KFB in Australia World First: The Zinger Black Review

KFC Australia has been on a bit of a roll over the past year or so thanks to an array of new and exciting product variants. Now comes a world first: The Zinger Black. Sure, we've seen black buns from other, lesser fast food outlets in the past but this is the first time we're aware of such an offering from The Colonel himself.

Let's start off with the box. This is no ordinary burger box. This is an all-black, embossed masterpiece that features a listing of all the ingredients once opened.

Of course what we're all wondering is how does this thing taste? We'll start with the bun which is coloured with vegetable carbon (the same stuff used to colour liquorice and other sweets) giving it a very dark tone - more very dark brown than black if you ask us.

The bread itself doesn't taste any different to the usual KFC bun but we noted that it was very fluffy in texture. What's more interesting is that it comes sprinkled liberally with chilli flakes, nigella and sesame seeds which combine to add a subtle but delicious extra layer of flavour.

On first biting into the burger you'll notice the all-new mustard and maple sauce. This is a real winner in our books - sweet but with a curious new type of heat that only mustard could add and an excellent counterpart to the slice of smoked bacon. We don't think it's going too far to suggest that it's genuinely a flavour combo that no other KFC menu item has previously offered.

In the interest of maintaining a balanced review we'll point out a few quibbles that only detracted from the overall experience in minor ways. First off, this may be labelled as a Zinger but there's little in the way of chilli spice here. There is indeed heat but that comes primarily from the mustard in the new sauce. 'The Fillet Black' may have been a more appropriate title. Secondly, and this may have just been bad luck, but the size of the fillet in our burger wasn't overly impressive. Perhaps at some point we'll see a Stacker (or even a Tower Stacker!) that doubles the chicken.

Overall though, KFC Australia is onto another winner and we commend their continued commitment to innovation. It would be easy to write this off as a gimmick thanks to the unusual bun but the overall experience was genuinely heightened thanks to the new flavour profile and great packaging.

Taste: 8
Value: 7
Innovation: 8

Overall: 8

Oh and one last little touch that made the experience even more special - check out the message that's revealed only after finishing off the burger:

Finally, we have another mini guest review, this time from Matt Hunt(ing for delicious chicken):

I concur with the author around the lack of heat I’d expected with the Zinger name.

While I liked the sauce, and it did pair well with the bacon, I felt it was just slightly too sweet and overpowering in some bites, if you didn’t get enough bacon/saltiness to offset it. (Sounds like a potential construction issue to us - Ed.)

Zinger Stacker Meal Review

Finally, those of  us who want a BIG, Man Vs Food style burger, are on the way to getting what they want with KFC's latest TLO - the Zinger Stacker Meal:

This particular TLO is close to KFB's heart. We all have quite a penchant for the Zinger Tower Burger so any meddling with this is sure to receive close attention from us.

Given that there's two Zinger fillets in this bad boy its retail price of £5.99 is pretty good.To maintain this price point they've done away with the regular side and chicken piece that has been a staple of TLO's for some time now.

I was forced to purchase this at a drive through and due to circumstances beyond my control was unable to eat it for a good half hour. By this point it held some residual warmth and although the lettuce was now well wilted; the cheese was nicely melted; acting as a kind of helpful cement for the TWO Zinger fillets.

Upon first glance I thought I was going to need a flip top head to eat it.

Even after such a period of rest this was a satisfying burger with all component parts making their presence felt at some point, including the brioche style bun.

The sauces complemented each other well, although the sweet chill sauce is a bit of an unnatural shade of red for my liking.

Presented in a nice box selling its piquant credentials, it opens to reveal a nice looking glazed bun. You can see from this picture that Sweet chilli has been applied liberally to the back of the box rather than the burger but this was generally a good build.

This burger doesn't need any delicate flourishes to sell it. it's all about brute force and the almost atavistic challenge of two chicken fillets.... Winner! Or at least it would be if you bunged a hash brown on there.

To be fair after a rather dull period 3-4 years ago KFC has really upped their game in terms of KFB's long sought for innovations. With Pulled Chicken, Rice boxes and what is becoming a go to second option for me - the Burrito - KFC has built a range of products really differentiating them from the competition.

