When approached by McDonald’s to call on our readers to review its new gourmet burger experience, we were happy to jump at the chance. While we all stop in for our cheeseburger fix every now and then, the opportunity to see if McDonald’s was up to the task of designing a tasty burger from scratch was definitely exciting.

The only request McDonald’s had was to give honest feedback, so their team could ensure Create Your Taste was delivering what the customers are looking for, and determine how it could be enhanced in the future. The Gold Coast is the the first region to roll out the concept, across most of its restaurants and has led the way for the nation-wide launch across all McDonald’s restaurants in Australia over the next month. Running for less than six weeks on the Gold Coast, this new burger venture has just begun. Fifteen random taste testers participated over two nights and were asked to review the burgers on presentation, taste, value for money, choice and if they would return and recommend it to others. The results exceeded our expectations and no one expected table service … that was a highlight.

Wondering how Create Your Taste works? You are greeted by designated Create Your Taste hosts at the large touch-screen kiosks where you navigate through the ingredients to choose your own bun (or lettuce wrap), Angus beef patty, cheese, toppings and sauces. You can then add fries and a drink if you want a complete meal. After paying for your purchase, you take a seat and the meal is brought to you by a host.

Presentation
Our tasters scored the presentation 8.5/10. All participants were impressed with the presentation, with their meal delivered on a timber board, including fries served in a wire basket. The skewer through the burger held its contents well, especially for those that ordered 15 ingredients or more. The overall look was fresh, juicy and inviting. As Sandra noted, “I loved the timber board and fries basket. My burger looked fabulous and fresh”. This was where the burgers looked as good as the ads.

Taste
The burgers scored a high of 8/10. As you can design your own, what you ordered and the combination of ingredients determined the final result. It was momentous feat to get through my burger, an impressive concoction of an Angus patty, melted parmesan cheese, a freshly-cracked grilled egg, crispy bacon, caramelised grilled onions, tomato, beetroot, barbecue sauce, lettuce and to top it off, guacamole. Most of the tasters who ordered an array of ingredients all seem to study the burger to work out how to pick it up and eat it as many were a height far bigger than the mouth can stretch. I needn’t have ordered the fries as I nearly couldn’t finish the burger itself. An extra splash of salt would have topped it off perfectly.

Selection of choice
For choice of ingredients, the burger scored a strong 8/10. The choice of five cheeses, 14 toppings and eight sauces was a hit, with several ingredients a bonus such as caramelised grilled onion, crispy bacon (a hit with everybody that ordered it), grilled mushrooms, shaved parmesan and grilled pineapple. Tasters were impressed to hear more options were on their way later in the year.

Value for money
The overall score was 7/10. Lee, who eagerly advised us he’s visited every burger joint on the Gold Coast, said he thought the price stacked up well for what you got. Others felt the price could have been a tad lower, however it all depended how many extra toppings you ordered and the drink selected. For the opportunity to design your own burger, many thought the price was fair, but several felt that the value could have been better if comparing to other boutique burger chains.

Return and recommend
Tasters rated the likelihood to return and recommend a 7/10. While some tasters were not fast-food enthusiasts and preferred supporting independent burger joints, many were keen to return to choose something different or try again when more options were introduced. As Adam noted,”I would re-order in the quest to find my perfect burger!” For tasters with children, they were happy with the introduction of Create Your Taste so they could have a fancier burger while the kids stuck with the original selection. If you prefer to grab a burger on the run, you can still order take-away from the Create Your Taste range, but like other gourmet burger places you will have to wait while the team prepares your burger from scratch – still less than ten minutes.

So overall, the tagline ‘how very un McDonald’s’ is true to its word for the Create Your Taste range, with tasters mainly impressed with McDonald’s next generation of options, rating the burger taste and presentation 8.25/10 with the overall experience a 7.5/10. All we can suggest is try it yourself and make up your own mind, but we think you will be impressed. For someone who may not have considered McDonald’s before for a good burger, this has definitely changed my mind.