McDonalds – McPlant Vegan Burger

So, the name is not really the sexiest name I have ever heard of for a burger. The McPlant burger is perhaps one of the most advertised and discussed burgers to have come out of McDonalds for quite a while. I am not a vegan, neither am I a lover of the “alternative meat” market. There is just something about trying to replace a good old piece of dead cow with some sort of cactus or something from the ground. Either way, the McPlant is something I just had to try, having been bombarded with advertising from McDonalds since the turn of the year. Read on to see how it went.

The Bun: 12/20

I guess you can expect a half-decent bun from McDonalds when you go there. The bun is never going to be something that you scream home about but the picture-perfect seeded bun that has become somewhat iconic tastes okay. I always get the feeling that the sugar in the bun makes it moreish, as long as it is not stale (which has happened a few times at Mickey D’s). This bun was okay, gave a modest bounce back to the finger test, and tasted okay. Above average in this department.

The Toppings: 8/10

There is something pretty delightful about the basic pickles, shredded lettuce, and onions at McDonalds. I have to admit that I enjoyed the toppings, except for the tomato, which was discarded after the first bite. The lettuce, onions, and pickles were nostalgic for me. I remember the Saturday mornings ice skating for £1 and my £1 burger from McDonalds straight after as a kid. The pickles always taste great at McDonalds and they didn’t disappoint again, I just wish there were more!

The Condiments: 8/10

Mustard and Ketchup is the standard at McDonalds and providing you are not drenched in the twosome it can be a pleasant mix. The mix in this particular burger was good. Now lets get into the bulk of the review.

The Cheese: 5/20

All the marketing, the pretty pictures, the iconic Big Mac comparison, and illusions that the McPlant could rival that of a “normal” cheeseburger, were lies. Honestly, the cheese was absolutely tasteless. It had a texture that can only be described as something that you would expect if you were chewing away on plasticine. I had expected that the cheese would be of a brittle texture, similar to my experience with some other vegan cheeses, but it was not at all. It had not been melted, just thrown into the stack and acted like a tasteless barrier between sauce and patty. I know McDonalds are hardly connoisseurs of fine foods but serving me a cheese that tasted more like crayon with the consistency of rubber is just rude.

The Patty: 3/20

The Plant-Based patty that is co-developed by Beyond Meat was possibly one of the worst things I have tasted from McDonalds. I deliberately had not read any reviews from other sites, in order to give an impartial review based on my own experience of the burger. Since eating the McPlant I have decided to open up the record books and see what others thought of the McPlant. I read from a site that the McPlant had a “bonus smoky flavour that you don’t get at McDonalds”. I have no idea where that came from. For me, the McPlant patty tasted like a cross between concrete yam and cassava. I am a meat-eater, maybe my palate is just not equipped to decipher the correlation between plant-based protein and animal-based protein. The consistency reminded me a little of the sausage in the sausage and egg mcmuffin when it is overcooked and sat for a while – dry and complex to eat.

The Taste: 6/20

The McPlant is by far the worst thing I have tasted on the McDonalds menu. It was saved, to some extent, by the nostalgic sauces and condiments but the patty and cheese absolutely destroyed this stack. Overall the taste was quelled by the patty and the cheese which seemed to dominate in a tasteless experience of the McPlant.

Our Verdict: 42/100

Had this burger not had the condiments and toppings it could have been a lot worse for both my palate and the overall score. I couldn’t finish the McPlant, it was tasteless. Worryingly McDonalds have entered this mass market with an offering that they clearly didn’t need to make an effort on. Sometimes the big businesses can do what they want and still make money, and no doubt they will with the McPlant. I would never eat this again, I would prefer to get the condiments and toppings between a McDonalds bun and it would probably score higher than what I had to experience today. Personally if I was ever to go to McDonalds again it would be for the Double Big Mac we reviewed earlier