The release of this burger has reminded me of a colleague (unaware of my KFC affinity) recounting a tale about his wife filling in a consumer survey. He didn't notice, but when he said some of the questions were by KFC I suddenly took a keen interest in his story. As I recall this was shortly after the 'Double Down' had been launched in the USA, and one of the questions asked was whether a product featuring two fried chicken fillets would appeal. He pulled a face and uttered blasphemy about her saying no an answer with which he seemed to agree. Needless to say we've not spoken since.

KFC BBQ Boss Meal Review

I have to admit I was a bit trepidatious about today's expeditition to try the latest Time Limited Offer (TLO), the BBQ Bacon Boss Box Meal to give it its official title.

The reason for my sense of foreboding? I had opted to try what one commenter has called 'Worst KFC in the UK' accompanied by a slew of similar comments around 3 years ago. However a later comment posted a year ago paints the place in a better light, but it was time for KFB to check it out.

Why had I chosen this particular branch? Knowing that this TLO contains bacon, I knew a couple of my more regular haunts are halal branches which don't sell the bacon. I presumed, correctly as it turned out, that a small market town in the middle of a national park would not have the ethnic diversity to warrant a halal conversion.

After a number of fairly innovative recent TLO's the product design teams seem to be taking a break and have thrown together this burger from existing ingredients pretty quickly before adding an alliterative moniker to capture the attention:

When ordering I stuck with the Original Recipe (OR) fillet so I could enjoy this burger as Colonel intended. I opted for a side of gravy too and was delighted when the branch supervisor agreed to substitute my piece of chicken on the bone for a mini fillet ( although she said she wasn't supposed to, when I whipped out my Colonels Club card with it's swollen points total, I think she knew she was rewarding a real fan).

Following the comments I wasn't expecting much but was presented with a well constructed burger, just a couple of minor gripes, the hash brown was a little too brown and the bun had hardly seen the toaster, so was rather cool. The fries too looked a little overcooked but in fact were very nice and the gravy was an incredible three step that passed the standing chip test:

The Burger itself was exactly what you'd expect although I have to say it was well balanced with each of the key ancilliary ingredients (Cheese / Bacon / BBQ) coming through nicely. I just had one bite where the the BBQ was a little overpowering. The OR, so often overlooked by KFB in favour of Zinger was also very tasty although given I was tucking into this at about 13:20 not as fresh as it could have been.

The Buxton branch I have to say exceeded my expectations, It was clean with good service and helpful friendly staff.

Although there's a lack of innovation here, this is a solid contender hot on the heels of some good TLO's therefore earns itself a solid 6.5 out of ten.

KFC in Australia - Zinger Pie review

Upon first moving to a new country lots of small details strike you as unusual - these are mostly insignificant to the locals to the extent that they'll express surprise if you point them out. In the case of Australia, it was things like the clicking traffic lights, washing machines that play tunes when they finish a cycle and the obsession with banana bread and pies. Now don't get me wrong, us Brits bloody love a good pie. But you'd normally only find them in fish and chip shops, the odd pub and 'British' restaurants. Over in Oz, you'll
encounter them in every convenience store, you'll see rows and rows in the freezer aisles dedicated to them or even whole chains of shops (PieFace being the best known) dedicated to this humble snack. The thing is, most of them are pretty poor thanks to sludgy, measly fillings and soggy pastry.

Step up the Zinger Pie: the first of its kind we'd encountered on our global travels and making its second appearance in Australia after a limited edition run this time last year. First impressions were good - the pie was a deep golden brown colour and nice and flaky on top.



The initial bite was more rewarding than we'd anticipated thanks to a surprisingly decent amount of chicken and gravy which was packed full of flavour. In fact there was so much filling that our hands soon became covered in it (not that we're complaining) - finger licking good indeed.

The chicken itself reminded us of the pre-marinaded breast pieces you'd find in supermarkets except of course for the fact that this was a marinade like no other - a Zinger marinade. And very tasty it was too.

At $3.95 (about £2.10) the pie itself represented great value for money. To ensure a full review however we felt it necessary to 'box it up' and add an OR chicken piece, fries, a drink and mash/gravy bringing the total up to something more like $11. Unfortunately we found the mash very bland and the gravy a big disappointment but we're here today to talk pies, not potato. Speaking of potato though, there's also a Kentucky Pie on offer which includes aforementioned mash and gravy within the pie itself. As lifelong Zinger devotees though it just didn't appeal.

