McDonald’s Big Mac

05/07/201430/09/2018 Burger Lad 6926 ViewsMcDonald's

Review of McDonald’s Big Mac

Website: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/product_nutrition.beef.19.big-mac.html

What they say:

Two 100% beef patties with lettuce, onions, pickles, cheese and our unbeatable Big Mac sauce – all in a sesame seed bun.

Price: £2.69.

Calories: 490 kcals.

To celebrate one million page views and being a finalist of the McDonald’s My Burger promotion our very own Admiral Burgerbar decided to analyse the most iconic burger ever… the McDonald’s Big Mac… no pickles though… not sure about that!

In fact, after reading this review I had to rush out and get one hence the additional pictures! Although at the drive-thru they tried to give me a small coke and there were no serviettes. Do they not know who I am…!?

In honour of Burger Lad®’s recent achievement and in acknowledgement of the milestone that July will bring, this week sees a big burger that’s famous. Very famous in fact. Quite possibly the most famous burger in the world.

Today’s review is a Big one. After Wimpy, the first burger I ever had, and instantly recognisable.

It’s the Big Mac.

The iconic McDonald’s Big Mac…

No promotional version, the only modification I made was asking for it without the pickle.

The very definition of fast food. From the minute I handed over my five pound note and “Mac no pickle” being shouted rearward like a well-rehearsed rugby pass, to my being presented with my cardboard, was a very short time indeed.

I chose a seat in a fairly empty restaurant and sat down with my tray. I knew I was going to enjoy this because I’ve had it many times over the years.

The most memorable of which was 1996 in Austria. I was rather less adventurous back then and didn’t like the pickle or the Big Mac sauce, so I usually ordered it “cheese and lettuce only”.

This particular time I did just that auf Deutsch and was given effectively a three layer cheese and lettuce sandwich. No beef. The beef is the essence of the burger surely, and it’s taken as read that it is included. You live and learn.

Is that a My Burger promotion I can see…?

Anyway, back to the 21st Century and I have a steaming pile of McDonald’s fries in front of me.

Over the years and across the world, I’ve rarely had bad McFries and today was no exception. McDonald’s has had a very long time to perfect them and it shows. Crispy, hot, right thickness, salted, and damn tasty.

Liquid accompaniment is in the form of a Diet Coke which I had to fill myself. There is not a lot finer than a burger and a beer, so I do wonder if the high street burger places are missing a trick with licensing.

I’m sure I’ve had beer in McDonald’s elsewhere in the world, but I may be mistaken. At any rate, this particular McDonald’s wasn’t on a high street, it was on a retail park and required a car, so that musing was pretty moot as it happens.

Dropping a topping = made from scratch…

On then to the headline act. The Big Mac is probably the single most identifiable image of fast food. This one had been made from scratch and the cheese hadn’t yet melted (it did as I went along).

I didn’t get any of the sauce in the first bite but I did in the second. Again, instantly recognisable. The cross-section of double-patties resonated on my taste buds as well as any twin-guitar riff from Maiden or Priest.

McBloodyMarvellous. The bun in the middle adds a subtle yet welcome bounce to the bite. The patties are of course thin, compared to gourmet-style burgers, but they are nicely seasoned and very tasty.

Here’s one they made earlier and very respectable too…

In fact, the whole thing, including the fries, is very un-put-downable, just like the Harry Potter books on the Tube a decade ago, or that catalogue of shades of grey paint that people seem to read a lot these days.

Lifting the lids on the worlds most famous burger…

So un-put-downable in fact, that I’ve yet to avoid guzzling a Big Mac meal as if it were my first food in years. Did I mention I’ve had a few of them over the last four decades?

The only way I managed to take a few breaths between bites this time was the fact that I’m writing this.

So, all done, the lovely cheesy beefy oniony taste lingering in my mouth and the knowledge that I’ll most certainly be back, I bid my (temporary) farewell to the world’s biggest burger.