McDonald’s McCrispy

McDonald’s McCrispy

McDonald’s McCrispy Review:

Price: £5.59/£7.29/£7.89.

Calories: 484 kcal.

“There’s nothing quite like a McDonald’s…”

And… there is nothing quite like the absolute juggernaut of a machine, that is the advertising campaign currently promoting the new and permanent McCrispy.

There I am, sat at BLHQ, trying to take a well-deserved break from the Fast Food Lane after TEN YEARS running your favourite burger review website. And I’m literally pulverised into coming out of semi-retirement to check out what all the hype is about.

“It’s bad enough they’re all eating meat. They don’t have to rub it in my face.”

McDonald's McCrispy

The McCrispy (Chicken). The new darling of the McDonald’s UK menu.

After limited testing across the West Midlands from March 2022 (then known as the Crispy McFillet [McCrispy sounds better]), the McCrispy is now a permanent menu item and replaces the dearly departed Chicken Legend.

I think we speculated about the Chicken Legend going eons ago.

As I mentioned above, I’ve been doing this now for over 10 years and couldn’t help feel a little sad about the prospect of the Chicken Legend being retired.

Was it a regular choice of mine? No.

That nostalgia comes from the fact it used to be chicken burger of choice on promotional heavyweights such as the Chicken & Chutney Indian and Thai Special during those early years way back in 2012-2014.

So many years ago now…

McDonald's McCrispy

But… my good friends, we are not here to reminisce over the Chicken Legend. The year is 2022 and the topic for conversation is the McCrispy.

Priced at £5.59 for the burger/sandwich only or £7.29 for a medium meal (at my ultra premium location), this really better deliver for that hefty price and prior to this review (not same day) I reminded myself what a KFC Zinger is like to have some sort of benchmark to compare it to.

McDonald's McCrispy

The first thing I noticed flipping the clamshell is the striking sesame topped Sourdough style bun. It certainly looks impressive and you can’t help but feel this is a premium product by the appearance.

I don’t need to delve into the argument of Sourdough style vs. actual Sourdough as that was covered in our Crispy McFillet review here.

Biting in, you can’t help but experience the full on crunch/crispiness of that chicken McCrispy patty.

Full on crunch mode here and I would argue that this is overall, a better quality chicken product than the Zinger although the Zinger does have that lovely “zinginess” that you get from it.

It’s too close to call…

McCrispy

I had to break a piece off the main chicken patty just to appreciate how crispy this is and had the most profound statement in the history of the BURGER LAD website.

“That’s really crispy.”

The chicken patty is faultless (IMO) and I am assuming that future promotional chicken LTOs will use this, opening the door for all sorts of variants; BBQ McCrispy, Spicy McCrispy etc etc.

There is one element of the build which really needs highlighting and that is the mayo.

It was only AFTER eating this and checking the McDonald’s website that I realised this is supposed to be a Black Pepper Mayo.

Nah mate. This ain’t a patch on KFC’s Black Pepper Mayo. Sorry but it isn’t.

McCrispy

The website lists Natural Truffle Flavouring in the list of ingredients for the mayo and that was what I picked up on my palate more than black pepper.

My original notes from the restaurant read “You get the umami notes of the truffle(?) in there but for me, I don’t think it is in the same league as the black pepper mayo you find on various builds at KFC.”

And I stick by that comment.

McDonald's McCrispy

Today I spent an eye-watering £10.50-ish on the McCrispy (medium) meal and a Triple Cheese add bacon. Alright Piggy…

Recently, for around the same price (delivered to my door), I sampled the Trilogy Box Meal from KFC; a Zinger burger, Mini Fillet, small side, small fries/chips, small popcorn chicken, a dip AND a can of pop.

Side-by-side, I know which one I would have again.

And that’s not a slander on the McCrispy – I’m glad to have tried it, but unless McDonald’s do promo versions of it (surely they will), it’s a one and done for me.

McDonald's Crispy Chicken

Recently, I announced on Twitter that I was taking a break from the website (“well this is the first review in 3 months BL so you have been”) and that was mainly due to being very busy in my personal and professional life.

I was starting to feel burnt out and didn’t have the commitment to putting a decent and coherent set of words together for you, my good friends.

I’m glad to say I feel like I can again now – you can also blame the excessive McCrispy adverts too.

Captain QP and I are also going to re-start the podcast soon so watch this space.

I have had some AMAZING experiences in the last 10 years running this website:

Judging at the National Burger Awards twice
Writing for QuickBite magazine
Lantmännen Americana Burger Board
GBK Beta Burger Society
BK, KFC, McDonald’s exclusive previews
All expenses paid trips, freebies & merch

The list goes on…

Out of all of them though, the My Burger Final at McDonald’s Head Office will forever be my favourite and I will never forget that glorious weekend. Good times.

Thank you to all our readers for your incredible support this last decade.

This review is dedicated to our good friend, Secret Sauce – forever part of the BURGER LAD lore and thank you again for being part of the journey. You will be missed.

And on that note, let’s take one last look at the new McCrispy.

McDonald's McCrispy

Overall, a decent enough chicken burger with a hefty price tag, truffle mayo and did I mention it was crispy?

Bye for now. Until next time.

Burger Lad

Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb.html

McCrispy

£5.59
5.2

Taste

6.0/10

Look

5.5/10

Price

4.0/10

Hot

  • Crispy chicken
  • Bun

Not

  • Mayo
  • Expensive

One thought on “McDonald’s McCrispy

  • 20/11/2022 at 4:30 am
    Permalink

    Tried this yesterday at a service station just outside Winchester. I’m partial to the occasional KFC, and always look forward to it until it arrives. My last KFC meal was all batter and little chicken, so I was looking forward to seeing how this compared. In my opinion this wins hand down. It was so good that I don’t think I will be visiting the Colonel for a very long time. A lovely roll encompassed lettuce, just the right amount of mayo and succulent crispy chicken breast. A pleasure from start to finish. I was disappointed when I heard the chicken legend was going, but Mackers have surpassed themselves with the replacement, A very good 9/10.

Comments are closed.