Taste: 6.5
Value: 8
Innovation: 9

Overall: 7.5

KFC Trilogy Box Meal - Quick Review

Just in time for Christmas, this period's Time Limited Offer (TLO) is a real gift. It's not the first time that we've seen the Trilogy Box Meal, and with its trilogy of  chicken items being akin to the Holy Trinity, the festive period is the perfect time for it.

For £5.99 you get a Zinger burger, Small Popcorn Chicken, a Mini Fillet (tiny in my case) Fries, a drink, a regular Side (Gravy) and a dip (2Hot4U). Tower up for 50p and you have a feast that will well and truly fill you up.

I ordered this at 6:45pm on a Tuesday night at the Goldenhills branch in Stoke-on-Trent. After a short wait I was presented with a treat, although I did have to remind my server about my dip.

At my table I discovered a well constructed Burger with a hot fresh fillet, (although the bun had only been shown the toaster and was a touch cold) a very tasty and fresh Mini Fillet (However this was tiny and I considered complaining), excellent crispy fries, decent Popcorn Chicken and an acceptable gravy (good consistency, but lacked taste)

Although this TLO does lack innovation it is more than made up for by sheer brute volumes of chicken

Value 8/10
Taste 7/10

Merry Christmas

KFB in Australia: Zinger Stacker review

Welcome, KFB readers, to the land down under. I've been sent on special assignment to the other side of the world so expect a special series of Aussie KFB posts coming your way. And be sure to check out our previous Australia write-up here.

Upon arrival in Melbourne I was excited to find not one but two special edition burgers on the menu. The intriguing sounding Kentucky Jack (complete with coleslaw and crispy fried onions) will be covered in a separate review but for today our focus is on the Zinger Stacker. Let's address the elephant in the room first: yes the Zinger Stacker features TWO Zinger fillets in one burger, bringing it up to Double Down levels of chicken provision. But unlike its well-known American cousin, this bad boy is sandwiched, quite literally, in a bun. Other ingredients include 2 slices of cheese, spicy salsa, lettuce and Supercharger sauce. I opted for the combo meal which set me back $10.95 (about £5.90 at current exchange rates)

As you can see in the above photo, construction was solid, with the white cheese binding the fillets to both each other and the bun. 

The first bite was a good one - this is a whole lot of chicken. Compared to the UK Zinger fillets though I couldn't help but find the chicken slightly lacking in flavour and kick. The Supercharger sauce is the same as has been found in the UK and is a kind of richer, tasty mayo. The lettuce was unremarkable. 

The spicy salsa, as seen in the above photo was less chunky than the UK equivalent and mustier in taste. It was also quite sweet but not in an unpleasant way. Sampled by itself it had a decent kick which was sadly lost in among the other ingredients.

Overall, and as we've frequently noted, this burger was missing something and that something was a hash brown. In fact, I'd go as far to say that I'd rather they swapped the additional fillet with a hash brown or in some kind of dream wonderland, added a hash brown to the two fillets on offer here. That variety in texture and flavour is very important. 

A quick word on the fries: it was as if I'd gone into some kind of time machine and emerged in the UK back in the depths of 2013, for the fries on offer in Australia are of the thicker and slightly floppier variety we were so accustomed to in the UK. They were hot, fresh and came in a strange carton rather than a paper packet but were nothing to get overly excited about. 

Taste: 6/10
Value: 7.5/10
Overall: 6.5/10

TLO Review - Pulled Chicken Ultimate Burger Meal - Hazel Grove branch

The most eagerly awaited KFB product of this decade has finally gone nationwide. KFB originally reported on the arrival of KFC Pulled Chicken some months ago when it was undergoing an 'Ops Shakedown' in Scotland. This is a trial period that irons out the kinks in the product and its preparation, service and presentation.

Although no members of KFB were able to sample it during this period we had some good feedback from blog posters and we've been eagerly awaiting it ever since.

KFB were even happier when KFC got in touch to offer some exclusive 'Chicken Cheques' so we could trial the new product.

Chicken Cheque in hand I sidled into the Hazel Grove branch on the first day of release for what was billed as the Ultimate Burger Meal:

For £5.39 you get the Ultimate Burger (Toasted Brioche Bun, Paprika 'Slaw, two Mini Fillets, Cheese, a portion of Barbecue Marinated Pulled Chicken and Lettuce, not just iceberg either - the good stuff ) a drink and fries.

