Tag: Fast Food

QUICK REVIEW: Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack

Marvo

Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack

What is it?

The Cholula Buttery Jack features a double dose of the hot sauce, which I hope isn’t applied straight from an actual Cholula bottle with a drip top. Because that seems inefficient in a fast food kitchen where speed is important.

Along with the Cholula, the burger also has a 1/4 lb beef patty, garlic herb butter, lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and crispy jalapeños on a gourmet bun.

How is it?

With all its ingredients and flavors, I can’t help but think the Cholula Buttery Jack tastes like I’m eating a taco in a bun. It’s got ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, and hot sauce. That’s taco filling.

Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack 3

While I could taste the popular hot sauce, the garlic in the butter, crispy jalapeños, and tomatoes elevate the condiment’s flavor. Those enhancements make this burger taste great. Sure it tastes like a taco, but I love tacos too and I like that it tastes the way it does.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Cholula isn’t too spicy to begin with and the crispy jalapeños are as hot as the sauce, so when combined it’s not overly spicy. There’s a tinkling of heat, but I didn’t feel the need to chug a Jack in the Box Oreo Shake or even water to temper any angry taste buds.

Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack 2

The lettuce that came with my burger was mostly green, which was surprising. The crispy jalapeños do add a slight crunch and make this burger a little messy since they easily fall out. I’m not sure my burger got pepper jack cheese, because it doesn’t look like it, but whatever came with mine added a nice creaminess.

Conclusion:

If you visit the Cholula website, it recommends adding it to burgers. If you’re visiting this website, I’m recommending this burger with Cholula sauce added.

Purchased Price: $6.19*
Size: N/A
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 770 calories, 46 grams of fat, 22 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 120 milligrams of cholesterol, 1170 milligrams of sodium, 53 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 37 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

QUICK REVIEW: Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard

Joe 4 Comments

Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard

What is it?

One of two new Blizzards available on Dairy Queen’s Summer Blizzard menu. What better time to release your summer specials than the second week of spring? The Jurassic Chomp mixes “colossal” choco dipped peanut butter bites with fudge topping blended vanilla.

How is it?

If you love peanut butter and chocolate, hold onto your butts. Listed in the ingredients as buckeyes, the choco-dipped peanut butter bites are colossal in taste if not size. While pleasantly abundant, they do not appear to be any larger than what I normally find in a Blizzard.

Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard 2

The candy is dominated by nutty peanut butter deliciousness with just the right amount of salty grittiness and a chocolatey finish. The choice to infuse the vanilla base with fudge topping hatches an Indominus rex of a flavor by exquisitely balancing the heavier peanut butter of the buckeyes. The resulting combination had me devouring my Blizzard faster than a hungry Tyrannosaurus stumbling upon a lawyer in an outhouse.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Apparently, dinosaurs love peanut butter and chocolate as much they love wreaking havoc on theme parks. This is second time these flavors have been featured by Dairy Queen in Jurassic Blizzard.

Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard 3

Despite the similarity in name and general flavor, the Jurassic Chomp is significantly different than the Jurassic Smash Blizzard that was a cross promotion in 2015. Released alongside Jurassic World, the Smash was comprised of “smashed” peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter, and choco chunks.

There is no Jurassic World themed container or other advertising for the Chomp currently, but that can change if this becomes June’s Blizzard of the Month to coincide with the new movie.

Conclusion:

With a peanut butter and chocolate flavor as impressively large as it’s real world namesake, this is one Blizzard I’m chomping at the bit to sink my teeth into again.

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 660 calories, 29 grams of fat, 19 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 86 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 73 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Arby’s Gyro Loaded Curly Fries

James 4 Comments

Arby s Gyro Loaded Curly Fries

After venison sandwiches, the monstrous Meat Mountain, and a mustard-slathered Cuban, I suppose the old Athenian route was one of the few remaining avenues left for Arby’s to explore.

