Taste off: McDonalds McSpicy versus KFC Hot Zinger

So, even as I write this, a chicken burger is still a compromise. The gallus gallus domesticus, as God intended it to be enjoyed by man, is best when grilled, roasted or deep fried in flour batter. A pox on the man who first decided that the sweepings of an abattoir could be reprocessed into what would be sold to the world in the guise of a chicken burger or frankfurter roll. But these are strange times, and we in India live in a stranger beef-free cosmos, and hence when one corporation decided to pit its regurgitated offering against the competition's, it had to be chicken.

McDonalds introduced its highly hyped(though scarcely available) Chicken McSpicy burger during Lent and hence I was forced to help myself to its cousin, the Paneer McSpicy, as I waited for that Paschal candle to be lit. However my inability to find a store that could sell me a burger was harder and after trying at two places(Mumbai Central and CST), I was resigned to give the Zinger a go first.

I have long avoided the Zinger at KFC in India since I found out that they did not have the Zinger Supreme on the menu. Anyone who's tried that 6" monster with chicken ham and cheese sandwiching a spicy breast, can agree that they'd clean give the pedestrian burger a miss. But something had changed on my television over the last few weeks. KFC had launched a spin off on their signature burger, the Hot Zinger (Rs 89, before taxes), priced tantalisingly similar to the McSpicy(Rs 89, with taxes), and the ads were better that the operatic buffoonery of the McDonalds spot.



And so began the taste off. The Hot Zinger looked wonderful. The lettuce was green, the chicken looked good and there was a definite crunch to the first bite. A friend who accompanied me on the taste test said that the bread was crumbly, but I didn't think that this was a deal breaker. What I was more bothered about was where the hot sauce was. The burger in the ad looked positively oozy. Mine was anything but. My threshold for spice is remarkably low (albeit, by my Goan parents' standards) but this wasn't packing a punch. And certainly not an accent-altering one.

My hunt for the Chicken McSpicy finally ended at Andheri station, though the outlet was packed to bursting point and I had to order it to go. The long ride from the station to Lokhandwala worried me about how the burger would taste but I thought that it would be far more unfair to eat it in on the long, rickety ride.

We finally touched stable ground and I pulled it out, surprised that it was still warm. Sure it looked a little worse for wear given the endless detours the autorickshaw had to take to get to Point B but it hadn't lost all its crunch on the ride.


And the chicken tasted good. It was moist, something I've come to stop expecting since my habituation to the McChicken burger. Also there was heaps of sauce, making the experience a tad messy, though hugely satisfying. The sauce wasn't as overbearing as I thought it would be and I certainly wasn't breaking into song after a bite. In all, it was fast food well meant - to satiate hunger and sodium needs.

Winner? The McSpicy. It delivered what its name said it would and while the Hot Zinger was a very good burger, it wasn't flavourful enough. The only thing that McD’s needs to work on now, is ensuring that the McSpicy is actually available for hungry customers when they ask for it. And then, they might finally have a true winner on their hands.