Nacho Stacker Box Meal Review

Yep, it's that time again. TLO time. The latest and greatest to come out of the secret labs at KFC UK HQ is the Nacho Stacker Box Meal. Promotional material for this new release has appeared all over London in the last week or 2 and I have to say, I was quite excited when I spotted it. The poster shows off the new product and describes it as "Packing a mean crunch", while packaging uses the line "It's crunch time". Personally I prefer the image posted on the KFC Facebook page, with a simple, sparse design and the line "Nacho + Burger...there is a god". Hopefully this new streamlined and refined style will continue because it feels quite effective to me.

After the initial excitement, I took a closer look at the details - this is essentially a Fully Loaded Box Meal, except with the new Nacho Stacker burger. The burger itself is also very similar to the Fillet Tower, with the addition of a nacho layer and a slightly different salsa-type sauce (more on this later). I felt a little disappointed that there wasn't more to it, but was keen to give it a go (hoping that it would at least come up on par with the Nacho Cheese Tower Burger that I had in Australia).

I tried the Nacho Stacker at the Brighton KFC restaurant (branch review coming soon!) where the service was swift and I was soon sat in the upper level seating ready to tuck in. The unboxing...

As expected, the Nacho Stacker looks nearly identical to a regular Fillet Tower. The crispy corn nacho can clearly be seen above the hash brown, and the new sauce oozing out at the base. I could immediately tell by the dark, rich red colour of the sauce that this wasn't regular ketchup or zinger salsa. It was time to take a bite and find out how it tasted.

*CRUNCH* As my jaw clamped down, the satisfying sound of cracking nacho could be heard, certainly matching expectations set by the promotional material. The nacho layer added a slightly different chewing texture, but didn't seem to add much to the flavour. I guess a nacho isn't much else besides corn and salt, so this is to be expected. In stark contrast, the new sauce is full of flavour and reminded me of a tangy but cool salsa with a hint of mango chutney, ever so slightly sweet. I enjoyed it but did wonder if an overly generous amount of salsa (which can happen sometimes) might be a bit too much. One to watch out for.

All in all, the sauce and nacho texture combined with classic Original Recipe chicken and hash brown made for an enjoyable meal. Interestingly, the salsa in my burger was under the chicken, but in the promotional material the sauce appears to be on top of the nacho. This may have been an error in the construction of my meal, and I wonder if having the salsa on top of the nacho would give it more of a complete nacho/salsa experience and while making more of the nacho layer (although there is a risk of soggyness).

It's good to see some new, interesting ingredients coming into the mix rather than just a different sauce every now and again. A step in the right direction, and although the Nacho Stacker won't be winning any awards here at KFB, I'm hungrily looking forward to what the next TLO might bring.


Taste: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Innovation: 6/10

OVERALL: 7/10

July 4th in Japan Means All You Can Eat KFC

While most Americans were busy celebrating Independence Day, it seems Japan had a different reason to be jumping for joy. KFC in Japan chose this monumental day to roll out an all-you-can-eat KFC buffet to its 381 restaurants nationwide.

As reported by Kotaku, "On July 4 between 1pm and 4pm, you could shell out ¥1,200 (US$15) for 45 minutes of original recipe face stuffing". This seems like a pretty good deal, with the average person managing 7.6 pieces of chicken (not to mention fries and soft drinks). Value for money indeed!

We have to admit that we're pretty jealous here at KFB, the idea of an all-you-can-eat KFC buffet is something we've only dreamt of.

Streetwise Cheese Top Burger Arrives in the Philippines

In a stroke of genius/moment of madness, KFC in the Philippines has seen fit to introduce a new addition to their Streetwise menu...a cheese topped burger. That's right.

The first and only cheese topped bun burger with KFC’s signature Original Recipe chicken patty with rich Garlic Parmesan dressing. Satisfy your craving with KFC's new Cheese Top Burger!

The description and promotional shot there are taken directly from the KFC Philippines Facebook page. Here at KFB we are skeptical as to whether this burger is, strictly speaking, "Streetwise". The essence of street food is the ability to be consumed on the move, which would normally mean using your hands. A burger bun acts as the perfect tool for containing delicious, hot and messy fillings, and keeps your hands nice and clean. Surely putting the cheese on the top of the bun makes this a logistical nightmare?

