McDonald’s South African Deluxe

Review of McDonald’s South African Deluxe

Website: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/product_nutrition.beef.932.the-south-african-deluxe.html

What they say:

Savour the flavours of South Africa with a 100% beef patty, bacon, cheese slices with peppers, Batavia lettuce, crispy fried onions and a combination of cool mayo and a sweet South African style sauce in a lattice bun. Delicious.

Price: £3.99 for the burger only, £5.49 as part of medium value meal.

Calories: 705 kcal.

Burger Lad® is back on day one to check out the latest limited time offer from McDonald’s. For week four of this five week tour we present the South African Deluxe.

Copyright McDonald’s 2013…

Now when I think of the flavours of South Africa I must admit I draw a blank. The only food item I really associate with the country is Biltong. At a push, barbecued or grilled game and a simple Google search suggests delights such as Boerewors or the “tempting” sounding Bobotie – mmm!

We hit a new, mystery drive-thru this week making this the third different McDonald’s of three (we missed the Spanish Grande this year) during this latest promotion. This was my first visit to this particular establishment so wondered what the standard would be like.

I was in a rush. I had to be quick. Ultra quick… so on this latest mission I was in such a hurry I drove straight past the speaker order system and to the first window. I wasn’t going to waste any time on this one. I placed my order, waited close to a minute or two and drove off to find a suitable filming location.

The real McDonald’s South African Deluxe…

Well the first thing I noticed was that this was not served in the ‘Great Tastes’ promotional box. Was this the correct order? With time precious I started to worry. I opened the container and to my relief saw the South African Deluxe sat there waiting. I was impressed with the look considering it was past midday and I had already resigned myself to a bit of “burger slide” but this looked like it had been put together fairly well.

A tidy lunchtime number…

It wasn’t as hot as the Mexican Fiesta and the more I think about it I am adamant the Australian BBQ Supreme was served to me in the incorrect bun as both this and the Fiesta were big enough for the patty.

I had been looking forward to this burger and am optimistic about week five too. So after the usual photo shoot and filming of Burger Lad® TV (see below) I was so starving at this point I was really ready for some graze.

At £3.99 this was quite a bit of crown for a McDonald’s burger but I took my first bite. The beef patty was the standard oval promotional beef (no Biltong present here) but I got that sauce instantly. It was difficult to pinpoint the exact taste. If I could describe it I would say it was an amalgamation of mango chutney and a sweet BBQ sauce.

Lifting the lid on the latest McOfferings…

It was neither maader (excellent) or klank (unpleasant) and I kept wolfing it down without really taking stock of the situation. Maybe it was due to being in a rush…

The bun was soft, fresh and passed the “springbak” test. The patty was a bit dry but this was masked by the unnoticeable cool mayo and the lettuce was just starting to look a bit sad. I was disappointed by the cheese as I didn’t really pick up any pepper taste in it despite seeing a few flecks dotted here and there.

The bacon didn’t really bring much else to this burger as the main players were definitely the sauce and eventually the crispy onions. These two elements I believe are the saving grace of the South African Deluxe giving it a slightly distinctive and different taste.

Bun, sauce, onions are the plus points…

Would I try it again? Probably not. At 705 calories Myfitnesspal took yet another groan and at a shade under £4.00 this is one of the more expensive burgers recently released by McDonald’s.

The crispy onions were good and I would like to see them used again on future burgers. They were not as prominent as on the Burger King Steakhouse burger but they were there with a subtle flavour and the lasting taste on your palate.

I would recommend trying this while it is available but I am afraid it does not beat the Mexican Fiesta. Next week is the Bacon Swiss Melt so we’ll be back for that. In the meantime let us take one last look at the South African Deluxe. Not a bad burger… maybe I had got myself a little too over excited, a little too hungry and with not doing a review in week three maybe set myself up for the slightest of falls.

Week four of five…

I wonder which McDonald’s we will turn up at next…

And what a five weeks we have had…

Burger Lad®