Consumed on 25 May 2014
Location - City Square Mall, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Price - 7.50MYR = $2.33USD
Calories - Unknown
About a month ago, my wife and I made a weekend trip over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to meet my mother who was transiting through. Our first afternoon there, as soon as we finished a large lunch, I noticed a poster outside of a McDonald's promoting the McCountry. I knew there was a McDonald's close to our hotel, so I thought I would pick one up a bit later in the day. That McDonald's, nor any other McDonald's I past over the next 2 days would carry this burger. We never did make it back to the side of the city where I first saw it, so I left KL without being able to try it. Since I had been in Malaysia the week prior, and I didn't see it at the branch I visited, I thought it was a new burger which was slowly rolling out so I didn't worry all that much, since my wife and I are over in Malaysia at least twice a month. I sent McDonald's Malaysia a Facebook message, and they told me that it was a burger only being released in test markets, and if it preformed well, it would roll out nationwide. I was a bit disappointed, as I thought I would have had to hope that it did preform well, so I'd be able to try it in Johor. Whereas I'm usually very unlucky with McDoanld's promos, where they finish the day before I arrive, or start the day after I leave somewhere, I actually got lucky and found it in another branch in Johor last weekend.
 |
| No promotional packaging for this one |
Unlike some of the larger promotional burgers in Malaysia, this one was value priced. Only 5.95MYR for a combo ($1.55USD) during lunch and dinner hours, and 7.50MYR ($2.33USD) for the rest of the day. "Lunch" finished at 2pm, and I was literately standing at the counter with my mouth open, about to say my order when the manager rung a bell, and staff who was about to take my order walked away and spun the boards around to the full price. Since I had to wait for 5 people to place their order before me, I was pretty miffed that as soon as I got to the counter it switched over. I asked the staff if I could have it at the lunch price, since I was in the queue and about to place my order when it was still lunch time. I got a look shot back at me so dirty, that it was like I just asked for my meal to be free, or her first born child, or something that was much more significance than a such a tiny discount on my lunch. I made a comment that I would have been within the time if she hadn't been so slow serving the others (I picked the slowest queue), and left it at that. I wasn't going to lose my chance to have this burger a second time around.
I had an assumption from the first time I saw the promotional poster back in KL, that I knew exactly what this burger was going to be. It was being promoted as "Chicken Sausage burger", with a "country sauce", but the photo gave it away. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and McDonald's doesn't serve pork sausage in their breakfast McMuffins, so I knew this was going to use their standard chicken sausage from their McMuffins served inside a hamburger bun. I hoped that "country sauce" could have been interesting, but take a look. Apparently country sauce...is just standard mayo.
Thankfully, it seemed like the patties weren't just leftovers from breakfast hour, as it wasn't as soggy as it would have been, but it still wasn't fresh either. The patty was luke warm, and since they are made to be in a English Muffin, being so thin, when placed between a large bun you could barely taste it (I'm not sure why the didn't use the smaller hamburger buns). The "country sauce" was a joke of a disappointment, and it only had the same veg as a McChicken, which means just lettuce. Seeing as a McChicken is only $5.95MYR for the combo, I don't see how this one deserves a premium price, where there's nothing premium about it.
Rating - 1/5