Enter the Gyro Loaded Curly Fries, a limited-time-only companion piece to Arby’s armada of Greek-themed seasonal items such as the Greek Gyro Salad and the, uh, just plain old Gyro.

Arby’s proprietary Curly Fries, I suppose, need no introduction. We all know how fantastic they are. This newfangled edition ups the ante with a nice mixture of traditional gyro ingredients, including Tzatziki sauce, red onions, diced tomatoes and, of course, a heaping helping of gyro meat (which, in this instance, is a combination of beef and lamb.)

Two things make this dish stand out. First, the spices are really good. Of course, since I don’t work there I have no idea what the local Arby’s is putting in these things, but my well-traveled taste buds picked up all sorts of flavors that are more than atypical for a fast food haunt, including what appears to be cumin and coriander. For something you can pick up via a drive-thru window, this thing tastes astonishingly comparable to “real” Greek cuisine.

Secondly, the Tzatziki sauce is outstanding. My big fear was that it would be either too weak and watery or too thick and overpowering, but give the meat maestros at Arby’s some credit, they came pretty darn close to striking a nearly perfect balance on this one. It’s extremely unlikely, but I’d love to see this delicious yogurt become a permanent addition to the sauce bar.

Your mileage will vary on the quality of the meat. The slivers are a little chewier than you’d expect, and the very well seasoned exterior might be a turn off to those of you with blander appetites. I guess my biggest gripe is that the chunks of gyro meat are just too small and too few and far in-between the fries. Really, you’d need to get a double order of meat for the meat-to-fries ratio to come out even, so do keep that in mind before you flip open your wallet.

Arby s Gyro Loaded Curly Fries 2

The tomatoes and red onions are kind of an afterthought. The former are so small and inconsequential that you barely taste them and the latter are probably a wee bit too big and overpowering compared to the rest of the dish. Simply put, the fries and the onions just don’t gel at all in terms of taste and mouthfeel, no matter how much sauce you add into the mix. I’d recommend skipping the onions altogether, but hey – that’s just my personal preference.

On the whole, this is a much better than anticipated side item. It’s filling and feels fresh. Of course, it’s not for all tastes, but as long as you’ve got a penchant for spicier offerings, you’ll probably get a kick out of these specially dressed Curly Fries.

(Nutrition Facts – 820 calories, 530 calories from fat, 49 grams of total fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,650 milligrams of sodium, 57 grams of total carbohydrates, 6 grams of dietary fiber, 3 grams of sugars, and 14 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: N/A
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: The seasonings are superb. The Tzatziki sauce is surprisingly rich. Lamb and Curly Fries go together way better than we ever could’ve possibly imagined.
Cons: The onions are a bit much. The slices of meat are a tad too small. Having to listen to the cashier refer to it as a “GUY-RO” instead of a “YEAR-OH”…repeatedly.

QUICK REVIEW: Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Blizzard

Joe 1 Comment

Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Blizzard

Let’s get this out of the way. Dairy Queen’s April Blizzard of the Month, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, does NOT contain cookie dough that is peanut butter flavored. Rather, peanut butter topping is blended with vanilla soft serve and filled with chocolate chip cookie dough and choco chunks.

While I’m not the brightest tool in the shed, I expected peanut butter cookies and not merely “topping.” It’s not unlike the unfulfilled promise of the Star Wars prequels. Sure, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace has both “stars” and “wars”, but many expecting to see the “Star Wars” of the beloved original trilogy were sorely disappointed.

Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Blizzard 2

That said, the chocolate chip cookie dough and choco chunks work well together. The chunks add a pleasant snap and welcome contrast to the buttery base and soft, gritty cookie dough pieces.

The real draw though is the top-billed combo with peanut butter. The topping description is apt as it creates a uniform and smooth peanut butter ice cream with only a rare vanilla heavy bite. It’s not overly potent, but with no concentrated gobs of the luscious legume, that is to be expected.

Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Blizzard 3

Despite worshiping at the altar of Mr. Peanut, I feel, though tasty, the peanut butter topping flavored ice cream clashes with the mix-ins. The cookie dough, in particular, is slightly masked whereas the standard cookie dough Blizzard is enhanced by the complementary fudge.

In the end, I suspect chocolate chip cookie dough fans will be disappointed that the flavor is muted. Conversely, peanut butter lovers will wish they had fulfilled the tantalizing promise of the name by using peanut butter cookie dough. What we are left with is something Jar Jar would say “isa okeeday, no bombad and missa thinkin some people ganna be little bitty underwhelmt.”

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Small
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 730 calories, 31 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 360 milligrams of sodium, 99 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 76 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein..

REVIEW: McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce

Vin 5 Comments

McDonald s Szechuan Sauce

Don’t mention Rick and Morty. Don’t mention Rick and Morty.

On a recent episode of Rick and Morty… Dammit!

Do I need to give you guys a recap of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce Mania?

Fine.

Here’s the CliffsNotes version – a plot line in a time-traveling episode centered on McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce from the 1990’s. Rick and Morty fans, being some of the most boisterous on the net, demanded Mickey D’s bring it back. They did. It was a disaster. Only some restaurants carried it, and entitled fanboys lined up outside like they were getting Hamilton tickets. Few succeeded. The “lucky” patient few started selling them on eBay for laughable prices, and that’s how I got mine.

Here I sit $375 poorer finally ready to try a sauce that escaped me as a child. Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!

I’m kidding. McDonald’s acknowledged the demand and brought Szechuan Sauce back. You can pretty much get it anywhere for free with your order.

McDonald s Szechuan Sauce 3

The sauce smelled like Asian ginger salad dressing to me, which I’ve always been fond of. I had to remove it from the packet to see its brownish orange color. It also had little black pepper flakes –- more on those later.

My flavor vessel of choice was the McNugget because it seemed like the obvious choice. After a dip, I noticed Szechuan had basically the same viscosity of BBQ sauce.

I apologize for being all over the map of Asia, but the flavor profiles put me in mind of multiple sauces that span different countries. I got mostly teriyaki flavor, a little sweet and sour, while also putting me in mind of that much thinner soy-based sauce you get with an order of shumai or gyoza at a Japanese restaurant.

McDonald s Szechuan Sauce 2

There was definitely a little ginger, some tang, and a pinch of citrus which I thought was from something like orange zest, but that’s not a listed ingredient. The major “flavor” lacking here was any heat whatsoever. I figured those pepper flakes would provide a nice kick, but any spice was negligible. That was disappointing.

Overall, it’s a solid McNugget sauce. I haven’t had it in years, and after eating four of them, I coulda crushed a 20-piece without much struggle.

If I had to rank Szechuan Sauce against the rest of the McDonald’s dipping sauce roster, it would land smack dab in the middle. It’s not overtaking classics like BBQ or Honey Mustard, but it’s better than Sweet and Sour. I also don’t care much for Ranch and Buffalo, so keep that in mind.

If McDonald’s decided to put out a Snack Wrap with Szechuan Sauce, it would be excellent. I’m no marketing genius, but McDonald’s should have taken advantage of the hype and released a couple other menu items that featured this sauce.

So yeah, this stuff is good, but not worth the ridiculous hype. Ya boy Rick Sanchez made it seem like Ambrosia but it’s just a run of the mill, solid dipping sauce.

(Nutrition Facts – Not available.)

Purchased Price: $1.29 for the Nuggets – I got 2 Sauce Packets for free. (To eBay I go!)
Size: 0.90 oz.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Basically a light spin on teriyaki Sauce. A solid dipping sauce. McDonald’s giving the (obnoxious) people what they want. Bonus sauce packet. McNuggets nostalgia. A review 20+ years in the making. I know how to spell “Szechuan: now.
Cons: That entire Rick and Morty fiasco. Not having a Snack Wrap with Szechuan on the current menu.