Day 32: March 25, 2015 - (Repost) McDonalds Filet-O-Fish vs Burger King Big Fish Sandwich

During Great Lent, the Greek Orthodox Church allows fish to be consumed during the Annunciation of our Lord (March 25) and Palm Sunday. Last year we compared the fish sandwiches of McDonalds and Burger King. Several thousand readers have made this post one of the most popular ones from last year; therefore, we decided to repost this entry again today. Two days from now we will post the entry from our March 25 fish dinner. Hronia Polla! Χρόνια Πολλά!

We thought we would put our creativity to the test for today.  Today is one of the days that we can eat fish during Great Lent, so we did.  But, we had to be a little more creative about what kind of fish we would enjoy today.  So, we went to two very well-known chains -- in fact, they are the two biggest burger chains in North America.  Burger King and McDonald's are well known for hamburgers, and a variety of hamburgers by different names.  There are some other things on the menu, of course, including chicken, fries, and fish sandwiches.  We used the two fish sandwiches to compare and learn which one, if either, offered the better fish. We also wanted to compare the Wendy's fish sandwich, but, alas, Wendy's in Canada has recently discontinued their fish sandwich from their menu.

Let's start with the packaging.  We appreciated that Burger King uses just a paper wrapper on the sandwich.  McDonald's used a box.  We did not know if either would be considered wasteful since they are both recyclable.  We liked the compact feeling of the paper wrapper, but the box made us believe that we would get a larger sandwich.

Next, we opened the packages to see what was inside.  The BK Big Fish usually comes with tartar sauce and lettuce.   The Burger King website describes it as:   Our BK BIG FISH® is a light and flaky Alaskan Pollock fillet topped with tangy tartar sauce and shredded lettuce on a corn-dusted bakery-style bun.  We were interested in learning that this fish was Pollock.  Because we were still following the other rules of fasting, we asked for NO tartar sauce.  Tartar sauce is a mayonnaise based sauce, and mayonnaise is egg based, therefore it is not permitted during Great Lent.  The McDonald's Filet-O-Fish usually comes with tartar sauce and cheese.  The McDonald's website describes the fish sandwich as:   Dive right in and enjoy our wild-caught fish from our sustainable fishery, topped with melty American cheese, creamy tartar sauce and served on a soft, steamed bun.  Again, we asked for NO tartar sauce as well as no cheese.  The only difference between the two sandwiches was the lettuce on the Burger King BK Big Fish.  We ended up taking the lettuce off the sandwich, too, because it was brown.

Then, we decided to weigh the sandwiches.  We weighed the fish fillets and the complete sandwiches.  This way, we could see if there was a difference in weight.  Surprisingly, the sandwiches without the lettuce weighed almost the same.  The lettuce added a noticeable ounce of weight to the BK Big Fish sandwich.  We wonder how much weight the sauce would have added?  The McDonald's Filet-O-Fish usually has cheese on it, but we don't t hunk the one slice of cheese would have changed the weight overall.

Next, we lined up the two sandwiches to check the size of the components; that is, top part of the bun with top part of the other bun, fish fillets together, and the two bottom halves of the buns together.  It seems that the Burger King sandwich is about half an inch (1.25 cm) longer than the McDonald's sandwich.  And, in height, the Burger King sandwich was taller -- or, at least the bun was taller.  But, for $4.29 (plus tax) for the BK Big Fish compared to the McDonald's $3.99 plus tax, is that extra half inch worth the extra money?  Plus, we have to mention that a few times a year, McDonald's has coupons that for $4.99 plus tax, you can get the whole meal (fries and drink with the sandwich).  Now, seeing this in writing makes it seem much more expensive than when we bought them at the restaurants.

McDonald's bun and fillet on top,  Burger King bun and fillet on bottom.

BK Big Fish on left, McDonald's Filet-O-Fisth on right.

The taste test was next.  We have identified that the BK Big Fish sandwich is larger in height, dimensions, and even in components.  But, did it taste better?   Well, yes and no.  Yes, the Burger King sandwich had a more fishy flavour, but the texture was so mushy that it felt like fishy mashed potatoes in our mouths.  The McDonald's sandwich actually tasted very watery, without having much of a fish flavour at all.  But, it did have the flaky texture that we expected and wanted.  As for the buns, the Burger King bun was a rich tasting egg-bread, whereas the McDonald's bun was a sweeter generic white bread.  Both buns had been heated in the microwave with the sandwiches, and that was very obvious.

Neither sandwich was far from what we expected.  They were a treat to us since fast food is not part of our diets very often.  And, it was a treat to be able to pick up something on the run for lunch, and have two days of Great Lent in which we can actually order something that is not just fries and a drink.  Both sandwiches were fine for a snack, but we are not convinced that either one would make a good meal.  Next time, we may just stick to the homemade fish!

"Give thanks to the God, because He is good; His love is eternal."

Psalm 106:1
Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html