Saturday, May 25, 2019

The Quarter Pounder with Bacon: Not the Bacon Smokehouse Burger


I went to McDonalds for my first burger review.  It’s one I have very much enjoyed, the “signature crafted recipe” Bacon Smokehouse burger.  According to the news release, in addition to the standard elements, what pushes it up is a ‘sweet and smoky bacon-onion sauce’.  (From online press release dated June 25, 2018).  But my local franchise was out of the sauce when I made my order.
                We eventually negotiated on the Quarter Pounder with Bacon as a ‘substitute’, which delayed the order as it is freshly cooked to order.  And I made the cardinal mistake of ‘settling’ for a burger.  It was a fast food burger, beef, cheese, bacon, the regular add-ons, and a reminder of the NEED of mindfulness when it comes to my food.  
               I think the most interesting thing about the ¼ Pounder was how it trounced the failed attempt by Dairy Queen to introduce 1/3 of a pound burger.  It failed because most people thought that it was SMALLER than its McD competitor.  Not a good sign when the most interesting thing about something is the useless trivia I can harvest from my memory about it.
                Was the Quarter Pounder with Bacon a bad burger?  No.  Worse than that.  It was an indifferent eating encounter.  That has been my experience with most of the fare from the fast food places.  Wendy’s and Burger King have their own versions.  My favorite burger name comes from Wendy’s…the Baconator…but more bacon is sometimes just more bacon.
                So why even include it?  As a baseline?  As a tribute to the Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent?  No, more like a reminder to myself at how much McDonald’s upped the Burger Game with the Bacon Smokehouse. 

No comments: