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| McDonald's Kuwait Little Asian - October 2016 |
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| I'll explain why it's called the Mini Asian here in the review. |
Consumed on 14 October 2016
Location - McDonald's Souq Sharq Mall, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Combo Price - 1KWD = $3.30USD
Calories - ~400kcal
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| McDonald's Kuwait Receipt October 2016 |
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| I try not to stand out that much... |
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| No branded wrapper for the Little Asian. |
A couple weeks ago the wife and I made a short trip over to Kuwait. Kuwait was one of the last countries in the Middle East left for me to visit, and since hotels are usually pretty expensive, when I found a good deal for 5 nights I snapped it up and booked our tickets. At the time of our visit, the "big" promo burger at the time was the Grand Spicy Chicken. I had this a few years ago in Dubai and it seems to pop up all over the Middle East about once a year, so I wasn't looking to try it again but I'll post a photo at the end of the review. They also had BBQ McShakers, but since I had a big backlog of Shakers to review at the time, and BBQ is one of the more common flavours, I also gave that a pass. A quiet addition to the regular menu a couple weeks earlier was the, and I'm not making this name up, Little Asian. You might have noticed that the photo I used at the top of this review called it the Mini Asian - that's the name of the burger in Qatar. Kuwait didn't have a true official photo for this burger on the official website, so I had to use that one. Don't worry though, Little or Mini, it's still the same thing.
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| Proof that it's called the Little Asian. So spicy, they need to warn you 3 times? |
The Little Asian was being sold on the "1 Dinar" menu next to the regular McChicken, and a local twist on the McDouble called the "Little Tasty" (which was pretty much a McDouble with tomato) so the smallish sandwich that was served on my tray wasn't that much of a surprise as it's marketed as one of the budget items. It wasn't just a "Spicy McChicken" either (and that's something I've had in the Emirates before) but kind of a hyrid burger using ingredients stolen from a couple different items. First it uses the kids meal simple Hamburger bun, and not the sesame seed topped bun used on the McChicken. I personally don't have any problem with this bun when it's used on smaller burgers, as it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the ingredients with bread. The patty itself is actually quite different from the standard McChicken patty as well. It's a thinner pre-seasoned chicken patty, which is very similar to the Grand Chicken promo burger but just about 1/2 the size, so it's not surprising they both launched at the same time. The breading is thinner as well, and I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but it's not as "smooth" as the regular McChicken batter either, it's bumpy with different texture on different parts of the patty.
Since sauce is just standard McChicken mayo, so all the spice needs to come from the patty itself (unlike the Sriracha Big Mac sauce they are testing out in Ohio right now - photo below) . Like other Chicken Burgers in the Middle East this had a nice kick throughout the patty, and it wasn't overly oily like some chicken patties in Asia, as the spice comes from whatever the meat itself was marinated in, rather than cooked into the batter.
It's definitely one of those solid, but nothing overly special regular menu items and worth a try if you don't have anything else to eat. But the real question here is, "How is this Asian?". I'm not completely sure how a simple, run-of-the-mill spicy sandwich like this earns the name the Little (or Mini) Asian and I don't even want to get started if the name itself is offensive or not. My equally "Little" Asian wife just shrugged it off and gave it a 3/5, the exact same score I thought it deserved.
Rating 3/5
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| It's been a while since I have an eating photo on here. So The Wife really had to take one when I needed a hair cut? |
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| The Grand Chicken and Big Tasty promo items. I've had both before so I skipped them |
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| Sriracha Big Mac Sauce - Ohio USA - November 2016 |
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| Also buried on the menu is a 4 patty Chicken Big Mac |
