REVIEW: McDonald’s Special Grade Garlic Sauce

McDonald’s in the US is dipping its toes again in the pulling from the international product pool with the release of its Special Grade Garlic Sauce, inspired by the Black Garlic Sauce offered by McDonald’s Japan. Or, perhaps I should say dipping its fingers? If you’ve watched the anime Jujutsu Kaisen (or read the manga), which is the tie-in with this sauce, you’ll understand why fingers might’ve made more sense.

The only way to obtain it is through the McDonald’s app. Why? To encourage you to download the app. But, if you do order it, you’ll get a free 30-day trial of the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, which has Jujutsu Kaisen in its library.

McDonald’s says the limited time offering is a savory and tangy black garlic sauce with hints of black pepper. Another description says it contains notes of garlic and soy sauce, balanced with a slight tangy sweetness. With its combination of black garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce, I thought its color would be tar black or Black Flash black, but it has a clear reddish hue.

As expected, the sauce has a strong garlic smell, and the garlic and soy sauce flavors are the most prominent. I can’t say I’ve ever had black garlic, so I can’t compare. The ingredient list includes black garlic puree and regular garlic, but I didn’t taste anything about the garlic notes that made me think something was different. However, the whole thing tastes a bit too umami-y to me. (Try to say umami-y 10 times really fast.) Even the sauce’s slight sweetness was not enough to cut through that. There was also a peppery warmth that built up, but it stayed quite mellow.

McDonald’s Special Grade Garlic Sauce is okay enough that if I had to eat one of Sukuna’s fingers (or anyone’s), and if it was my only option, I’d be fine with using it. But I won’t be getting it again with my McNuggets.

Purchased Price: FREE (comes with order of McNuggets)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 45 calories. No other nutritional information is available on McDonald’s website.

SPOTTED: Chocolate Storybook Ranch Cotton Candy

Chocolate Storybook Ranch Cotton Candy.

I’d really like to taste Thousand Island dressing cotton candy. (Spotted by Robbie at Five Below.)

If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

BACK ON SHELVES: Doritos Hot Mustard Tortilla Chips (2024)

Doritos Hot Mustard Tortilla Chips (2024).

It’s back! Here’s our review from 2022. (Spotted by Robbie at Walmart.)

If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Mike’s Hot Honey Sandwich

Ever since Mike’s Hot Honey debuted in 2010, it’s been oozing its way onto pizza, ice cream, and everything in between. Dunkin’s menu is the latest to fall into Mike’s sticky fingers with its new Hot Honey Bacon Sandwich, Wake-Up Wrap, and Snackin’ Bacon. The sandwich stacks hot honey bacon, a fried egg, white cheddar, and a hot honey drizzle on a brioche bun. Honey seems like a perfect condiment for a breakfast sandwich, so this collaboration is a no-brainer, and I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. Dunkin’ might be a little late to the game, but there’s no reason this shouldn’t be a slam dunk.

Upon unwrapping this sandwich, I took note that it looked like a lot of buns and not much else. The cheese was visible, but that was about it. I don’t typically feel the need to dissect my food before eating it, but sometimes it can be helpful when reviewing to make sure you actually have all the correct ingredients since (this will come as no shock to my fellow fast food purchasers) plenty of times – you don’t.

Opening the sandwich revealed everything that was supposed to be there, albeit none of it looked very appealing. The cheese wasn’t well melted, the bacon mediocre, and the egg looked squishy, perhaps due to sitting on the bottom bun that was soaked in the hot honey glaze. I reassembled things, which did make for a more complete picture. Although unfortunately not a better eating experience.

For having both hot honey bacon and a hot honey drizzle, there is zero heat present in this sandwich. I couldn’t detect any whatsoever, and if I hadn’t seen the employee who made it using a bottle with a Mike’s label, I would have thought it was regular honey, and maybe the location ran out of the real stuff. My dad is the kind of spicy food-averse person who starts coughing if they look at a red pepper flake, and I think he could eat this with no problem. Dunkin’ must have mellowed out the pepper content in hopes of a more universal appeal to its sweet-leaning fanbase, but it’s disappointing to expect a sweet/hot combo and lack half of it entirely. Trying the bacon on its own, I found it to be serviceable fast food bacon with a honey flavor, but the heat is still missing. The egg was as unpleasantly squishy as its appearance promised. I didn’t expect a great fried egg in this situation, but a spongey, sweet one does not help things. Perhaps if a more viscous honey drizzle was used or if it was placed elsewhere on the sandwich, it would work better, but as it is things just get soggy.

When I tried this, there was a deal in the app to get it for $3, and it’s definitely not worth more. Fans of hot honey and good breakfast sandwiches should get their fix elsewhere because Dunkin’ dropped the ball on this one.

Purchased Price: $3.00 (app offer, normally $5.99)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 600 calories, 29 grams of total fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 265 milligrams of cholesterol, 1210 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of total carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 23 grams of total sugar, and 24 grams of protein

SPOTTED: 7/11/2024

Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of them, share your thoughts in the comments.

Digiorno Personal Size Ham & Egg Scramble Breakfast Croissant Crust Pizza
Digiorno Personal Size Sausage & Gravy Breakfast Croissant Crust Pizza

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Yellowstone Loaded Mac & Cheese
Yellowstone Bacon Mac & Cheese
Yellowstone 5 Cheese Brisket Mac
Yellowstone 5 Cheese Burnt Ends Mac

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Kroger.)

Great Value Chocolate Lover’s Cheesecake Sampler
Great Value Cheesecake Bites Variety Pack

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Frontera Cheese Enchiladas with Red Enchilada Sauce
Frontera Chicken Enchiladas with Chile Verde Sauce

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Kroger.)

If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.