SPICY TEXAN BOXMASTER TLO

We here at KFB have had a good day. I knew it was that time of the month again when KFC would release their next Time Limited Offer (TLO) and after the last poultry effort which we didn't even dine (upon) to mention we have not been let down.

I decided to swing by Stoke-On-Trent's Festival Heights branch before work and check out the new offer. I was greeted with a KFB all time favourite........Hot Rods! But wait a Chick'n Pluck'n minute, wasn't that the TLO just before Christmas I hear you collectively ask? well, yes it was, and I was torn by feelings of ambivalence. Was this being back good, purely selfishly because I love it, or bad, because KFC wasn't exploring and pushing the art of Chicken cuisine up to its creative boundaries and beyond.

Not Since Martin Shuker was on the team that fused breast with brown (hash that is) has there been a true foundation shaking moment in the fried Chicken world, and so, every six weeks we live in hope.

I wolfed down my Hot Rods which it later transpired are simply making a guest appearance at Festival heights and texted the team. Their replies collectively held an incredulous tone, 'surely not again' they intoned. I checked on-line and found to my pure an unadulterated joy that in deed the Hot Rod was not this periods TLO but that the Boxmaster was back in a new Spicy Texan gusie.

That was my dinner plans decided and what better way to check out a new TLO than at North Staffordshire's newest branch: Newcastle under Lyme that I haven't visited since the day it opened back in November.

So, what we have here is the Spicy Texan Boxmaster which comprises of:

Tortilla wrap

Zinger Chicken Breast Fillet

A Hash Brown

Bacon

Cheese

Texan Chilli Sauce

Ranch Dressing

Lettuce

Tagged on the promotional literature as an XL eat I gingerly ordered a meal.

It arrived along with my first disappointment, there was no bespoke packaging it had merely been crudely packaged in a chip bag, somewhat akin to blu tacking the Mona Lisa to wall without a frame.

The weight however was there, this must be one of KFC's densest products and its construction using a wrap is very helpful in keeping such a large list of ingredients held together, even if the diner must suffer a little wrap syndrome.

The Chicken was well cooked and the hash brown as always provided that comforting crunch and fulfilled its role admirably as tasty bulk, the cheese as always acted as a binding agent and the lettuce was verdant as ever.

The bacon however never truly asserted itself. When it was glimpsed by the taste buds it provided a brief and intense hit but just didn't quite reach its potential. Bacon however is hardly synonymous with Texas, but a nice idea nonetheless. The ranch dressing provided a good subtle flavour throughout the eat but I was expecting so much more from the texan chilli sauce. I wanted a sauce that scored highly on the Scoville scale but this chilli sauce was lacklustre and in need of some extra oomph.

By the end I found this a little dry and would have like to have seen some diced tomato added into the mix.

For Innovation 8

In reality this example was a 6/10