Review: McDonald's - Bacon Clubhouse Burger

McDonald's Bacon Clubhouse Burger gives a new look to their Big Mac special sauce by setting it up in a brioche-like bun along with a quarter pound beef patty, thick-cut Applewood-smoked bacon, caramelized grilled onions, a slice of processed white cheddar, and leaf lettuce.

I bought one for $4.69 (a chicken version was also available for $4.89)

The clubhouse burger is something McDonald's has been playing around for a while; I tried a previous iteration back in summer 2012. The Bacon Clubhouse looks to be the finalized version and a permanent menu item.

Looked like a lot of lettuce but it wasn't.

I like the bun. It has a squishy soft feel to it with just a touch of sweetness. It was just the right size for the burger; not too big as too leave you with a couple bites of bread but not so small as to leave you with greasy hands. It's a definite step up from the regular sesame bun of the Big Mac as well as the bakery-style buns of McDonald's Premium Chicken Sandwiches.

The bacon was crunchy, but the flavor was just decent compared to say, Wendy's or Arby's. There was a good amount of it and it was one of the more prevalent flavors of the burger.

The veggies were fresh but while it looked like there was a good amount of lettuce at first glance, there was really only one or two leaves and they started to wilt from the heat of the burger. While leaf lettuce is healthier and tends to be seen as more "premium," I think I'd prefer plain old iceberg lettuce. It adds more in the way of texture, cushions against the salt in the burger, and holds up better.

The caramelized onions add some extra sweetness to the sandwich, but could use some charring (like at In-N-Out). They tasted good when I could taste them but were often covered up by the Big Mac special sauce.

The lone slice of cheese was superfluous. Aside from the occasionally vague creaminess, it was largely MIA. I like cheeseburgers in general, but you can safely get this without cheese if you're looking to save yourself the calories.

The patty was pretty thick and had a tasty seasoned flavor to it. According to the McDonald's website, it's dusted with "Angus Seasoning." It tasted better than I remember the Angus patty being.

The Mac Sauce was a little excessive for me. Besides the burger patty and the bacon, it was less a condiment and more of a cloud that blocked out the better flavors of some of the ingredients.

Overall, I liked the Bacon Clubhouse Burger but it was far from great. The different components, while good, didn't play well with each other and left me wishing for a simpler burger.

Nutritional Info - McDonald's Bacon Clubhouse Burger - 9.5-oz (270g)
Calories - 720 (from Fat - 360)
Fat - 40g (Saturated Fat - 15g)
Sodium - 1470mg
Carbs - 51g (Sugar - 14g)
Protein - 39g