McDonald’s Festive Chicken Deluxe

Review of McDonald’s Festive Chicken Deluxe

Website:http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/product_nutrition.chicken.1352.festive-chicken-deluxe-with-bbq-sauce.html

What they say:

A succulent chicken breast fillet in a crispy coating with BBQ sauce, grilled onions, Batavia lettuce and cool mayo in a toasted sesame-topped bun.

Price: £3.69 for the burger, £5.19 for the meal (subject to variation).

Calories: 472 kcal.

I must say at the outset that I wasn’t looking forward to this one, but a mission is a mission.

Firstly, it’s called the Festive Chicken Deluxe.

I’ve developed a bit of a pet-hate with burger names at the moment, and high street chains seem to be the main offenders.

I’d prefer if the name gave some indication of the contents, but if it doesn’t, it should at least be interesting.

Well, the special box is interesting…

Instead, what we often get is a selection of stock superlatives that bear no resemblance to the quality or the contents.

I think it came to a head with the ridiculous, pretentious Ultimate Supreme, which was neither ultimate nor supreme and the name gave no indication of the uninteresting contents.

This one, the Festive Chicken Deluxe, at least tells us there’s chicken in there. But what’s festive about it?

At least its companion, the Winter Warmer, has a snowflake motif on the bun. This one has, well BBQ sauce. Barbecues at Christmas are fine if you’re in Melbourne. We aren’t.

And “deluxe”? What’s deluxe about it? Nothing as far as I can see.

It’s an oval bun, with breaded chicken, lettuce, Mayo, grilled onion and BBQ sauce.

That brings me to the second thing. I’m far more a fan of cheese and bacon (which this doesn’t have) than Mayo and BBQ sauce (which this does).

I took it to my table and opened it up. No mayo!

So I took it back. Not that I was terribly desperate to have the mayo, but because I wanted to review it properly.

I was told to sit down and the lady would bring a new one over. She returned very quickly.

The Mayo was on the top, mixed with the BBQ sauce (unlike the promo pictures which have it on the bottom). This led me to believe it wasn’t a new one at all, but simply the same one with some mayo squirted on top.

With mayo version…

That in itself doesn’t bother me, but telling me it’s new when it isn’t, that’s more of an issue.

Anyway, I finally started eating hoping that something about it would eventually feel festive, or deluxe. Sadly nothing did.

The BBQ sauce, which I feel works better with red meat, felt out of place with the chicken.

The mayo “cool mayo” was nothing special. However, I did feel that, by having it on top with the BBQ sauce, all mixed up, improved both of them ever so slightly.

The lettuce did what lettuce usually does on a burger, which is not very much. Looks good enough, but disappeared taste-wise.

Lifting the lid on the 2014 Christmas special…

The onions copied the lettuce. I didn’t taste them at all. Perhaps crispy onions might have been a better choice. And spicy mayo while we are at it.

The chicken was fine. McDonald’s usual oval breast fillet with the crispy coating (which didn’t stay crispy thanks to the BBQ sauce).

The chicken itself was tasty enough, but neither festive nor deluxe.

Chicken, yes. Festive and Deluxe, no…

So, I expected to be underwhelmed and I was.

There’s really not a lot more I can say about this one, except thank goodness McDonald’s next promotion will be somewhat of a legend that I fully expect to enjoy immensely.

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