So KFC has been playing catch-up to McDonald's solid R&D game for a long time. You know they're serious when the box is special. But this isn't a great leap for KFC. They launched mac and cheese bowls early last year. So we're just kinda seeing a remix here.
I'm still pretty excited though. I love fried chicken. I love mac and cheese. And I love burgers. The concept sounds promising.
The burger is a monotonous golden brown. The colour of glorious fried food. Well indeed, this burger is deep fried heaven. Deep fried mac and cheese "buns". Deep fried chicken. You get a deep fried burger.
Other than a the fried mac and cheese "buns", and fried chicken fillet, it also comes with a few token pieces of flimsy lettuce, two slices of (turkey) bacon, and a meagre dollop of cheese sauce.
I have mixed feelings about this mac and cheese burger.
Here's the good parts: The fried chicken fillet is what we would expect from a fast food chain specialising in fried chicken. Beautifully fried and mostly tender. The mac and cheese "buns" are also pretty good. All dente macaroni and who doesn't love deep fried carbs? Where there is cheese, it is the kind of artificial American cheese that you would expect of something so American like mac and cheese. On paper, it looks like it would work well wouldn't it.
Here's the other thing: There's no balance. A decent burger (not that we should ever expect one from a fast food chain) usually has a variety of textures and flavours that can play off each other while still remain harmonious. Every bite of this burger just veers further off-course into the land of "deep fried" and "rich and jelak". The deep-fried everything makes the burger kinda dry while still being very greasy, and kinda tiring to eat after the novelty wears off. The cheese sauce while rich, means that there's nothing to cut through all the jelak-ness. The turkey bacon gets submerged in the deep-fried thing going on everywhere. And the token lettuce is what it is... just making a token appearance.
I can think of a few ways this could have been better. Perhaps a grilled beef patty instead of a fried chicken fillet that would have added more moisture and tenderness to the deep fried mac and cheese "buns". Some tomatoes or onions (or yknow, actual non-soggy lettuce leaves) to add some freshness and a different kind of crunch. Or a sauce that would cut through all the grease, maybe sour cream or mustard or even just mayonnaise.
It was still a good effort by KFC though, and I say it's still worth a try, even if it's just for the novelty only.
Price
If you're interested to get it, it's well, slightly more expensive than the normal meal. But KFC's prices have been on the uptrend for quite a while already anyway.
A la carte (burger only): S$7.50
Zinger meal (burger + side + reg drink): S$8.95
Zinger box (burger + 2 sides + 1 chicken + reg drink): S$10.95
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