McDonald’s Jamaican Chicken

Review of McDonald’s Jamaican Chicken

McDonald’s Jamaican Chicken:

What they say:

Two pieces of succulent crispy chicken with a spicy jerk sauce, cool mayo, Beechwood smoked bacon, Pepper Jack cheese, red onion and lettuce in a seasoned jerk bun.

Price: £4.49 for the burger only. £5.99 for a Medium & £6.39 for a Large Meal.

Calories: 634 kcal.

Great Tastes of the World returns to McDonald’s UK and the newest chicken burger on the menu is the Jamaican Chicken with Spicy Jerk Sauce.

Available from Wednesday 4th October until Tuesday 14th November, this will be the chicken option running concurrently with the three beef stacks (each available for 2 weeks during the popular LTO).

It is becoming common practice now for the chicken one to feature two Chicken Selects and the Jamaican Chicken is no exception.

The build consists of those Jamaican staples such as Beechwood smoked bacon, pepper jack cheese, red onion and cool mayo.

IMO, the main points for discussion in this review are the sauce and bun and how well the combination of ingredients work together.

The promotional box certainly invokes thoughts of Jamaica with the black, green and yellow/gold design.

Visually this looks the business – you certainly see the difference in presentation when you get food from McDonald’s restaurants where it is made to order. Top marks.

I love the bun! It’s almost wholemeal in colour and texture. Very much recommended and you get just the slightest pleasurable hint of the jerk seasoning. It looks great and tastes pretty unique. No qualms here.

There is lots of the (semi) spicy Jerk sauce on the heel bun and this again is great. Pretty much identical to Levi Roots Reggae Reggae with a definite little kick to tickle the taste buds. If you haven’t tried it, think hints of chilli but with a fruity zing.

The Jamaican Chicken is pretty much worth trying for the sauce and bun alone.

I actually don’t think it needs the bacon. The cheese yes, lettuce definitely. I didn’t pick out the familiar tang of red onion though as the jerk sauce surprisingly overpowers it.

The only issue with using Selects is that they don’t fill up the whole bun, so unless you eat strategically you end up with some chicken-less mouthfuls.

I didn’t care for the mayo being on here either (see idea below).

If you’ve ever had the aforementioned Levi Roots condiment this is the overarching taste of the Jamaican Chicken.

Price-wise this isn’t great, although I believe I paid higher than usual because of the location I was in. That said, I would rather pay the bit extra for such a well put together burger in one of the best McD’s I have frequented.

But… you have to think that the Wrap of the Day (which also contains two Chicken Selects) is only £1.99 – and on a Monday or Friday I know which I would be going with!

If you manage to look past the fact that it’s just the standard ensemble of bacon, lettuce, red onion, cheese and cool mayo with a new sauce then you should enjoy the Jamaican Chicken.

OK, we’re not going to get something as left field as plantain but what about ingredients such as mixed peppers, pineapple or even a Habanero Mayo to truly enable us to enjoy a taste of the tropics?

Just a thought. But I guess operationally and sales-wise this probably wouldn’t make much sense…

I came to McDonald’s today almost expecting to rip into it for not being very Jamaican but the bun and sauce do certainly taste unlike anything else we’ve encountered at McD’s before.

The definite plus points are the sauce (Levi Roots carbon copy) and the jerk seasoned bun.

For me the negatives were the inclusion of bacon and the cool mayo and for the price, you can get 2 x Wrap of the Day instead and walk away with four Selects.

The Jamaican Chicken with Spicy Jerk Sauce is at participating restaurants from Wednesday 4th October until Tuesday 14th November subject to availability.

Burger Lad®

Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/product/the-jamaican-chicken.html

Jamaican Chicken

£4.49

7.3

Taste

7.5/10

Look

8.5/10

Price

6.0/10

Hot

• Jerk sauce
• Bun

Not

• Cool mayo
• Price

McDonald\'s