KFB in Australia: Hash Brown Double review

perfect

adjective

ˈpəːfɪkt/

1. 1.

   having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be

Perfect may well be how one might describe the famed Double Down - an innovation so significant we've dedicated several posts to it. You can't improve on perfection of course. At least that's what we thought until we saw the incredible Zinger Double Down King from South Korea. Eagle eyed readers though may have spotted another interesting product in that article: the Double Down Maxx which added a hash brown to the mix. Well we're pleased (not to mention very excited) to announce that a very similar product is now available in Australia: The Hash Brown Double.

We sampled the Hash Brown Double at the Bourke St branch in Melbourne. Something for connoisseurs to note: you're given the choice of fillet or Zinger varieties. We opted for the latter and added a pot of gravy for good measure (we also received free large fries owing to an serving error that caused a delay). The cost was $10.95 without the gravy.

Let's break the 'burger' down for you: sandwiched between two Zinger fillets you'll find two slices of cheese, a slice of Australian style bacon and the all important hash brown. Supercharger sauce is the lubricant of choice.

Construction was solid with the cheese acting as the usual binding agent. The packaging acts as a handy hand guard of sorts to help with grease transference but wasn't hugely effective. On first bite the cheese taste was most dominant which was a worry. The saltiness of the bacon however soon helped cut through the cloying initial flavour and made for a nicely balanced mouthful.

As we've often noted, the hash brown is a very welcome addition and adds an extra element of texture. It was crunchy and piping hot here as it should be. If we had to make one suggestion though it would be that we'd replace the Supercharger sauce with the salsa found in the UK Zinger Tower to help further cut through the otherwise extremely rich flavours.

Overall the Hash Brown Double was a very tasty and filling if not mind-blowing addition to the menu out here in the land down under. Perhaps we'd bigged it up too much before the sampling but the addition of the hash brown wasn't as revolutionary as we'd hoped.

Finally, a word on the gravy. Though it passed the standing chip test with flying colours it was of the stodgy, peppery variety similar to that found in KFC Hong Kong and elsewhere and really wasn't very tasty.

Taste: 6.5

Innovation: 6

Value: 8

Overall: 7.5