Dippin' Strips - Current TLO is not VFM

Yesterday I sampled the current TLO. Whilst I am pleased to announce that this is a new one (technically), Dippin' Strips is hardly a good one.

For £4.69 you can grace your plate with 3 mini fillets, Chips, regular drink and 2 dips.

Now of course the chicken is of good quality, that's not in contention....After all this is KFC. However for an extra 90p you could be enjoying what even KFC acknowledge is a meal fit for a king.... the Boneless Banquet. For your 90 pence you'd get extras worth over £2 in the form of regular side and Small popcorn chicken. Then simply ask your server to be presented with a tub of mayo and BBQ sauce and hey presto you've bettered the current Time Limited Offer by miles making it not much of an 'offer' and not very good Value For Money!

This is a further cynical attempt to monetise condiments which has been tried time and time again, wheras competitors provide condiment pumps on their ancilliary items islands this is not a route KFC has chosen to go down. The only time this worked was the Sauce 2hot4you which came in larger 50 gram tubs and was so delicious paying 20p for it felt like a privlege. (PS. watch out for 150ml bottles of this available for sale some time this year).

In short..... this is a poor excuse for a TLO showing a lack of imagination. I don't think any TLO's have yet utilised the brazer line of products to tempt a more health conscious audience through the door at lunch time.

Come on KFC up the game.

KenTurkey Fried Chicken

Always keen to sample exotic strains of KFC, KFB recently visited the world's foremost poultry related nation: Turkey - to try their take on our favourite food.

I'm sad to report that KFC in Turkey is massively outnumbered in Istanbul by its two main rivals, but we located one in the fashionable district of Beyoglu and got down to business.

Being at the opposite end of the continent from where I usually eat my chicken I was surprised to find a near carbon copy of the UK menu, and restaurant design. This did however have one advantage, I could give a side by side appraisal of the strengths of the Turkish operation when compared to our own UK version.

I opted for one of my favourite TLO's, the Boxmaster, which arrived in good proportions and was well constructed. The meal price was 10.95 Turkish lira which works out at a very agreeable £3.85. On top of the meal I opted for some Hotshots (think scaled up popcorn chicken with a kick - delicious) and of course I had to sample the 'Gravy Sos' which was a pretty good attempt at emulating the British version.

One area that put us to shame was the Turkish version of the Freshen Up Wipe which really was of premium quality and extra large in comparison to our own.

Another great feature, delivery... which KFB has seen offered in a few places, I think it's high time this made its way to the UK.

Overall, however, although in appearance it matched the UK, in quality it just didn't quite measure up, the meal was... ok.

The best thing however was being able to get my very own souvenir KFC fridge magnet which now proudly adorns the KFB northern office's fridge... check it out:

A Bun deal

The Kaiser is dead.....Long live the new bun.

It is with great joy that I report upon the barely noticed phase out of the Sesame Kaiser bun that has graced UK burgers since 2003. It has been replaced by the as yet un-named 3 striped variety as seen in the below picture sporting a rather sexy Zinger tower interior.

I did not want to report upon this phenomenon, first witnessed in the closing months of 2011; in case it was a temporary measure due to supply issues, but I now feel confident enough to herald its arrival as a staple of both Fillet and Zinger burgers.

The new bun crucially maintains its sprinkling of Sesame seeds which really offer a touch of class to KFC burgers above and beyond their rivals at other well known burger chains. On the 10 or so occasions I have tried a burger with the new style bun, it has not disappointed; remaining soft and fresh even on Sunday's, the day I was statistically most likely to be disappointed. My amateur photography does not really do it justice in comparison to the artistically captured second picture this is a good looking bun.

Although it has served us well since the great burger overhaul of 03 the Sesame kaiser seen here in the second picture could really let down a meal.

A sunday lunch was often ruined by its tendency to become stale and break apart, making the already messy ZT a nightmare. In fact I have been known to turn my ZT's into open sandwices by the removal of the top layer altogether such was the effect of a stale bun!

Here's hoping the new bun continues to shine and suffers a better fate than its predecessor, quietly consigned to the annals of history recorded only here as another footnote in the greatest story ever told .........KFC