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| L to R: Wendy's, Jack in the Box, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., Burger King |
Since tasting and evaluating five chicken sandwiches is a lot of eating, I enlisted two cohorts, T and R, to try them and proffer their opinions.
Before we get into it, just a couple of notes:
- The sandwiches were delivered to me and were all lukewarm as a result. It's not ideal, but that's the way it goes for a side-to-side (to-side-to-side, etc.) comparison.
- Your premium chicken sandwich should come in a clam shell box. If it's going to be the most expensive chicken sandwich on the menu, it's packaging should follow suit. But really it's for a practical reason: the standard wax paper wrapping traps all the moisture and heat causing all the produce to wilt almost immediately and certainly if you're picking up a sandwich to-go.
So here's what we tried:
I ended up weighing the filets and Burger King tied for second heaviest with Carl's Jr. at 4.35 ounces. But Burger King was the only filet that appeared to be a combination of filet and ground chicken. It felt like a giant McChicken patty. It was only lightly seasoned and breaded. I swear these used to be better.
T remarked that the it used to be her favorite sandwich, but at least this time around, the chicken wasn't crispy and the the overall experience was soggy.
R thought that the bun was a little too dense, the produce was shoddy, but that the chicken seemed among the thickest of the bunch and was moist with very chicken-y taste.
The suggested price is $3.99 (but it's $4.29 in my area) for the regular version and $4.99 for the Bacon Swiss.
I really like Carl's Jr.'s Fresh Baked Buns; they do indeed feel fresher and add a slightly sweet brioche-like flavor along with a soft, airy texture. It was my favorite bun out of the sandwiches.
The chicken was solid and crispy but slightly too salty. It had a good thickness and weighed in at 4.35 ounce, which was second only to Wendy's. It's not quite the 5 ounces they boasted in the press release, but I guess it's an average and like burger patties, where they list the pre-cooked weight. The sandwich as a whole was the largest out of the bunch (the bun is quite big).
I preferred the regular version over the Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken Fillet Sandwich, mostly because Carl's Jr.'s bacon is pretty weak and relatively tasteless.
T thought the chicken was juicy and tender but didn't pack enough flavor.
R picked the Carl's Jr. Big Chicken Fillet Sandwich as her favorite, saying that the fillet had the best flavor (but was pretty salty) and that the simple but good quality worked for her.
Neither was a fan of the Bacon Swiss version due to the bacon.
If you couldn't tell from the picture, Jack in the Box's chicken sandwich also came in a clam shell. There was an ideal amount of leafy lettuce and tomatoes, and they were pretty fresh.
The bacon was the standard fast food thin but provided an excellent smoky flavor that really enhanced the sandwich. The ranch was pretty light, which is fine by me.
The weakest part of the sandwich was actually the chicken, which was on the dry side with a firm, overcooked feel to it. It's also on the thin side compared to the other filets but had a nice flavor and crispy breading. It weighed in at 3.15 ounces, which was ahead of only McDonald's.
T picked this as her favorite, citing its great bacon flavor and produce but noting that the chicken was "a little dry/overcooked toward the middle." She though the bun was great but didn't taste as good as it looked.
R had Jack's sandwich firmly in the middle of the pack and offered that the bun felt a little hard and dense and that the chicken was "super overcooked" but crispy. She also thought the bacon had a great flavor and the produce was plentiful and fresh.
The mayo was a little excessive and there was only a single, sad piece of leafy greens and a decent slice of tomato.
The chicken filet was crispy and was seasoned very heavily, perhaps to make up for it's small size (the smallest of the bunch at 2.50 ounces; that's veering into junior hamburger territory). Fortunately, I liked the flavor of the seasoning and the chicken was relatively moist and decently crispy. I just can't get over the subpar bun.
T thought McDonald's chicken entry tasted good overall but that the whole grain bun was just okay due to its dense and chewy quality.
R thought the bun was super dense, wheaty, and slightly sweet. She liked the tomato slice but felt the single piece of lettuce didn't hold up well. She had the chicken down as seasoned but dry, and the sandwich as a "soggy overall experience" due to the mayonnaise.
It was the other wrapped sandwich and, like Burger King, the produce didn't fare too well, especially the lettuce, which was soggy through and through.
The chicken filet was crispy (despite the wrapping) and lightly seasoned but also very salty. I'd put Carl's Jr. and Wendy's as the most salty tasting of the sandwiches compared. It was also the biggest filet, weighing in at 4.75 ounces. I thought it was solid overall.
T thought Wendy's premium chicken sandwich was very basic and sported a good flavor, but felt the bun was a little "eh."
R opined that the Wendy's filet was the thickest out of the bunch and was very flavorful but also a little dry and quite salty. She thought the produce was sad and there was too much mayo, but that the overall flavor was good.
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| L to R: Wendy's, Jack in the Box, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., Burger King |