Perhaps a tad expensive, but let's deconstruct this burger that has been built from the ground up:

The Brioche Bun is totally new and is not used in any other product; the glazed plain top is visually a little reminiscent of one of McDonalds buns but this had a subtle sweetness.

The Southern Style Paprika Slaw - Strangely 'slaw has never made an appearance on a burger before but instead of taking the easy route and opening tubs of the coleslaw used as a side, this is a new development. It's a colourful and crispy blend using red cabbage to liven up the visual appeal of the burger somewhat. The crisp veg is in a light subtle mayonnaise and although the Paprika doesn't really shine through this gives a nice texture, flavour, colour and moisture to the burger - a real linchpin around which the other ingredients hinge.

The Two Mini Fillets were coated in delicious Original Recipe and were hot, fresh and juicy.... need I say more.

The Cheese Slice was possibly the lost ingredient in this burger although it probably served a more structural purpose being employed in more of a binding role.

The Lettuce is not your common or garden type, there are some varieties in there which lend this burger a visual touch of class and provide a crisp topping.

The BBQ Pulled Chicken is an entirely new concept. The marketing blurb - To Get Something Special Takes Time - could be taken by the cynic as an allusion to the length of time it has taken to come up with a 'pulled' product which seem to have been ubiquitous elsewhere for the last 12 months. I would counter that although undoubtedly 'pulled' has perhaps been the preserve of the gastro movement, KFC have been the first of the 'big three' to bring this type of product to market, so it would seem that the marketing is in reference to the time that the chicken has spent marinating in what is a subtle BBQ sauce that allows a nice meaty flavour to shine through and maintains a nice moisture that doesn't cloy.

Put it all together and what have you got ...... The Ultimate Burger?

For those who've read carefully you'll have noticed that I've described a lot of the ingredients as 'subtle'. That was totally intentional, and as a result KFC have come up with a perfectly balanced burger. The moist Slaw and Pulled Chicken found top and bottom counter the ever so slight dryness of the Brioche Bun. The pleasantly salty Original Recipe Chicken at this burger's heart is counteracted by the sweetness of the BBQ marinade and the bun, whilst the slaw again comes into play with its opposite ingredient, the Lettuce, to provide a refreshing crispness.


Whilst I've been impressed with the long called for innovation, it seems that all effort was directed at putting this thing together, whilst the name was hastily pulled out of the bag at the last minute. Hard as I try, the 'Ultimate Burger' moniker conjures up images of a standard beef burger that's been pimped up to earn it's 'Ultimate' accolade.

Overall this seems to be a great addition to the range, which due to its ingredients will be good at even quiet periods of the day when you sometimes have chicken that's become a little dry, this on the other hand will always remain moist.

It's great to see KFC Coming up with new ingredients rather than re hashing old ones. I enjoyed this burger, and for the first time in a long time am going to award an 8 out of 10.


Enjoy

Quad Wrap and Secret Recipe Fries

KFC has another new Time Limited Offer (TLO): the BLT Quad Wrap, aimed squarely at the lunch time menu. However, perhaps the most interesting news is that of the introduction of Secret Recipe Fries - Standard fries liberally sprinkled with the lauded eleven herbs and spices that make up the Secret Recipe.

KFB on this occasion chose to visit the Liverpool Road branch in Newcastle Under Lyme on a busy Bank Holiday Monday night.

The order was for two Quad Wrap meals, (good value at £4.79 each) a pot of gravy (a great 3-step....delicious!) and in order to get hold of the Secret Recipe Fries, a Streetwise snackbox with a 20p upgrade to Secret Recipe Fries. They're not available with all products and this was the easiest way to try them.

The meal arrived, and straight off there was no evidence of any Secret Recipe - disappointing as I'd gone out of my way to explain what I wanted when ordering. I headed back to the counter and was quickly dealt with and had my snack box exchanged.

TLO's come and go but the Secret Recipe Fries were the thing I was most excited about. As a Zinger Tower fan, my physician told me recently that I don't have enough Original Recipe in my diet.... what a great way to rectify it.

I opened the box and was greeted with this:

Not a particularly satisfying sight. 20p is quite a lot to pay for what appeared to be about a single solitary gram of recipe. It hadn't been evenly applied so the flavour was concentrated in one corner leaving many fries totally untouched. To consider there is no cost difference between an OR or a Zinger fillet which has been marinated in a further batch of spices makes one wonder if this is truly worth 20p?

