My girlfriend and I were being totally lazy and just completely skipped breakfast and appropriate lunch, so we gave in to her addiction and headed for the nearest McDonald's. This has become a near weekly routine for us, much to the chagrin of our bathroom scale. Because we so frequently put our blood vessels on the line (and because ol' Ronald has stopped grilling up those Angus burgers), I've decided that I might as well branch away from the norm and try out everything on the menu (that I can stomach).
Last time I gave the taste-test to the one dollar McChicken, which tasted suspiciously like the chicken patties my high school served for lunch. Today I matured that chicken a bit, and got myself the five dollar Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich. Normally this item features mayo, but I absolutely detest that stuff, so mine was decidedly mayoless.
I actually really like the little McChickens, and I was expecting this to be similar but... better. I mean, it has bacon. Everything's better with bacon! The type of chicken used, though, is very different. This is definitely a higher grade of chicken, and it's nice and thick with a crisp and crumbly outer skin. Unfortunately, though, the chicken isn't very tasty. That's not to say that it taste bad, but it overall has a very bland quality which isn't particularly exciting.
Coming to the aid of this bland filet are two juicy slices of ripe, red tomato, a leaf or two of lettuce, and a couple strips of bacon. Naturally, the most delicious and flavorful of this trio is the tomato (thought I'd say bacon, didn't you?) which is a fruit which always has a very powerful taste, probably why it's used in so many dishes. I'm not a particular fan of straight tomatoes, but on this sandwich I feel they play an important role. Without them it would be rather dry and tough to swallow. The tomatoes create just the right amount of lubrication to help this thing down, and I managed to eat it without taking more than two sips of water.
The bacon was good, as bacon tends to be, but it was kind of overpowered by the more abundant chicken breast and the powerful tomato. I feel like its inclusion is almost a waste, because its presence could be easily overlooked if it wasn't quite so visible beneath the bun, and that's almost never how to properly utilize bacon. The lettuce, in true McLettuce style, was a little droopy and mostly flavorless, serving as a bit of a filler to break up the monotony of bread and meat.
I admit that I absolutely love bread, and these buns (which the website claims contain "8-grams of whole grain") are no exception. A good bread can really make a sandwich, and a bad bread can break one. The baked blanket of the Crispy Chicken Club do their job well, but the sesame seeds don't stay on very well at all. My bun was mostly naked after just one bite, but the table and box were covered in a rain of white grains. This makes the meal kind of a messier one, and it isn't advised to eat it in the car or on a bed or some other such place which should remain tidy.
All in all, I generally enjoyed the Premium Crispy Chicken Sandwich, but there's nothing calling me back for another. It's certainly liberating to know that there are other good sandwiches on the McMenu, but I'd really much rather have a pair of McChickens over this fairly bland five dollar bird. It's not bad, it's not great, it sits right about the center point there, and loaded with 670 calories and an excessive amount of salt and fat (naturally). In short: I liked it, I'm giving it a seven (which is my "Okay" grade), but I don't particularly recommend it unless you're actually hungry, because it does do a sufficient job of filling alimentary cavities.
--Note: Sandwich image from McDoald's official website. Also, I am seriously allergic to fish, so I won't be reviewing or sampling the Filet O' Fish or other such menu items.--
