Tuesday 11 September 2012

Nacho Stacker Box Meal Review

Yep, it's that time again. TLO time. The latest and greatest to come out of the secret labs at KFC UK HQ is the Nacho Stacker Box Meal. Promotional material for this new release has appeared all over London in the last week or 2 and I have to say, I was quite excited when I spotted it. The poster shows off the new product and describes it as "Packing a mean crunch", while packaging uses the line "It's crunch time". Personally I prefer the image posted on the KFC Facebook page, with a simple, sparse design and the line "Nacho + Burger...there is a god". Hopefully this new streamlined and refined style will continue because it feels quite effective to me.


After the initial excitement, I took a closer look at the details - this is essentially a Fully Loaded Box Meal, except with the new Nacho Stacker burger. The burger itself is also very similar to the Fillet Tower, with the addition of a nacho layer and a slightly different salsa-type sauce (more on this later). I felt a little disappointed that there wasn't more to it, but was keen to give it a go (hoping that it would at least come up on par with the Nacho Cheese Tower Burger that I had in Australia).

I tried the Nacho Stacker at the Brighton KFC restaurant (branch review coming soon!) where the service was swift and I was soon sat in the upper level seating ready to tuck in. The unboxing...


As expected, the Nacho Stacker looks nearly identical to a regular Fillet Tower. The crispy corn nacho can clearly be seen above the hash brown, and the new sauce oozing out at the base. I could immediately tell by the dark, rich red colour of the sauce that this wasn't regular ketchup or zinger salsa. It was time to take a bite and find out how it tasted.

*CRUNCH* As my jaw clamped down, the satisfying sound of cracking nacho could be heard, certainly matching expectations set by the promotional material. The nacho layer added a slightly different chewing texture, but didn't seem to add much to the flavour. I guess a nacho isn't much else besides corn and salt, so this is to be expected. In stark contrast, the new sauce is full of flavour and reminded me of a tangy but cool salsa with a hint of mango chutney, ever so slightly sweet. I enjoyed it but did wonder if an overly generous amount of salsa (which can happen sometimes) might be a bit too much. One to watch out for.

All in all, the sauce and nacho texture combined with classic Original Recipe chicken and hash brown made for an enjoyable meal. Interestingly, the salsa in my burger was under the chicken, but in the promotional material the sauce appears to be on top of the nacho. This may have been an error in the construction of my meal, and I wonder if having the salsa on top of the nacho would give it more of a complete nacho/salsa experience and while making more of the nacho layer (although there is a risk of soggyness).

It's good to see some new, interesting ingredients coming into the mix rather than just a different sauce every now and again. A step in the right direction, and although the Nacho Stacker won't be winning any awards here at KFB, I'm hungrily looking forward to what the next TLO might bring.


Taste: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Innovation: 6/10

OVERALL: 7/10

4 comments:

Crunch Fan said...

Great to see this KFB review at last.

I've just got home from eating my second (yes, SECOND) Nacho Stacker since the promotion launched. Both times (at different branches) the burger was prepared with the salsa-like sauce placed on the bottom of the burger underneath the chicken - matching KFB's experience. I can therefore only surmise that there was a breakdown of communication between KFC's trained chefs (who put the salsa-like sauce on the bottom) and the advertising people (who think the salsa-like sauce goes on top of the nacho).

As for my own thoughts on the Nacho Stacker, having just told you that I've had my second Stacker in as many weeks you'll probably be able to guess what I'm going to say next...

Bravo, KFC. Bravo.

This is actually a new and interesting product - ok, it's still fairly conservative in its approach and borrows a lot from highly successful Fillet Tower - but there can be no denying that adding a nacho and the new salsa-style sauce offers up something new and - yes - delicious!

If my anecdotal experience this afternoon is anything to go by then the Colonel is on to a real winner with the Nacho Stacker - both of the people who ordered before me opted for Nacho Stacker Box Meals and as I ate my meal I would estimate at least 50% of customers after me were ordering the Nacho Stacker Box Meal. We can all go on complaining about the price (£6 if you "go large") - and I agree it's steep - but the fact is that chicken lovers seem willing to fork out the cash in the name of "crunch time" so who can really blame the Colonel for cashing-in.

After the disappointment of the Reggae Reggae Box Meal earlier year (one of the most oversold and underwhelming products to ever leave a stain on the KFC menu) the Nacho Stacker Box Meal seems like an even greater accomplishment.

Finally something to restore my faith in the Colonel!

Anonymous said...

nacho stacker sucks, needs proper salsa/guacamole and a second layer of nacho, the same fail as the arizona nacho grande at mcdonalds was.

Chuck said...

hi,

I love KFC and I love this website. I've just been sent this link which troubles me. Could you find out more whether this is in fact true, and what stance you think we should take?

Thanks

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/795/552/172/?z00m=20435557#confirm

Anonymous said...

this burger is lovely but doesn't have made your arse burn when it comes back out! Ring of Fire!! lol