Well the proof of the pudding they say is in the eating so I dived in. Those fries that had taken the bulk of the application were undoubtedly deliciously salty but with another satisfying flavour that caused me to involuntarily suck the inside of my mouth clean of all the lingering flavour particles. However, this level of cover only applied to a handful of fries whilst the rest of the box teased me not quite giving the flavour I craved.

In all, a great idea, and if a little more liberally applied one that KFB could endorse.

Next I moved on to the BLT Quad Wrap... I'm not entirely sure what puts the 'quad' into this product as there are only two mini fillets and three acronymed ingredients the B the L and the T. Perhaps the shape should put one in mind of a some sort of varsity quadrant but there's no allusion to this in the advertising.

I was doing well with this meal. Hot fresh fries, thick dark three step gravy and now I was pleased to be holding a soft tortilla which had a mouthfeel redolent of  rural Mexico's halcyon days where the oxymoronic well-off peasants lived off the land in health and happiness grinding flour by hand to produce this unleavened offering/ This quickly gave way to tasty chicken that was firm to the bite and encased in a gooey cocoon of melted cheese that sought to bind the bacon that provided the final savoury taste ready to be balanced by the fresh lettuce and juicy chopped tomato... sounds good right?......except there wasn't a single solitary piece of tomato to be found. The name of this product has a T in it to denote the presence of said tomato. In a normal restaurant when a key ingredient of a dish is unavailable the staff make you aware of this but it was not until I was a couple of bites in that I realised.

At once all my enthusiasm evaporated, I plowed onwards through the meal. It would be disingenuous to say it was all anything other than very nice but in all good conscience I cannot reward such failure.

Daredevil Bites Review

KFC's Daredevil Bites are the latest offering for the UK market, and are available as part of the new Saucy Bites Variety Bucket, Daredevil Bites Box Meal, and also as a simpler meal option with just chips and a drink. Reminiscent of Hot Rods (albeit without the rod) and about three times the size of standard Popcorn chicken, these bite-sized morsels come doused in one of three hot sauces of your choice; choose from Sweet Chilli, Fiery Buffalo and Piri Piri Inferno, depending on how much heat you like. I ventured down to the Bethnal Green KFC branch to investigate.

I opted for the 2 Daredevil Bites meal, which included 2 sets of bites, chips and a drink. Staff at the Bethnal Green branch were helpful and knowledgable, clearly displaying a mastery of the current menu by offering up the choice of mixing and matching daredevil sauces - a nice touch. I ordered the Sweet Chilli and Piri Piri Inferno bites, collected my meal, and grabbed a table in the seating area.

The Daredevil Bites come delivered in separate lidded tubs, each containing 4 of the breaded chunks and with a pool of your chosen sauce at the bottom. There was enough sauce in both of my tubs to allow me to dip the bites at will, liberally coating them as I so wished. The crispy coating was more akin to ETC (Extra Tasty Crispy) than OR (Original Recipe). First up were the Sweet Chilli bites - as expected, the sweet chilli sauce was very mild (not even a hint of heat) but it did have an enjoyable taste, just like the popular asian condiment.

Moving on to the Piri Piri Inferno bites, I half expected these to be equally as mild, but I was pleasantly surprised. The first couple of bites were coated in just a drizzle of the spicy sauce, and failed to produce the desired punch I was hoping for, but upon mopping up the last of the sauce with the final bite, I soon realised my mistake as the heat kicked in. I wouldn't go so far as to call it an inferno in my mouth, but it was certainly a slow-burner and combined with the peppery, paprika flavours, produced a satisfying sensation. I think this is a brave move from KFC, as too often fast-food products labeled as "spicy" are far from it, and are actually tailored for the weak, mainstream consumer who thinks of a Chicken Korma curry as adventurous.

All in all, although the Daredevil bites aren't particularly exciting on their own, they do add an extra dimension to the existing menu and if I were to order them again I would go for the box meal or share the Saucy Bites bucket with friends. I would like to see the sauces (especially Piri Piri) put to use maybe as a topping for a Piri Piri style burger.

KFB Rating: 7/10

Have you tried the Fiery Buffalo bites? We'd love to know how they compare, let us know in the comments section below!

