McDonalds: Great Tastes of America burger no. 2

This blog post will serve as an excuse to my arteries. They are the main sufferers from the enduring eating-out experience, especially when eating out at the well-known fastfood restaurant chain, marked by two golden arches for its logo.

So there was this lunchtime, when I had not planned any eating-out event. Instead, N wanted to make something tasty for lunch so she made pancakes. Just as the first pancake got served, A asked when we'd be going to the Mac. I told him, if he'd been just a little earlier, I could have gone with him there and enjoy something there. However, N said she didn't mind -- all the more pancakes there would be for her. So A and me agreed to go to the Mac.

Of course I couldn't let her pancake making go unnoticed, so I had to try one. They were very tasty! Almost that tasty, that I was tempted to stay home instead. But alas, I had already made a Mac pact (Mact?) with A.

This time, during the "Great Tastes of America" week, a second burger was featured, the "Chicago Works" if I remember correctly.

Health-wise, I shouldn't have sampled another burger that quickly already, but of course I need to review these burgers for you, my faithful readers! Burger-duty so to speak.

Anyway, I felt it was a better burger than the previously sampled "Chicago Works", even though all three theme-burgers look exactly alike on official product-pictures, except for their buns. However, this one had discernible cheese, a better tasting white sauce, raw onion and an altogether better flavour.

Just to be clear on the onion rings however: I didn't order those, A did! After having been pressured into sampling those, by me of course. I mean, you can't miss out on great onion rings for a great price (1,-) -- and even non-vegetarian at that too! We agreed on finding McDonald's phone number, to ask why in heaven's name these onion rings are non-vegetarian. Haven't found that yet. Have you, A?

On a positive note: the onion rings seemed less burnt than the ones I had at this restaurant; also, they did come with chili dip! Can you tell us something about your onion ring experience, A?

However, the artery torturing didn't end there. In the evening, N and me had actually agreed to make some simple stew before heading over to her parents. Somehow we ended up again at a McDonald's, near the highway this time.

Since my arteries were already protesting, this time I had a simple side salad (better tasting without dressing than with), a Filet-o-Fish, a yoghurt and a small coke. Of course, a Filet-o-Fish contains deep fried fish, does come with (half) a slice of cheese and some sauce which probably won't be all that fat-free, the yoghurt is sweetened to such an extent that it's more of a sugary gooey substance and my coke wasn't a diet coke -- but in my defense, I didn't finish the coke (which I found out today when I saw there was a half empty cup of coke still in the car), I had a plain salad which was just lettuce, some corn kernels and some carrot, and there was fish instead of a meat patty.

I think that should fool my arteries enough to keep on sampling fast food!

For tomorrow, we will be enjoying a seven course dinner at the fancy 't Diekhuus restaurant in Terwolde, near Deventer. Let's see if I dare to take pictures or whether it'll even be allowed. If so, you may expect some fancy fine dining experience blog post soon!

Onion rings

Second post for catching up: Onion Rings.

McDonald's onion rings to be exact. Now, I don't want to digress on my lack of flavour or good taste for going to the Mac, but I just had to post these because they're great!

Okay, I'll digress just a little, just to state the reason for going there.

You see, yesterday I was working at a spot which was a two-hour-drive away from home, so when I had finished working at about 17:45, I couldn't help but notice those well-known yellow arches that seemed to point at a solution for my growling stomach and the prospect of still being two hours away from home.

I was rather starving, so anything would have tasted great at that moment, I think. I opted for the temporarily available Union Rings (the non-vegetarian (?!) onion rings) with chili sauce, a simple hamburger and a medium coke.

I first tried the onion rings, and they were the best onion rings I ever tasted. I thought they even tasted better than those of the BK... Also, they came with two cups of chili sauce. I saved one.

The first sip of coke I took tasted like it was the best drink I ever had. Likewise, the first bite of my hamburger tasted like... you get it, the best hamburger ever.

All in all, I think I must have been really hungry.

Anyway, when I got back in Groningen, I was still a little hungry, so I stopped again at the local McDonald's.

This time, I took two portions of the Union Rings, hoping to recreate the first taste-sensation, and the temporarily available 'California Classic' burger which went with the 'Great American Tastes' themed weeks.

The onion rings were a little disappointing. Obiously, not being entirely starved anymore, they didn't have that first-time taste-sensation. Also, they had been deep-fried a little too long, so they there were some burnt pieces. They were soggier, and also there were no chili sauce cups included. Good thing I had saved one of the other cups.

The burger then: it was good. An oblong shaped bun with a large patty, two types of sauces, some lettuce and bacon rashers. At least, that's what I could discern. There was some spiciness in either of the ingredients, couldn't quite figure out what exactly. I like to think it was a decent burger.

All in all, I guess the lesson learnt here is: when you're really starving, anything from the McDonald's will taste great. If you're just having a little appetite, just some things will taste good from the McDonald's.

Ciabatta Grande Salsa

What better way to start a blog which is anagrammically named after a well-known hamburger fast food chain, than with a review of one such burger?

Today, I tried the Ciabatta Grande Salsa - a McDonald's special burger, temporarily available in McDonald's restaurants in Holland. Like its name implies, there's a special ciabatta-like bun, encasing a nice big (grande) patty of meat, topped with a slice of cheddar cheese, tomato slices, lettuce diced onions and two sauces: salsa (duh) and some white sauce which I couldn't quite figure out (...nooo... not that, you perverts).


The last two times I ordered something at McDonald's, I took the Big Mac. I was a little disappointed, because it had so much sweet stuff on it, you couldn't actually taste any meat anymore. So, now I felt like ordering a burger that had a little more meaty taste.

The Ciabatta Grande Salsa complied with that. The patty delivered a nice punch of meat and the rest was, well, bareable. I was a little afraid before ordering, that the ciabatta bun would have a hard crust. Fortunately, it didn't, making the burger easier to eat. Of course it was some kind of blasphemy to call it a genuine ciabatta bun, but at least it was shaped like it and its flavour hinted somewhat at what you'd expect a ciabatta bun to hint at. There was too much sauce in my opinion, but the addition of tomato made it all in all a nice burger with a recognizable McDonald's flavour to it.