Review- McDonald's UK NEW Great Tastes of the World: The Swiss Stack ft. Spicy Nacho Cheese Wedges

So long South African Stack, MSW may have enjoyed you and your heat but it is my time.. My time to fall into a cheesy bliss.. My time to enjoy this fortnights Great Tastes of the World Burger at McDonald's - The Swiss!

Thankfully, I had no nasty surprises when it came to the description of this double patty offering - No sneaky spice but double the dairy and crispy onions instead.. Yes please! I picked myself up a meal for the usual £5.99 along with some very daring Spicy Nacho Cheese Wedges* as I was feeling carefree and bold.

Two 100% British and Irish beef patties, Emmental cheese sauce, Beechwood smoked bacon, cheese, crispy onions and lettuce, in a toasted lattice bun. 

Finally! A burger that doesn't look like it's been used as a football or slung across the room - Towered surprisingly high and everything in its place, well done McDonald's workers, I salute you!

Given that the Stack really was a stack, I figured cutting the beast in half would be the best solution for getting a decent interior shot - Just look at those layers! Taking a bite, the bun was plenty soft and made for remarkable stability considering all that it held. The beef patties were cooked to perfection in being juicy and full of meaty flavour. As expected this paired up well with both the cheese slice and sauce which came with plenty of rich creamy flavour along with a pleasant acidic sort of tang. A kick of smoky pork came from the abundant bacon rashers with the standard salty edge, delivering the Beechwood promise and again, went well with the aforementioned. Freshness from the mound of crunchy lettuce and pure hit of onion finished things off beautifully.. Even if the latter wasn't all that crispy thanks to being drenched in sauce! Scrumptious! 

Overall, The Swiss Stack was very much worth the wait.. So much so, I can find very little fault in it! There may be a lot going on but each element is executed well to produce one mighty fine, not to mention massive Burger that I think would struggle to offend anyone. Get yourself down to McDonald's ASAP - It's a 4.5 out of 5 from me. 

*Spicy Nacho Cheese Wedges

Behold! The Spicy Nacho Cheese Wedges costing a very reasonable £1.59 and coming with a generous size pot of Sour Cream & Chive dip to dunk in, to your heart's content. 

Four cheese wedges filled with spicy jalapeño slices, served with sour cream & chive dip. 

Deep fried to perfection, the wedges were munchy on the outside with a soft and gooey, studded Jalapeño orange cheese centre. The crisp Nachos in the coating delivered the authentic flavour along with a blast of heat from the pepper - It really wasn't all to dissimilar in taste to the actual Tex-Mex dish especially when combined with the creamy and cooling Sour Cream dip. A bit hot for me but for normal folk, a treat - It's a 4 out of 5. 

Last up and weeks 5 & 6 of this years Great Tastes of the World campaign is The Mexican Stack which is set to rock the fast food joint from the 9th November. As this is once again a spicy number the post lays in MSW's hands so if no review actually happens, blame her not me.. Okay? Okay! 

Review- Jacobs NEW Caramelised Onion Ciabatta

Jacobs Cream Crackers have always been a staple in our house and I expect most of yours too if like us, you favour something crunchy at lunch times! We manage to top them with pretty much anything and everything.. From the "norm" of cheese to pickles, chutneys, meats and of course, dunked in soup - Perfect now that the weather is getting chillier.

Jacobs being Jacobs however have obviously decided to up their game and go a bit posh with these NEW Ciabatta which come in three flavours - The Caramelised Onion of today, Sundried Tomato & Basil and a plain Cracker option, all available in Asda for £1.39 a box. 

Each box contains 5, individually wrapped packs of 3 Ciabatta, making them perfect for eating on the go.. Although I think you need at least 4 to make for a decent lunch but then again, maybe I am just a fatty.

The slightly floured Crackers smelt delicious upon opening with an authentic onion-y scent. Having a munch, the texture was certainly very dry thanks to the thin, crisp nature with big pockets of air throughout just as you would see with traditional bread Ciabatta. The similarity to the aforementioned in terms of flavour was somewhat there with a powdery taste and onion/herby kick that wasn't quite as strong as its aroma but still detectable enough - Anything stronger would have been far too overpowering especially with a topping! Munchy and more-ish! 

Overall, these NEW Caramelised Onion Ciabatta are a nice little edition of the Jacobs Cracker range with a decent flavour and pleasantly dry feel that makes for a good base to a plethora of toppings. I will most definitely be trying the Sundried Tomato & Basil which I can only imagine will be just as amazing loaded with cheese! It's a 4 out of 5 from me.  

Review- Harvester NEW: Mac & Cheddar Bites and Red Velvet Cake

A few weeks ago, myself and the Snack Warrior family went to Harvester for lunch having not been for quite some time. As with every visit, there appeared to be a NEW menu for us to give a whirl - Pork Belly and Pasta were listed, to name a few. As I am boring, I stuck with my usual of a Burger but wasn't going to pass up a NEW Starter and a NEW Dessert! 

Mac & Cheddar Cheese Bites

"Cheese please!" I exclaimed when my £4.50 Starter arrived, still toasty warm from the fryers. The 5 Bites, that were marginally smaller than Golf Balls in size were piled up in a little bowl and topped with a tomato salsa which smelled suspiciously spicy!

Scared to go anywhere near the Salsa, I opted for the plain lil fella first, who was beautifully golden brown and crisp. The interior of soft pasta and super duper stringy cheese was delightful in both taste and texture with a contrast to the crunchy exterior. A hint of what I assume were chives paired up with the fairly strong chedder, a treat and gave another flavour dimension. Going back to the scary Salsa which I eventually built up the courage to try.. Fresh Tomato was certainly apparent but then the spice kicked in, I got upset, salvaged the Bites I could and chucked the rest at BSW - Next time I'm ordering without! A solid starter and a solid 4 out of 5 from me. 

Red Velvet Cake

Yes, you have read that correctly.. RED VELVET CAKE! This wodge, served with whipped cream and strawberries cost £4.99 (Ish?) but I essentially had it for free thanks to a £5 off voucher - Winner!

Delightful shot in it's half eaten state! The texture of this cake was a weird one.. And not actually cake at all but more of a dense brownie! I am not sure if this was due to the fact it had only just been removed from the fridge but it didn't appear to soften up even towards the end. Taste wise, all I can say is SWEET - Very very very sweet. The more than generous cream cheese frosting did have the signature taste but the sponge itself didn't reflect Red Velvet at all.. The only way to describe the flavour in its entirety was pink! - If one could taste such a colour that is! The shards of chocolate topping and coating the side, did go someway to cut a bit of sweetness but at the same time.. Not really. As for the fluffy cream and strawberries with sauce, I have no idea of its purpose as although nice enough, it didn't go with the cake whatsoever. Cloying to say the least - It's a 2.5 out of 5 from me. 

Well, it's a mixed bag of NEW here from Harvester - The Mac & Cheese Bites are delicious and I would most definitely order them again (Minus the Salsa of course) whereas the Red Velvet Cake is just Diabetes central! I can't see the latter going down well with anyone who isn't under the age of 12 which I guess works out pretty well as the Chain now allows you to order an entire Birthday sized Cake of the stuff - On your own head be it when you've got 20 hyperactive kids to wrangle for the afternoon! 

If anyone has tried any other of the NEW offerings from the Restaurant, I would love to know your thoughts and feelings.. If there are some hidden gems, I may even take another trip myself!