TLO Review - KFC Triple Xtra - Denton Rock

After a trip abroad on KFB business (review to follow) I was delighted on my return to the UK, not by the fact that the KFB North Office had escaped inundation by the ceaseless rain, but by the new Time Limited Offer (TLO) - the 'Triple Xtra.'

It was nice to see a genuinely new TLO, developed from the ground up with its own unique bread and sauce.

Although the name and blurb don't allude to it, preferring instead to tout its generously proportioned masculine qualities, this meal is in fact a take on the ever popular 'Club Sandwich'.

It features a new 'Dusted Rectangle' bun, lettuce, 3 x Mini Fillets, 3 x Bacon Rashers and 'Creamy Club Sauce'.

First Look:

This was a very well put together burger with almost too much chicken (can you have too much chicken? ed.) for the bun so that some was almost spilling out. The use of Mini Fillets (MF's) can be a plus by giving a more uniform filling, in contrast to the often uneven shape of the full fillet which can be plump in the middle before quickly tapering to overcooked edges. Another issue with the fillet can be 'Chicken Deserts' causing the diner to eat through huge swathes of under utilised bun. Another plus of  MF's is the increased surface area giving more delicious Original Recipe coating.

However such benefits must invariably come with downsides, one of which is the MF's propensity to fall from the bun following an ill placed oral incision that leaves a sliver of unsupported chicken in the bun.

The pluses and minuses of this particular theoretical build discussed, time to move on to the practice. As already mentioned this was well put together, and with 4.5 rashers it contained a whole 1.5 more rashers than it should have done. This sounds good but I suspect it detracted from and overshadowed the lacklustre 'Creamy Club Sauce' which had an absence of any clear flavour, providing only moisture and some binding. The burger could have benefited from more vegetable... some sliced tomato perhaps.

Special mention should go to the bun which was lovely and soft yet stayed together well. It would be welcome on the menu if its shape were modified to better suit the breast.

Overall this was good, really quite a substantial burger and is actually a brand new product, something KFB repeatedly calls for. However weighing in at £4.99 it's not cheap as no sides / extra chicken is included.

On top of this I felt they missed a trick with the advertising. Many other meals contain more food / chicken but don't tout themselves as "manly". The approach they've taken potentially alienates a female audience who may have been tempted to engage in a delicious chicken and bacon meal if it had dressed up with the more gentile and acceptable 'Club' sobriquet.

All in all this was a good offering let down by poor value for money (after all they've just shown us they can churn out MF's for a mere 60p each on Tuesdays) and the advertising.

Rating 3.5 Colonels

Denton Rock Branch

This was KFB's first visit and we'd definitely missed the lunchtime rush. As a result the restaurant was clean and the service attentive however there were a couple of major flaws.

1.When asking for water with my meal, I was told none was available but they did have Tropicana Orange juice which I took instead... I was not told that this would incur an additional 39p charge which I would have hoped would be waived as my initial healthier request was unavailable.

2. When given my meal, there was no tray liner. The tray did look clean but I really would have preferred the clean new liner which also provides the added benefit, when dining alone, of some light reading material.

Denton Rock has a lot going for it but fell short of the mark on this occasion.

TLO Review - KFC Trilogy Box Meal - Burslem

KFC's latest TLO and the one that will be here over the festive period - the 'Trilogy Box Meal' - bills itself as a gift to oneself, better if price-wise it were more of a gift from KFC. At £5.99 this is a costly meal matched only by the Big Daddy, tower up and you're at £6.49.

That said, this is a generous portion of delicious boneless chicken -

Whose constituent parts separately cost well over its total. This contains all of the standard 'Box Meal' constituents plus a very generous 'extra' item... a small Popcorn Chicken.

Something seems to have gone wrong in marketing department however as the promotional literature (shown below lists the veritable cornucopia of solid food items before reserving its attention grabbing capitalized 'AND' to inform the reader that they're being given a drink.... whoop de do.... as far as I'm aware that's always been an unremarkable part of any meal.

The second aspect that confuses me somewhat is the nomenclature of this particular Time Limited Offer. Whilst I get the trilogy being reference to the three pieces of chicken, it feels like there should be something deeper. It almost feels like it should be a film tie in with a name like that. Whilst chicken doesn't feature heavily in the diet at this time of year and Nativity scenes aren't often replete with poultry... surely there's a gag in here about the three wise hen?

