Sunday 13 January 2013

Cajun Boxmaster Review

After a few lackluster Time Limited Offers, (TLO) let's hope that KFC have started 2013 as they mean to go on, for no sooner had the new year started, KFC had brought back a KFB TLO favourite with a twist.......Introducing the Cajun Boxmaster:



At £3.79 for a burger alone or £4.79 for a meal this represents good value for money which I was first able to sample on Saturday 12th of January at the Congleton branch.

For hardened fans of the letter F there may be some disappointment as this product is prepared with a Griddled and not fried chicken breast, and my server told me he was unable to prepare it with a Zinger fillet.

My meal arrived neatly packaged, but straight away the packaging itself is very minimalistic and plain, not really giving any added visual stimulation to the food that awaits, although this is in line with an ecologically sound packaging initiative, perhaps some added colour would help?



The wrap that is used to enclose the contents of the burger is the same size used for the standard line of twisters and is well proportioned to contain two end to end mini fillets that compile the Twister. However when trying to contain a single chicken breast as in this case either a lot of superfluous wrap ends up at the bottom of the product sullying you last few bites, of the top of the product contains a couple of inches of limp wrap concealing the contents until you've taken your first few bites.


Once in though, this was a good product, apart from the aforementioned wrap issue this was well constructed with the right amount of each constituent part, fresh lettuce and diced tomato wreathed the chicken which was plump and juicy with no hint of dryness, the char grilled taste was really evident as part of the overall symphony of flavours and complimented perfectly the fruity and lightly spiced Cajun sauce, whilst the hash brown just gave some extra substance.



For me personally it was hard to get past the lack of coating on the chicken and so i felt it was lacking that certain indescribable satisfaction. However it must be said that from an unbiased perspective this is tasty product and shows KFC is really innovating again.

If only a range of box masters were on the menu full time!

VALUE 7/10
TASTE 7.5/10
INNOVATION 6.5/10


Monday 7 January 2013

KFB Tries the Double Down


Nearly two years after its US debut, KFB found itself in Miami, ostensibly to go to Wrestlemania 2012 but with the real reason being to sample the incredible Double Down Chicken Sandwich we'd heard so much about. This is a burger that's created  real waves in the fried Chicken world and has appeared in branches around the globe including Japan, Australia and the Philippines.

For those of you who haven't heard of the Double Down, what I am about to describe should astound and delight you in equal measure. The double down sandwich may be a misnomer, for calling this a sandwich implies the presence of bread. This radically bold concept dispenses with the bread and instead uses two fried chicken breasts to 'sandwich' a delicious filling of cheese, sauce and bacon to produce one of the greatest 'burgers' KFB has ever sampled.

Behold the KFC Double Down







For those of you who haven't visited the US or have partners, wives or girlfriends who wouldn't be amused by, let alone tolerate, countless hours of what they would describe as wasted expensive foreign holiday time searching for a KFC, let me explain that the distribution of KFC's in the US is quite far removed from our UK High Street / Retail Park model. Even in a busy American city centre, branches of KFC are hard to come by and so it was only after a long walk that we found the one we were looking for.

I scanned the menu and found to my horror the Double Down didn't feature, with only the measly looking 'Doublicious' burger on the menu. Still holding out hope to the very end I asked my server if they they had the 'Double Down' and she said they did. That answer, far from eliciting joy, produced a nervous wait whilst I worried whether my Queen's English had been misunderstood by someone more used to deciphering the southern Florida drawl and whether or not I would be presented with the aforementioned, closely named but clearly sub par 'Doublicious' burger.

However, the genuine article was presented to me and it was some time before my pleasure at simply seeing it was replaced by the desire to devour it........and I was not disappointed.

And for those of you who didn't believe the Wrestlemania cover story here's my best Hulk Hogan impression: