The search is over!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the journey is finally over - I have found the holy grail of burgers that marries delicious burgers and stellar service together in one amazing gourmet experience and I would like to share this with you.

Who are they?

McDonalds are a humble chain of hamburger restaurants, who in recent years have also diversified into chicken and fish burgers to satisfy all kinds of appetites and diets. No longer considered "just fast food" or something for a hangover cure, they have considerably improved their image, food and restaurant interiors so that they can compete with the best, offering nothing but 100% premium beef burgers. I thought that it was high time that I saw for myself what they are capable of.

Thoughts

Yummy!

Understandably, coming in to their establishment at 7pm was their busiest time of the day, with plenty of hungry customers expecting their burgers both from the restaurant, take away and drive in and queues were at least four people deep, despite the two managers and two staff valiantly trying to serve everyone quickly. From among the variety of burgers and other fare, I sensibly opted for the largest burger that they offered, their Quarter Pounder Deluxe with added bacon, together with a large side of thin cut fries. This helpfully comes in a combination form and is better value than buying them separately - it's worth noting that this meal cost less than any of the other burgers I have had and reviewed on this blog.

The restaurant themselves have an excellent description of this offering, namely that it is a 100% beef patty, shredded lettuce, a slice of tomato, a slice of american style cheese, pickle, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and streaky bacon all in a round sesame seed bun. As you can see, it's quite a collection of different ingredients and while some critics have pointed out that the number of ingredients is unnecessary and actually detracts from the overall taste, I would argue that they work well together. As you can see from this photo, these have been expertly thrown together and arranged by the artisans in the kitchen and presents a mouth- watering meal and in person it's difficult to hold with two hands. 

Upon opening the burger, I unfortunately could not see any bacon on the burger as promised, though after speaking with our waiter and sending it back to the kitchen, I was quickly set straight on the matter. The slice of bacon was actually hidden under the square of american cheese and while I felt rather silly on the matter after the manager pointed this out, the head chef was happy to throw in a couple of extra pieces of bacon for me. This is testament to their great service and is something that you cannot find anywhere else.

As for taste, it's certainly a unique sensation and one that you can only find in McDonalds. The patty is indeed 100% beef, though the kitchen have managed to find a way of cooking it so fully so as to not drip any fat or meat juices into the burger bun at all. As for all the accompanying extras within the bun, these present a variety of different flavours but none of them overpower each other or indeed stand out, letting the burger and the bun do all the talking. Perhaps the only problem was that once I was done, I felt that I had not done it justice and that my stomach cried out for another. If this isn't proof of a decent meal, I don't know what else is.

Conclusion

Certainly the fastest service, the cheapest meal I have had in this series and undoubtably delivers a characterful burger. It's restaurants like this set the bar for burgers in London.

Score

10/10

Where can I find them?
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk
In selected outlets throughout the UK