Fast Food Watch: Micky D's Has a Hit and a Miss With 'New Year Flavor' Sandwiches

Fast Food Watch: Mickey D's Has a Hit and a Miss With 'New Year Flavor' Sandwiches

Vincent R. Vinci, Contributing Editor | Jan 15, 2022 2:54 pm | Add a comment | 255 reads

Chinese New Year is almost upon us and McDonald’s is getting in on the fun with a few fusion sandwiches. They're so proud of these creations, they've even dropped some fancy Chinese-inspired illustrations for the occasion.

Going the extra mile, the American fast food giant has put everything in special packaging – golden boxes with Chinese ink painting-inspired designs and the names of each sandwich on the side.

But when it comes down to it, one is a hit and the other a miss in this "New Year Flavor" combo.

The first of these is the 腊味菜菜堡 La Wei Cai Cai Bao, which is essentially their chicken sandwich topped with a hefty helping of cured pork and what looks to be pickled Chinese mustard greens. The result isn’t all too bad – basically a sandwich that happens to have pickled greens with pork bits on top, lending the whole package a tangy bite.

The second, the 神鲜虾虾堡 Shen Xian Xia Xia Bao, is where things start to get iffy.

First of all, the trend of slapping two meats together isn’t inherently bad – but it’s all about texture, something crayfish and a fried patty do not have in common. And yet, for some reason, marrying these two and calling it a sandwich is something fast food chains in China seem rather keen on.

KFC has been one to mix crayfish and chicken quite a lot – their recent chicken and crayfish taco comes to mind – and now McDonald’s has jumped on the bandwagon with this… thing.

While it’s thankfully crayfish in a spicy sauce topping a fried shrimp cake patty, it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Why make me go through the trouble of eating crayfish if it’s covered in so much stuff that I can barely taste it next to the fried shrimp patty thing?

So as far as these “New Year Flavor” deals go – definitely try the La Wei Cai Cai Bao, but if you’re looking for a good fish sandwich, just opt for a classic McFilet over the Shen Xian Xia Xia Bao.