McDonald’s Polish Chicken Wrap

As part of my look back at some older eats which I posted, this post covers an international item! In 2018, I made my way to a McDonald’s in Poland and decided to give their chicken wrap a try. This was something of a weird experience for me as I was surrounded by some friends who were quite interested in how I go about my process, which is usually a solo exercise. They got a peek at how the sausage is made on this blog, and perhaps coincidentally, none have gone with me to a fast food restaurant since then.

As I write this, I thought the McWrap Supreme Crispy Chicken was the name of the sandwich, but based on the Google transclate ad copy, I was mistaken. Therefore, I have no ad copy on the sandwich and I definitely do not recall its cost.

The wrap came in a box, and I got an aroma of fresh veggies as soon as I opened the container, which was pleasant. At stateside restaurants, the fast food veggies tend to be an after-thought, but here it seemed like I’d be eating relatively fresh and textured vegetables. The second aroma that hit me hinted at some cheese. It should be noted that I did not know the wrap had cheese when I ordered it and I didn’t see any cheese when I first peered into the box, so I was a little surprised.

The wrap was really good. If I ordered this at a normal café or takeout place, I’d be satisfied with that order. There were at least three chicken strips or pieces or whatever you want to call them inside. Each packed a good crunch and maintained that texture through the meal. As I mentioned above, the veggies were fresh and crisp. I saw lettuce, tomatoes and onions. The raw onion wasn’t overpowering, but I should note that after one bite of those with the rest of the sandwich components, I picked them out. The rest of the veggies complemented the chicken. I really liked the green pepper which is an atypical fast food topping, but they have a great taste that complements the rest of the sandwich. The wrap also contained some cucumber and yellow sweet peppers. Nothing to add on that other than they were both crisp.

The cheese was not quite what I expected. It was fried balls of Haolumi cheese. I counted two, so it wasn’t a big part of the experience. I’d liken them to mozzarella stick bites. Crunchy outside with a chewy, less gooey interior. They weren’t a main focus of the meal, but it provided a nice change of pace and provided another taste I wouldn’t normally get at a stateside McDonald’s.

The wrap was a basic flour tortilla. Fast food places generally have decent to poor wraps, and this would fall under the decent category. It wasn’t groundbreaking but 1) it held together and 2) it wasn’t stale. That puts it in the upper echelon of my experiences.

The sauce/spread brought it all together. Ordering it without knowing the actual ingredients of the wrap, it seemed to me like the flavor was fairly garlic forward, maybe a Caesar-like dressing or an aioli? I much preferred it over the usual mayo/ranch concoction we receive in the U.S. My one complaint is that the kitchen was a little heavy handed with the sauce. As a result, the wrap was messy and that sauce could drown out the other ingredients with certain bites.

This wrap is just a very good, well executed fast food sandwich. Fried chicken and cheese, fresh veggies and a good sauce. Going further, it was a restaurant quality sandwich served at McDonald’s. Unfortunately, when McDonald’s did its trial run of international items in the U.S. (whatever happened to that?), the wrap didn’t make it over. However, if they can nail that veggie component, it really should make an appearance here, if not be added to the menu. Of course, that’s the big ask. Veggies will always let you down at fast food places. This is a sandwich that people who don’t like fast food would like. It’s a sandwich which can justify a McDonald’s trip even if you don’t think you want fast food because it doesn’t feel like fast food. I’ll stop gushing now, but if you find yourself in Poland, or if it’s on the menu in a neighboring country, do yourself a favor and give it a shot.

Burger King’s Nightmare King

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? This is the start of my journey into the way-back machine to review all of the foods I ate in 2018 and never actually wrote up. Some of these will inevitably be one-offs, while other items may return in the future, and prove to be useful posts. First up, because we may as well return with the bizarre, is Burger King’s Nightmare King. The Nightmare King was a Halloween-themed chicken sandwich/burger variant. I’m not really sure if there was some food trend which I missed that they were hopping on, or if this was entirely their creation, but I can say it was definitely unique when I think back on special items. With regards to Burger King’s tendency to create new menu choices by slapping some new toppings on a Whopper, this is certainly the most unique offering I’ve come across.

