McDonald’s French Stack
McDonald’s French Stack:
What they say:
Two succulent beef patties topped with creamy garlic mayo and served in a garlic bun.
Price: £4.49 for the burger only, £5.99/£6.39 Medium/Large Meal.
Calories: 711 kcal.
Great Tastes of the World returns to McDonald’s in 2018 and up first is The French Stack.
As you will remember, you heard about the GTW line-up first on BURGER LAD® and we can now exclusively reveal a transcript from the product development meeting the day this new build was conceived.
“We want a French burger on the menu this year.”
– Perfect. We can look to some of our overseas French burgers for inspiration.
“Good. Tell me more.”
– Well… Corp tell us that the two defining ingredients from our development kitchens are patties dipped in black pepper sauce or mushrooms.
“You do realise we’re in the UK? People won’t want that. We could do something really exciting and innovative with a truly French-inspired twist, but we’re not going to.”
– How about the usual bacon double cheeseburger with onions, lettuce and throw some garlic mayo on it and to really make it French do a garlic bun?
“Brilliant! For it to be our best ever Great Tastes of the World let’s finish with the Big Nasty. Meeting over. Good work people.”
-ENDS-
Put your bitter disappointment aside as to what could have been. Save yourself from chucking yourself off the Eiffel Tower, as we dissect (like a frog) the very latest burger at McDonald’s.
The French Stack comes in a fairly non-descript box with bold primary colours and a new GTW logo for 2018.
Appearance-wise, it looks alright… a bit messy… with lettuce coming at me from all angles (too much lettuce I’ll add) and the bacon doesn’t look quite right. We’ll come back to that bacon later!
You are NEVER going to get a promotional image burger so please get over the whole “it doesn’t look anything like the pictures” argument.
To their credit, I do find since McDonald’s switched to “the new way” of making things to order this has improved build quality.
The bun looks appetising – a Garlic Buttery Lattice bun by all accounts. There’s small flecks of seasoning over which must be what gives it the slight garlic flavour.
Biting in, you get the instant hit of that creamy garlic mayo – the over-arching taste of The French Stack.
I’m no mayo fan, but this is actually rather good and I do find myself enjoying it. Oh LàLà.
It’s rich, with more-than-subtle hints of garlic which come close to, but don’t quite, overbear the other components. I’m pleasantly surprised.
Next up is the textural satisfaction you get from the crispiness of the fresh white onion and lettuce.
My French Stack had a few pieces of onion and it works nicely with that garlic mayo. Sharp flavour and crunchy bite. Still impressed.
The bun on its own, does have a slight garlicy taste. Think faint garlic bread and you’re on the way. It’s soft, slightly buttery and contributes to the richness of this burger in every bite.
Dare I say it is possibly one of my favourite buns from McDonald’s. Ever.
The patties are the regular 6:1 beef burgers you find on the stacks and these are a meaty enjoyable pair.
However, the most dissatisfying element of The French Stack today was the bacon.
As you can see from the pictures, I am dubious as to whether this was correct!
On McD’s website, it is listed as streaky bacon… I don’t think this was.
Considering it was close to 11am for my visit I would wager a few francs with Ronald himself that this was Leftover Breakfast Bacon (LBB). The shame of it.
It NEEDED to be crispy – it wasn’t. A rather flaccid, fatty, lacklustre effort which is the major disappointment here.
Yes I got a hint of smokiness now and then but this would make a decent burger into a good burger if it had the proper crispy bacon.
Why didn’t you take it back BL?
Two reasons; a) hungry and b) on my way to work.
The cheese is enjoyable even if it is just the Big Tasty cheese.
That, and the mayo contributed to a creamy, rich, messy affair and I required a number of serviettes!
Overall, The French Stack is a respectable entry to GTW 2018 – I was concerned it was going to be more Bore than Tour de France… but I was proved wrong.
Lovers of mayo, the garlic variety in particular, are going to be all over this burger – it’s creamy, garlicy with a satisfying crunch from the salad! Just keep an eye on that bacon!
As I continued my onward journey it certainly left a garlic aftertaste which lived with me for quite some time into the afternoon. And that’s after a Double Cheese Chaser (DCC) too!
OK, there will always be the argument that this isn’t very “French” (whatever that is) or that McDonald’s could use a cheese such as Camembert, Roquefort or Reblochon.
What people have to remember, is that they want to sell as many burgers as possible to make M-O-N-E-Y.
And do you really, really believe “Average Joe” on the High Street would find a McDonald’s burger appealing with any of the cheeses listed above?
I could see Blue Cheese being a good fit for a Signature Collection LTO if they ever go down that route (see Signature Blue Cheese & Bacon in parts of South America and France) but until then, this is about as “French” as we’ll get from the Golden Arches in the UK.
Bonnet de douche.
The French Stack is available from Wednesday 26th September until Tuesday 9th October.
Burger Lad®
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/product/the-french-stack.html
ORIGINAL POST BELOW:
Great Tastes of the World returns in 2018 and the first burger available in week one and week two is The French Stack.
Starting on Wednesday 26th September and running until Tuesday 9th October, The French Stack is a brand new burger at McDonald’s.
UPDATE:
Two 100% British and Irish Beef Patties with Streaky Bacon, Emmental Cheese, Lettuce, Onion, Garlic Mayo on a Garlic Buttery Lattice Bun.
ORIGINAL:
At this time, we have no further information on the build, but we understand it to clock in at 711 kcal and will be a double beef patty stack.
What other ingredients could feature?
There could be a garlic or black pepper mayo. Other countries that have had a French-inspired burger on the menu at McD’s often have a beef patty which has been dipped in a black pepper sauce.
Emmental cheese is a possibility.
Mushrooms? We doubt it. It would make sense for The French Stack to include mushrooms but we’ve been told in the past, this is the one ingredient which always fails at the taste-test stage.
Would you like it to be similar to the latest Signature Collection burger in Colombia – The Mushroom Deluxe?
Latest Signature Collection burger is the Mushroom Deluxe at McDonald's Colombia ?? pic.twitter.com/K05SoN22Ft
— Burger Lad® (@Burger_Lad) September 18, 2018
Check back for further updates on this new burger coming soon to McDonald’s UK!
What are your thoughts? What would you like to see on a French-inspired high street burger?
Let us know in the comments section below or via the usual BURGER LAD® channels.
Burger Lad®