McDonald’s Kansas City Stack Review
Kansas City Stack:
What they say:
Two 100% British and Irish beef burgers with bacon, smoky cheese, crispy onions and lettuce with a Smoky Steakhouse BBQ sauce in a BBQ flavoured toasted bun.
Price: £4.69/£5.89/£6.29 (subject to variation).
Calories: 698 kcal.
Great Tastes of America 2019 comes to a conclusion at McDonald’s and the final burger available is The Kansas City Stack.
If you look at the promotion as a whole this year you could be forgiven for feeling it is a little drab.
Just read the descriptions of all the burgers – there is a real heavy barbecue influence in 2019 and has seen a lot of cross utilisation in ingredients (smoky cheese, coleslaw and crispy onions the main culprits).
I approached the Kansas City Stack expecting “just another burger with BBQ sauce” and I am pleased to report back that I was wrong.
You will never get promo image quality burgers and recently I have been harsh at the presentation of what I have received.
But today, this was absolute top drawer in the visual department – in fact, possibly one of the best builds I have encountered outside of Head Office.
My Kansas City Stack really looks the part and IMO is the best beef option of GTA ‘19, rivalling the New York Stack for the title.
Both the smell and taste of this stack strongly reminds me of an old favourite from one of their competitors – the (possibly now discontinued) Burger King Steakhouse.
This is mainly due to the crispy onions and Steakhouse sauce. Obviously.
I wouldn’t really call it a BBQ sauce – I think McDonald’s stick that in front of a lot of sauces to appeal to the masses.
The sauce itself is initially slightly sweet but then gives way to a semi-smoky depth before imparting a faint beefy taste on the palate.
This seems to stay with you long after eating the Kansas City Stack and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Almost like a bovril-ish flavour? Maybe that’s just me…
One thing is for certain – this is definitely more steakhouse (sauce) than barbecue and I love it! It is not quite in the same category as A.1., but it does share some similarities.
This is then complimented by those cracking crispy onions – still one of my favourite high street fast food burger toppings.
These and the sauce combine to give a satisfying and enjoyable smoky and crunchy bacon double cheeseburger.
I’ve been a critic of the lettuce overload in recent weeks, but today this was on the mark – just the right amount!
This helped contribute to a burger that not only looked inviting but delivered everything I want from a promotional burger at McDonald’s.
THAT IS IT!!
I now know what this reminds me of – the Byron Burger Byronaldo (see our review here).
Yes… this is like a fast food version of the Byronaldo with a few subtle differences.
The bacon on-board was one of the best examples I have sampled and the inviting and premium looking bun was soft and fresh but only offered a slight hint of BBQ to your taste buds.
I think the only negative really is the smoky cheese.
Looking at the pictures this looked great but like the Nashville Chicken I struggled to distinguish the difference between this and the regular cheese you’ll find on say a Double Cheeseburger.
That aside, there is no denying that the Kansas City Stack is a good burger and I would go on record now as saying that I am likely to have it again before it ends and would be pleased to see it return in future years.
Top marks for presentation today (well from one angle certainly) and if you were a fan of the old BK Steakhouse you should a) love this and b) not fail to recognise the similarities.
The Kansas City Stack is available subject to availability at participating restaurants from Wednesday 12th June until Tuesday 25th June.
Burger Lad®
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/product/the-kansas-city-stack.html