The Nightmare King contains a burger patty, a white meat fried chicken patty, bacon, cheese, mayonnaise and onions on a green sesame bun. Most important, Burger King claimed a study they conducted showed that people who ate the sandwich were more likely to have a nightmare. The cost was $6.49 for the sandwich and $8.59 for a standard meal. I went to eat it within a few days of its release, and the worker at the counter had a hard time finding it on the register. When the order was finally input, I was only given the burger itself and not the full meal that I had ordered (I ordered something else and didn’t notice the price discrepancy until I received my food and saw the receipt).

Before I can even begin to discuss the sandwich itself, we need to address the optics of that bun. They really could have leaned into the Halloween/spooky/weird theme and given us a bright green bun, something which looks radioactive and really provides a contrast with other burgers. Instead, Burger King provided this pale green/brown thing, which looked more like a piece of old bread than something scary. It was honestly off-putting when I opened the wrapper, and not in the way they likely intended.

The next most obvious feature was the greasiness of the burger. I’m not sure if the off-colored bun made it shine more, but the sandwich looked extremely greasy and felt greasy as I picked it up. I should also note that the sandwich was heavy. The $6.49 price tag is nothing to sneeze at, but the heft of the sandwich at least gives the impression that you’re getting a real sandwich and will be full after finishing it.

So the Nightmare King looked terrible, but how did it taste? It seemed like onions and mayo were the only toppings because they were so prevalent. Regular readers of this blog will know that combo is the biggest possible turn-off for me as those are my most despised sandwich spread and condiment. I can at least say that my first bite wasn’t that bad. The chicken patty was super-juicy and the toppings complemented the chicken. There was a ton of raw onion, which had a sharp taste and shone through the other flavors. I’m not sure if the sandwich was meant to hold this much onion or if I received an over-enthusiastic preparation of the sandwich, but if you enjoy the taste of raw white onion, this will be right up your alley.

Continuing my thoughts on the Nightmare King’s preparation, it seemed as if the toppings were evenly added, and I was getting a taste of everything in my most of my bites. Burger King bacon has a nice smoky taste and adds a little bite to the sandwich texture. The chicken patty itself got worse as I continued eating. As I mentioned above, at first bite it was crispy and super juicy. However, as I continued eating, it lost that crispiness. Also, I think they changed their chicken patty since the last time I ate it, as this was not the patty from the Original Chicken sandwich, nor was it TenderCrisp form the last time I ate it.

One thing I didn’t taste was that green bun. Unfortunately, I can’t find any existing ad copy, but I think it was just supposed to a bun which was dyed green and not like matcha flavor. I understand that maybe it’d hard to do anything too crazy with the flavor, but the lack of effort with the bun was disappointing, between the drab coloring and lack of flavor.

I complain about mayo, but the sandwich did need some sort of spread. I normally like ketchup and mustard with burgers, but I think with everything on the Nightmare King, those would have clashed with the flavors and been too much. A ranch-type dressing would be interesting with chicken, but maybe doesn’t work with the burger, so mayo works as a neutral spread to give moisture.

Lastly, I guess I should address the burger patty. With everything going on in this sandwich, the burger patty really isn’t doing much. It serves as a base for everything else and definitely makes the sandwich more substantial. The patty needs to be there to add to the Frankenstein-ness of this (since I’m guessing using a fish patty wouldn’t quite sell as much), but I didn’t really taste the beef patty.

As I mentioned above, I ate this sandwich in a 2018 release and I haven’t noticed any comeback in the subsequent two Halloweens. There’s a reason for that. I wouldn’t say the sandwich was bad. It honestly started out as an interesting, weird experience. I’d even venture to call the Nightmare King good. However, eating it was not particularly enjoyable. There was so much sandwich, that I started slowing down pretty quickly, which created the soft chicken issue. I really could have used a beverage during the meal, but as I mentioned there was a mistake in my ordering and I didn’t get one. By the end, I just gave up on the sandwich and couldn’t finish, which rarely happens. If this came out again, I think I’d be willing to split it with someone else, while having some fries or a small sandwich on the side, but I would not order this for a solo meal. It’s too much and I didn’t feel great after eating it.