than the pristine image displayed ,but the sandwich ,oh my god it was like the best pimped whopper ever , I've given up on bk because of their freezing cold food , but this bad boy , freshly made and piping hot was something else , the smokey sauce is delicious and the size of the patty is impressive ,although a bit more seasoning would not go amis , once I had actually assembled the burger (wasn't aware maccy d's did burgers in kit form) it was a pleasure to eat and loaded with 3 huge tomatoe slices 3 slices of bacon and loads of onions all that it lacks is a cheese slice and it's near perfection , shame it's a promo as it's my new favourite burger.
Good call on the cheese slice!
Thanks for reading and the comments.
Burger Lad out.
Just ate one of the 1955 burgers, I'd say not bad… if only the people at Mcdonalds would stop trying to make us think that they've been a UK staple for a lot longer than they have, the first UK Mcdon wasn't opened till 1974, and this whole retro nostalgia vibe is something created by them, themselves. Anyway like I said, its not a bad burger, it actually tastes much fresher and less cardboardy than a lot of McD's burgers, even bordering on a classic Wimpy burger (best UK burger ever if you find a proper Wimpy), but yet fails to impress, by still tasting a little bit processed, a little bit boring, and a little bit too happy about overpouring sauce flavours… a good burger stands on it's own and is complimented by a sauce, this seemed like without it, it would have been a dry and boring mess…
p.s great site, love the reviews… and as someone who's lived in Canada, the USA, Germany and England… I think the independents win every time usually on a good burger…
Peace out!!!
UP
Thanks for the great comment and reading the site. I do want to get to a Wimpy soon.
Agree re: dryness of patty especially the German 1955.
If you want to do a guest review get in touch.
Burger Lad out.
I really enjoy this burger and will be sorry to see it leave the menu when it inevitably does. The patty is tastier than any of the other offerings. I would like to see a little more onion and bacon, although given the calories probably best not! The smokey sauce is lovely, a great addition and the lettuce is usually lovely and crunchy. The roll/bun is a good size to keep it all in and unlike many Maccies items it is a very filling meal on it's own. My only complaint is the tomatoes. Too many, but that's because I can't stand fresh toms. If it didn't send the counter staff at my local Maccies into a tailspin if you ask for anything "without x" I would want it without. Ever since I asked for a cheeseburger without gherkin and got a cheeseburger without any burger (I kid you not) I don't dare confuse them!
Thanks for the comments. Yes I too have always been a "plain cheese" man myself.
I once asked for a Big Mac with just cheese and lettuce. The girl serving asked "what no burger?"
As if you would just want a cheese and lettuce roll…
Burger Lad out.
One of the benefits of the Wendy's chain when they operated in the UK was that they made a point of saying you could have your burger exactly how you wanted it and weren't fazed by requests to leave something out. I'm with you on tomatoes and with a burger like the 55 would always take them out.
I found they had such an overbearing taste on the rest of the ingredients. It seems virtually every burger has them on!
This could possibly be the worst burger I've had from McDonald's . First burger that I have not finished . Had a very pungent smell not "smokey". I wouldn't eat it again. I hope they bring back the big tasty !!!
burger lad out
#burger lad
I am getting over wet but I can't stop having these burger, because test so awesome & I just love. even I don't think that I can live with out these.