McDonald’s and Burger King have made fastfood fries more interesting with their new offerings: Shake Shake Fries and Rock It Fries.
There’s a DIY aspect to these potato treats—each order comes with packets of flavoring that you’re supposed to coat your fries with.
We put both to the test. Our qualification? Only decades’ worth of Potato Corner consumption. When it comes to flavored fries, we’re practically experts. And here’s what we think:
MCDONALD’S SHAKE SHAKE FRIES
The flavors: BBQ, Pizza, Cheesy Butter
The price: P65 (or get the powder free for every medium or large value meal)
The size: Our serving gave us 53 thin fries.
The experience: Each order comes with a packet of powder in one of three flavors and the fries were handed to us in a bag. The instructions are simple (and printed on the side of the bag): Put powder in bag, fold over the top of the bag, shake bag, enjoy the fries.
The taste: The BBQ was sweet and only slightly spicy. The cheesy butter was more cheesy than buttery. “You have to be in the mood for cheese to enjoy these,” a friend said. (And that’s okay, because we’re always in the mood for cheese.) The pizza didn’t really taste like pizza, but Pam didn’t mind because they reminded her of Keebler Pizzarias, a snack from the early ’90s that only she seems to remember (Keebler, bring them back, please. And while you’re at it, bring back Magic Middles too—Pam).
The verdict: We ate all three flavors with three other friends and we all agreed, BBQ was the best flavor—it had a kick and a potential to be addicting. “But you know what’s perfect? Eating BBQ and Cheesy Butter fries together,” one of our friends said.
The fries were not as crisp as we like but we blame the put-hot-fries-inside-a-paper-bag step for that.
Here’s a tip: if you’re not a fan of soggy fries, as soon as you’re done shaking, take the fries out of the bag or rip the bag open and use it as a plate.
BURGER KING ROCK IT FRIES
The flavors: Cajun BBQ Parmesan, Maple Bacon
The price: P59 or upgrade your meal to Rock It Fries for P39.
The size: One order gave us 26 thick fries.
The experience: The commercials and posters all show Rocket Fries served in a clear cup with a dome cover but we just got regular soda cups stuffed with fries. The lids came with Rock It Fries sticker labels.
Each order came with two packets—a powdered flavoring and a sauce.
We looked at the first set—powdered bacon flavor and the maple sauce—in packets labelled Step 1 and Step 2.
We spent a few minutes in confusion: are we supposed to coat the fries with powder and then dip the fries into the sauce as we eat? But then, where was the cup for dipping? Or are we supposed to coat the fries with the sauce? Wouldn’t they get super soggy?
We asked the Burger King girls how it was done but even they gave conflicting answers. “Sabay po ‘ata,” one said.
“Yung powder po muna,” said another.
We ripped open the bacon powder packet and shook its contents onto the fries.
We covered the cup with the lid and started shaking vigorously.
Then, spotting the words “Let the sauce flow” on the packet of sauce, we drizzled its contents over the powdered fries and shook the cup once again.
The fries looked like they had been covered in a sweet-smelling glaze, and one taste took away all our confusion.
We repeated the steps with the second flavor—parmesan-flavored powder and cajun BBQ.
The taste: We were silenced for a second and then we said, “Oh my god.” And then we fell silent again as we stuffed our faces with Maple Bacon fries.
Cajun BBQ Parmesan was sweet, tangy and also delicious.
The verdict: Maple Bacon is Tatin’s pick but Pam couldn’t decide between the two. Adding a glaze to the powder was pure genius, and we were amazed that the fries managed to stay crisp even after being covered with sauce. We are now wondering what Maple Parmesan and Cajun BBQ Bacon fries would taste like and are seriously considering swapping packets the next time we go to Burger King.