On the flip side, we're intrigued by this Garlic Parmesan dressing and would love to see it make an appearance over here to the UK. Maybe a special edition Chicken Caesar Fillet Tower burger, using this new sauce? Perhaps this whole thing is a publicity stunt, a cunning way to attract the public's attention and cause a storm in the social media world? If that was the idea, it's certainly worked.

We'll be sending a KFB reporter out to the Philippines to get his grubby (certainly will be afterwards) mits on this new burger as soon as our budget permits.

KFC Ad causes massive mastication outrage

It was revealed this week that a 2005 ad for the Zinger Crunch Salad is the most complained about in the history of UK advertising. Apparently people felt it encouraged singing with your mouth full...

We therefore felt it appropriate to canvas the opinion of you, our dedicated readers to see what you thought. Personally we think it's very catchy and funny. Let us know in the comments, folks.

Reggae Reggae Box Meal Review

So the time comes once again for a new TLO (time-limited offer) at KFC. If you've been following us here at KFB recently you'll know that the TLOs have been on a steady downward spiral ever since the incredible peak that was the Hot Rods Box Meal, primarily due to a lack of innovation. Could Levi Roots' famous musical sauce turn things around? Could this be the shot in the thigh that the Colonel has been looking for of late? Or will this be yet another disappointment? Read on to find out.

The prospect of a new TLO is always an exciting one (if tinged with a little trepidation these days) and the Reggae Reggae Box Meal was no different. A Caribbean-influenced addition to the menu surely couldn't go far wrong. After all, jerk chicken is a famous national dish of Jamaica, the home of Mr Roots and almost always delicious. With this in mind, we ordered at Marble Arch: KFC UK's flagship branch.

The first shock was the price: KFC has recently taken to automatically upgrading all meals in their largest central London branches to 'large' sizes (something this blogger complained directly to HQ about) meaning the meal cost a whopping £5.69. Naturally, we felt the need to Tower Up which adding a shocking 50p extra.

The meal arrived:

Reggae Reggae burger, fries, drink, side, mini breast fillet and a dipping sauce (which was totally absent). Sadly it seems the branch had run out of the special TLO boxes which dampened the spirits somewhat.

Let's cut straight to the chase: this is a fillet tower burger with Reggae Reggae sauce instead of ketchup. Nothing else is different. No special ingredients, no additional marinades, no Jamaican inspired bun. Nothing. Our hopes were immediately dashed: once again the Colonel has seen fit to simply take an existing product, make a tiny variation and sell it as something new and exciting. Still, we cracked on with the eating.

The accompaniments to the burger were all of high quality. Crunchy, hot fries, 3 step gravy and a succulent (if unusually small) mini fillet. No complaints here. 

The main event

A Fillet Tower is a consistently delicious burger (though obviously no Zinger Tower). The real question here is around the sauce and the first issue was that it wasn't spread equally around the bun, meaning the last few bites contained none of that Jamaican flavour. When we did taste it though, we liked what we were experiencing: zingy, tangy, fruity and spicy all combine in the mouth to provide a flavour never before known at KFC. And despite the fact that the mayo was still included in the burger, it all worked together very well. We just wish there was more of it or that the chicken had been marinaded in a jerk seasoning to add that special extra punch.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: the Colonel needs to bring something new to the table. Simply adding a new sauce to an existing product is just not good enough. What's happened to the creative geniuses that suggested the Hot Rods or Wrapstars of this world? The most innovation we get today is the Supercharger: a new type of roll containing two mini fillets and a sauce recycled from a special edition Zinger Tower from many moons ago. The depressing thing is, having visited KFC's HQ in the UK and toured the test kitchen, we know that they're experimenting with some products that are seriously pushing the boundaries (one of which didn't even contain chicken!). It's just a real shame that they don't have the guts to bring them to market.

Taste: 6.5/10
Value: 5/10
Innovation: 2/10

OVERALL: 4/10