Received on 19 July 2014, Dubai International Airport Terminal 1
"Consumed" on 22 August 2014, in Singapore, Centrepoint Mall,
Price - Free with McBites Purchase
Calories - 11kcal
Back in July, my wife and I were flying Emirates, which meant we transited Dubai International Airport. Due to the flight time, and the time change between Dubai and Singapore, gave us a couple hours in the middle of the night (3-5am) so we were pretty tired and I wasn't in the mood to eat a burger. It was World Cup Promotion season at the time, so Dubai was running a Quarter Pounder "Ranchero" or BLT burger on a football shaped bun, not the most exciting burgers, and I knew a week later we would have an full evening in Dubai, so I would be able to try the burger then if I was in the mood then. I took a quick look at the menu to ensure that the burger was indeed being sold in the airport, or if I would have to hunt for out outside. I did see the burger available, but I also saw a small sign on the cash register promoting the Nacho Cheese McShakers, which had launched in UAE in March/April, and I thought had since finished. I didn't want to lose the opportunity to get it, so I quickly went up to order one. I asked if I could only pay for the shaker rather than buy McBites, and he just gave me one for free! Cheers 4am Dubai Airport McDonald's staff!
Since I had a number of items in France to review, and we didn't have fries in Sri Lanka, these came back home to Singapore with me. Since they launched back in April, they had a best before date of August (but that doesn't really bother me). I ended up breaking these open a couple days ago when I had a coupon for a free small fry. Unfortunately, I think the near constant 100% humidity weather in Singapore was no match for this made-for-the-desert UAE packaging...
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| Isn't that a pleasant sight? |
Since this McShaker was on our shelf for the last 3 weeks, I didn't notice that it must have been slowly solidifying. I've kept other shakers in the same conditions, even ones that have survived a trip down to Singapore in the post and they've all survived, it must have only been this packaging. I only noticed something might have been wrong with these shakers when I tried to shake it up before tearing up the package, and noticed that nothing was shaking inside. I eventually poured the chunks onto the tray and tried to break off a small enough piece and get it on a fry, as I still had full intention of giving it a taste.
This was what I ended up with...I had actually hoped for a smaller piece, but this was all I could get stick to a fry. I gave it a quick smell, and it didn't smell spoilt, and I assumed with the amount of salt inside these, it should be safe enough to try, so I gave it a bite. Since the shakers are supposed to be a coating covering an entire serving of fries or chicken, this condensed little blob of seasoning was very salty. I had a very, very slight Nacho Cheese flavour to it, but I couldn't be certain if that's because I wasn't eating it in its intended condition, if I had too much on a single fry, or if it was just a weak shaker in general.
Rating - 0/5
When we passed through Dubai a week later, I skipped the Quarter Pounder Ranchero again, since the football bun was the only thing special about it, so this happens to be the only item I'll be reviewing from the UAE this year.
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| Quarter Pounder Ranchero & BLT - Dubai July 2014 |