I tried this meal at around 7:42pm on Friday 6th of December at Burslem branch in Stoke-on-Trent. The branch was quiet when I went in. Immediately I began to regret my decision with such slow turnover the product was bound to long out of the fryer and past its best. Past the point of no return I wen't ahead and ordered. Service was efficient without being quick.

Upon receiving my meal I took it to a bar type seating area and assessed. Upon de-lidding my gravy I was greeted with one of the best looking 3-step gravies I have ever borne witness too, could this be the one redeeming feature of the food having sat for so long, a gravy that had been stewing in it's own juices for so long it had reached some kind of gravy Nirvana?

Upon eating my first chip all of my fears were realised, it was appalling. Had any more of them been like that I would have had to complain.

However it was at this point that a Christmas miracle began to unfold. That one rogue chip must have escaped the scoop for hours because after that the chips became good and the chicken even better. What I had suspected would be a dry, lifeless and only warmish rather than a hot meal was in-fact incredible.

I ate it all, drank the remaining gravy and true to the old saying had to lick both thumbs and all eight fingers clean. Burslem branch.... almost full marks except for that one cold and cardboard chip - and something that's troubling me more and more lately- the inability to offer me the dip that's clearly included in my meal. I had to ask.

This was undoubtedly a simple meal done well, nothing extra for staff to learn at this busy time of year and the idea of treating yourself to that bit extra at this time of year is fine. Technically this is a new TLO but there's nothing original about it, and although almost perfectly executed I can only give this meal 3 colonels out of 5.

Merry Chickmas from all of us at KFB

TLO Review - KFC Scorcher Box Meal - Festival Heights

I knew it was about time for a new Time Limited Offer (TLO), you can always tell by the smiles on people's faces as you pass them in the street. My sense was correct, for mere days later an advertising hoarding I frequently amble past on my way into the office was advertising this:

Regular readers are aware that the KFB staff have a particular penchant  for the Zinger Tower so our interest was piqued by a TLO that seeks to enhance one of the two tenets.... No tower, but a hell of a lot of Zing!

The KFB team also believe this is the Colonel's first flirtation with Peri Peri, a longtime Nando's mainstay.

Before I got too carried away I had to temper my enthusiasm, as much as hard core spice lovers would like to see a sauce made of Scotch Bonnets this is supposed to be a mass market product catering to the varied palettes of millions; so whilst I could expect a kick, I wasn't anticipating anything too overwhelming in the spice department.

Following the usual format of other box meals this incorporates fries, drink, side (always gravy) and ancillary chicken product. In this case that is boneless Hot Shots, a nice touch I thought because:

A, I don't like chicken on the bone.
B, Hot wings would have worked very with this.

However on top of that (does the Colonel's generosity know no bounds) a pot of delicious Sauce 2Hot4U to be slathered as the diner sees fit over fries, hot shots and even burger alike.

First Look:

Good - Nice box (added to the KFB - KFC product packaging archive) and truly first rate 3 step gravy. However you'll notice that service was sloppy, I wasn't given my drink or sauce 2Hot4U and had to go back and ask for it. Additionally they only had 2 of my 3 Hot Shots ready and brought the 3rd over a few minutes later. I'll let them off though - it was delicious.


By the time I got round to the burger it had 'rested' for a couple of minutes which can often be a boon as the steam and other vapours escaping the chicken penetrate the bun, both softening and warming it, improving its overall integrity and preventing it breaking apart mid burger.

Immediately it looked well made, although upon closer inspection and comparison against the advertising picture it was topsy turvy. The chicken breast should be nestled in a bed of Supercharger Sauce and topped with Peri Peri Relish. This burger was the opposite, although I cannot comment on whether it suffered as a result.

The burger itself was exquisite, hot and juicy chicken (which is harder to achieve for a Zinger breast) with nearly the perfect quantities of sauce top and bottom, although just a tad more Peri Peri relish wouldn't have gone amiss.

And the much anticipated spice? I think they'd got it about right. Instead of a deliberately hot sauce that immediately sets the taste buds aflame and prevents you from really enjoying your food, this was a fragrant fruity spice which leaves a satisfying heat in the mouth at the end of the last bite.

For £5.69 this is a good feed, filling you up without overfacing you. It's nice to see a truly brand new product incorporating some new ingredients, and apart from a couple of scruples with the service.... this probably deserves:

 4 Colonels out of 5