This past Christmas, White Spot locations at Kingsway in Vancouver and Richmond Centre opened for lunch on Christmas Day to raise much needed funds for two local charities.  2017 marked the 16th consecutive year for this yuletide tradition.  This year’s fundraiser generated $12,488 at Richmond Centre and $8,894 at Kingsway Vancouver for the Richmond Hospital Foundation and Variety – The Children’s Charity, respectively.  Since its inception, more than $222,000 has been raised by the luncheon, in which all proceeds, staff time and tips from the afternoon are donated for a good cause.

My family and I attended the Christmas Luncheon at the Kingsway location to support the cause. We put our name down on the wait list at 11:20 am and our wait was an hour. TIP: The wait was minimal after 1 pm so it might be better to come in at the time next year!  There was also a takeout window available if you didn’t want to wait.

Christmas Day Menu

The restaurants were open from 11 am – 3 pm and a special set menu was offered including Legendary burgers and other Spot Classics.

What We Had

My family enjoyed the Double Double, Chicken & Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo, and Dippin’ Chicken.

Double Double

My husband had the Double Double which was a ½ lb beef burger made with double beef patties, double cheese, lettuce, tomato, Triple “O” sauce & double dills.  He found the burger tasty but a bit too thick to eat!  A Legendary would have been a more practical choice for him.

Chicken & Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

This is my go-to dish at White Spot.  It had a lemon-grilled chicken breast over fettuccine noodles tossed in a classic Parmesan cream sauce with sautéed mushrooms and spinach.  On the side was garlic panini bread.  The chicken was a sizeable piece and was very tender.  The sauce was wonderfully creamy and all the noodles were nicely coated with the sauce.  I loved the earthy flavors from the mushrooms.

Dippin’ Chicken

My son *loved* the crispy breaded chicken tenders and honestly, adults would too!  I tried some of it and they were crazy good.  The coating was light but well-seasoned and crispy while the meat was very tender.

Service

Despite how busy it was, staff were most certainly in the Christmas spirit and were working well together to make it all happen.  Kudos to the girls at the front who were managing the seating and the wait list.  They were friendly and put on a great attitude while managing those who were waiting.  Table service was on point as well with orders being taken, food being delivered and bill brought to us all in a timely manner.

Overall Impression

My family and I very much enjoyed our Christmas Luncheon experience at Whitespot. Aside from the food being solid White Spot quality, the meal was enhanced by the friendly demeanor of the staff.  Getting in as a large group seemed a bit challenging so I would recommend this experience for smaller parties.  I would be interested to support White Spot’s Christmas Luncheon again in the future.  Rating: 5/5

This past summer, McDonald’s Canada introduced new sandwiches to their premium chicken lineup: the Seriously Chicken Sandwiches.  These sandwiches come in two varieties, Tomato & Mozzarella Chicken or Guacamole & Jalapeno Chicken, with your choice of grilled or crispy Canadian grain-fed seasoned chicken breast.

The Tomato & Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich is topped with tomato and herb sauce, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onions on a toasted Brioche-style bun.  The Guacamole & Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich has guacamole, jalapenos, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onions on a toasted Brioche-style bun.

While I was in Calgary this summer, I decided to give the new Seriously Chicken sandwich a try.  Note:  This post is not sponsored and this review is done anonymously.

I went with the Tomato & Mozzarella with Crispy Chicken.  In terms of taste, it was seriously good!  Definitely much more delicious than the McChicken.  I really enjoyed the breading for the chicken which was wonderfully crispy.  The chicken itself was very juicy and tender, which fared a lot better than the dry McChicken patties I have had many times.  The lettuce and tomatoes used also seemed quite fresh and crispy.  The brioche bun used was sweet, light and fluffy; a very nice touch to the sandwich.  I also enjoyed the fact that McDonald’s made note that it is Canadian grain-fed seasoned chicken breast and that you have a choice of having the chicken grilled or crispy.

Now in terms of nutrition, the Tomato & Mozzarella with Crispy Chicken has the highest calorie count (630 calories) of all the McDonald’s Chicken sandwiches on the menu.  If you went with the grilled version which has 500 calories, you eat 130 calories less.  The Guacamole & Jalapeño Seriously Chicken Sandwich is also easier on the calories: 570 calories with crispy chicken or 440 calories with grilled chicken.  But if you’re counting carbs, the Tomato & Mozzarella with Crispy Chicken has the pretty much the same number of carbs (57 g) as the Guacamole & Jalapeño with grilled chicken (58 g).

Overall Impression

The Tomato & Mozzarella Chicken Seriously Chicken Sandiwch is definitely tastier than a McChicken.  I think the improved taste is worth the extra few dollars.  However, with the higher calorie count, I’d be interested in having it just every now and then only.  Rating: 4.5/5

McDonald’s Nutrition Reference: www1.mcdonalds.ca/NutritionCalculator/NutritionFactsEN.pdf