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McDonald’s fans, mark your calendars, because the next big menu change is coming to UK restaurants very soon.
From June 18, the fast food chain will be swapping out the current limited-edition menu items and welcoming back four fan-favourites and debuting a brand new burger.
The new item has been hailed as the ‘most McDonald’s burger ever’ and is called the Big Arch, a name it wholeheartedly deserves as it’s even bigger and wider than the classic Big Mac.
The beast of a burger (£7.99 on its own or £9.99 for a Medium Meal) features new Big Arch sauce, two Quarter Pounder beef patties, three slices of white cheddar cheese, crispy onions, slivered onions, pickles and lettuce, all stacked up (somewhat precariously) in a sesame and poppy seed bun.
The sauce is the star of the show and is exclusive to this particular burger, made with a mixture of McDonald’s ketchup, mustard and pickle juice, plus a few other secret ingredients.
Thomas O’Neill, head of menu at McDonald’s UK and Ireland, claims the new burger is one of the ‘biggest things [McDonald’s] will launch in a generation’, which is pretty exciting.
But there’s more…
As well as the new burger, two other savoury treats are joining the line-up including the Cheesy McCrispy (£6.69 or £8.49 for a Medium Meal), which first launched at Christmas last year.
The chicken burger is a ‘levelled up’ version of the classic McCrispy and sees a chicken breast in a crispy coating topped with lettuce, crispy onions, bacon, two slices of cheese and a pink pickled onion chutney. This is then covered in a cheese sauce and served in a toasted bun.
And the cheesy goodness doesn’t stop there, as Halloumi Fries (£2.99 for a four-piece box) are also returning to the menu, served with a Sweet Chilli Dip.
For those who prefer something a little sweeter, two popular desserts are also making a comeback and one is a Halloween favourite.
The Toffee Crisp McFlurry (£2.39) is returning as well as the Toffee Apple Pie (£2.09). The former is comprised of soft dairy ice cream swirled with Toffee Crisp pieces and topped with toffee sauce, while the latter has a spiced apple filling with toffee sauce and toffee pieces.
The pie, which usually features on the McDonald’s menu in October has previously proved a hit with customers, who hailed it ‘10/10’ and ‘amazing’.
But as always, the new arrivals mean we will have to say goodbye to several products and this time we’ll be losing the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry and Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers plus two burgers – the Steakhouse Stack and McSpicy x Frank’s RedHot.
These will all be disappearing from McDonald’s UK after June 17, so you’ve only got a few weeks left to try them if you haven’t done so already.
One item that is going to keep on sticking around though, is the Katsu Chicken One (£3.49), a wrap with grilled or crispy chicken, katsu sauce, crispy onions, cucumber and lettuce.
The new menu will launch from June 18 and will be available for six weeks from that date.
What does the new Big Arch burger taste like?
Metro’s specialist food writer Courtney Pochin got an early taste of the giant new burger and thought it was ‘better than a Big Mac’.
She said: ‘As Thomas said, the sauce is so quintessentially McDonald’s in flavour. The combination of the slightly sweet ketchup, tangy pickle juice and punchy mustard is comfortingly familiar and yet somehow manages to taste new at the same time. I’m going to need them to bottle and sell this immediately, or at the very least let me order a pot of it to dunk my fries into.
‘The Quarter Pounder patties give the whole thing a very meaty flavour, which is stronger than what you’d get with standard McDonald’s burgers, and there’s a very satisfying crunch from the crispy onions that elevates the overall eating experience.
‘If I had to give it a rating out of 10, I’d give it a nine. I’m a big fan of it as far as McDonald’s burgers go, but it doesn’t get full marks as there’s one big issue with it… it’s incredibly messy.
‘Getting it into the box was a challenge for staff and getting it out was just as difficult for me. Things took a turn for the worse when I tried to actually eat it as there’s so much sauce inside, everything slips and slides about on the bun as you take a bite.
‘I fashioned a bib out of napkins, but still ended up with dollops of sauce, bits of lettuce and onions all over me. Eventually, I gave in and asked for a knife and fork. It felt completely and utterly wrong, but it did make a world of difference. Let it be known that this certainly isn’t something you’ll want to grab at the drive-thru and eat in your car in a hurry.’
Courtney added: ‘But even if you do end up wearing most of it, you certainly won’t go hungry. It’s so big, I only managed to finish half of it. For times when you’re feeling ravenous and a Big Mac or a Double Cheeseburger just won’t cut it, the Big Arch definitely will.’
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