Worth the Hype? | McDonald's Spicy Chicken Apple Burger | Malaysia
Apple and a burger? I’ve heard of chicken and waffles, but this one sounds almost a step too far. Here’s what I thought of the burger and is it worth the hype?
Source: McDonald’s Malaysia
(I had drive-through McDonalds at home, but you can also support this blog by using this link to get RM10 off your first order on FoodPanda - I’ll get RM10 in my wallet too, full disclaimer)
Not going to lie, this one sounded a little strange when I heard it and I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was actually planning to try the new KFC Cereal Chicken before realising it was closed before deciding to try this burger instead! XD
The Burger
They have brought out this new burger for the Chinese New Year period (along with the prosperity burger which came out earlier this year) with two options - a single patty spicy chicken apple burger and their double spicy chicken apple burger.
I’m not going to lie, when I saw the price, I actually looked back on previous promotions because this one seemed a bit more expensive than old versions, and indeed it is. The single patty version with a large set comes in at a hefty RM19.
Just for context, the Thai Green Curry burger large McValue set came in at RM16.97 and the sweet chilli fish burger came out at RM17.90 (current price). So this is an expensive burger.
In terms of price of this burger:
A-la-carte single: RM14.51
A-la-carte double: RM20.17
Single Medium Set: RM17.34
Single Large Set: RM19.23
Double Medium Set: RM23.00
Double Large Set: RM24.89
I used FoodPanda prices for each one here but I had a large set with an Iced Lemon Tea for RM19.90 so I would say they are basically around the prices you would get even at a drive through.
The Taste
Think of a burger that’s trying to be gourmet but just falls a bit flat. That is this burger in a nutshell for me. I think the idea is decent, having the sweetness and acidity from apples to cut through the spiciness of a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe.
It is basically fundamentally the same as a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe with the exception of the apples instead of the lettuce and a black pepper mayo sauce instead of their usual mayo sauce.
Their advertising claims that they use real apples and I would say that they aren’t necessarily as crunchy as apples - they are more akin to something in between apples and pears in terms of texture. Not necessarily the crunchiness of a delicious apple, more towards the softer texture of a pear.
This is probably one of the first times that I would say that the sauce is quite unremarkable. Doesn’t have much of a taste to it, so the sauce itself falls flat for me.
Worth the Hype or What the Hell?
I honestly think if you want this, just save the RM2 and go for the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe. This burger falls quite flat for me - like they wanted to be innovative and go gourmet. It’s not that it’s a bad burger, it’s just nothing that is worth trying. It uses a formula which is tried and tested in the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe and doesn’t improve it, so this is more “What the Hell”. I wouldn’t recommend trying this.