Just for the holidays, McDonald’s has introduced a few seasonal additions to their menu. The three main items are the Waffle Cut Fries, Potato Rosti & Bacon Burger, and Turtle Sundae with Pecans. This week, I decided to visit my neighbourhood McDonald’s to give these much buzzed about items a try.
Waffle Cut Fries
Official McDonald’s Description: Whole potatoes cut in a criss-cross design, then coated with a crispy, tasty batter.
Nutrition: The waffle cut fries has 250 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 37 grams of carbs. I would have to say that it is most comparable in terms of nutrition to a small French Fries (240 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 31 grams of carbs). Waffle fries are 16% bigger than small French Fries in terms of serving size (87 g vs 75 g) but surprisingly has over 3 times more sodium (620 mg vs 180 mg).
Taste: In general, I thought that the waffle fries were a playful way of eating McDonald’s fries. Although it has way more sodium than a small fries, I didn’t really feel like it tasted that much saltier. As for texture, waffle fries feel more chewy than regular fries because they are thicker.
Presentation: Interesting criss-cross design.
Verdict: Fun presentation with no compromise in terms of tastiness. As satisfying as regular fries. I’ll give it a 4/5.
Potato Rosti & Bacon Burger
Official McDonald’s Description: 100% Canadian beef, savoury bacon pieces, a crispy potato rosti, processed cheddar cheese, a creamy cheese sauce, all served on a toasted bun topped with rolled oats.
Nutrition: The Potato Rosti & Bacon Burger has 790 calories, 49 grams of fat, and 55 grams of carbs. In terms of nutrition, this burger has some of the highest calories, fat and carbs compared to all other McDonald’s burgers served. In fact, at 790 calories, this burger has the highest number of calories along with the Mighty Angus. For fat content, it has the second highest next to the Angus True Blue & Guac. The Potato Rosti & Bacon Burger also has the second highest number of carbs next to Sweet Chili Signature McWrap® with Crispy Chicken and Mighty Angus (tied for top spot).
Taste: While the name of burger did make it sound rather fancy for McDonald’s standards, it was essentially just a patty with a hashbrown in an artisan bun. The patty they use is exactly the Quarter Pounder Beef Patty and the one in my burger was horribly dry. The hashbrown was pretty much like their breakfast hashbrown – crispy on the outside and generally greasy. The artisan bun was probably the best part of the burger: dense yet soft and tasted less artificial than your usual fast food burger bun. However, the burger as whole didn’t have much of a wow factor.
Presentation: Almost non-existent except for the festive bun due to the rolled oats.
Verdict: Lackluster in terms of taste and appearance. Not worth the calories. I give it a 2/5.
Turtles Sundae with Pecans
Official McDonald’s Description: A delicious combination of vanilla soft serve and hot fudge sauce, topped with mini caramel Turtles pieces and a chocolate and caramel drizzle.
Nutrition: The Turtles Sundae with Pecans has 470 calories, 20 grams of fat, and 67 grams of carbs. Compared to a regular strawberry sundae, the Turtles Sundae has 1.7 times more calories and 3.3 times more fat.
Taste: A good mix of vanilla, chocolate, and caramel flavours. Hard to go wrong with this. The pecans tasted quite good for a pre-packaged product.
Presentation: A regular sundae all dressed up in Turtles and nuts.
Verdict: A nice refreshing finish to a fast-food meal. I give it a 4/5.
Overall Impression
The Waffle Fries and Turtles Sundae & Pecans were winners in my books and I would reorder them again. However, the Potato Rosti & Bacon Burger fell short of my expectations. I’d stick to the usual burgers instead.
Note: All nutritional data and descriptions was derived from the McDonald’s Canada website as of November 29, 2016.