Has McDonald’s Gone Gourmet With Its New Angus Burgers?
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Has good old Micky Dees up and gone gourmet on us? Short answer: no, despite the hype surrounding the fast food giant's new Angus beef burgers.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you’ve seen billboards for the new Australian beef menu items on bus and subway billboards throughout Beijing as of late. Yet if you've only recently moved to China, or have spent some time abroad recently you may be surprised by all the fuss, after all, weren't Angus burgers first launched around the world years and years ago? In fact, haven't they actually since been turfed (pardon the pun) from McDonald's menus back in its native US?
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Well, yes, but it turns out that China never got in on the fancy beef action, and are now making up for lost time. Given the relative newness of the burger market here, and the lack of China-wide competitors like Shake Shack and Five Guys, which have cornered the gourmet burger market stateside, it is unsurprising that McDonald's China has decided to test the waters with their upscale sandwiches.
The ads for these upscale burgers are everywhere
To be sure, these mass-produced meat and bun stacks can’t compare to craft food Burger Cup winners like Slow Boat, Q Mex, or Home Plate. But at RMB 38 for a bacon-topped Angus burger combo, or RMB 35 for a cheese-sauce slathered version, these options are only slightly costlier than a regular RMB 30 Big Mac combo.
Oooh, how McFancy! Their new Angus beef burgers ain't half bad
For that slight price uptick, these Angus burgers taste much better than standard grubby Golden Arches fare, which, frankly, is as edible as the shoe leather it resembles. The improvement is largely thanks to the tender Australian Angus meat, the salty hunk of bacon, and good quality bread buns. Sadly, texture trumps flavor for these newbies – these elements are still not enough to put it anywhere near the league of the juicy and delectable Hatchery Common Burger or the greasy gift from the heavens that is a Cannon’s burger.
Despite falling far short of revolutionary – but then who are we kidding, this was never going to be a flavor sensation – McDonald’s new Angus burgers will certainly satisfy the wee hour munchies of woozy Beijingers on their way home from a night of Gongti clubbing. Perhaps they should have kept them on the menu state-side after all because these slightly pricier burgers do elevate this notoriously drab chain to a guilty pleasure instead of a source of outright shame.
READ: McMadness Across China as New McDonald's Deal Takes Country By Storm
Photos: Kyle Mullin
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