McDonald's Port Adelaide - Create Your Taste

McDonald's - 1 Baynes Place, Port Adelaide SA 5015

OTCB were recently invited to McDonald's at Port Adelaide to trial the new Create Your Taste (CYT) concept.  All items were provided free of charge on behalf of McDonald's.  OTCB was initially hesitant on accepting this invitation as McDonald's has only ever been a quick takeaway option at four in the morning to soak up the effects of one too many drinks on a night out!  But the customisation of your own burger with 30 different ingredients to choose from intrigued us, so the invitation was accepted.

Logo (Image provided by McDonald's)

On arrival I (Amanda) and my lucky guest for the day were handed a menu outlining the different items we would be able to select to build our own burgers.  We were then guided to the touch screen digital kiosks to begin our custom burger builds!  You can use the digital kiosk to order your custom CYT burger or also to order from the standard McDonald's menu, which I thought helpful if encountering a busy service counter.

Digital Kiosk

The first screen presented requests you to select your bun type.  You can choose from the baker's bun, the toasted brioche style bun or a more healthy option of a lettuce cup.  Both the bun choices have been developed for the CYT concept and are not currently used in any of the standard menu burgers.

The second screen requests you to select your cheese type.  There are 5 different cheeses to choose from including cheddar, Swiss, Colby Jack, McDonald's classic and shaved Parmesan.

The third screen requests you to 'Turn Up The Taste'!  Here you can select to add any of the following, rasher bacon, crispy bacon, egg, an additional Angus beef patty, guacamole, tortilla strips, grilled mushrooms and grilled pineapple.

The fourth screen requests you to select any vegetables you may wish to add including whole leaf lettuce, tomato, caramelised grilled onions, sliced beetroot, red onion, long sliced pickle and jalapenos.

The last screen requests you to select a sauce including ketchup, tomato chilli jam, BBQ, Dijonnaise, Big Mac special sauce, aioli, herb aioli and chipotle mayo.

Currently all burgers come with a 100% Angus beef patty but once the concept has completed the trial phase then McDonald's hope to include additional choices such as chicken.  Hopefully they also think of their vegetarian followers and include a vege patty or whole mushroom to select from.

After your burger creation, you then have the option to select either fries or a garden salad and the type of drink you would like to enjoy with your burger.  Once you are happy with all your selections you can choose to either pay via credit card at the digital kiosk or print your order and take it to the service counter to pay.  Then you collect the designated 'buzzer' and find a seat, as your order will come to you with the fabulous addition of table service when you use the CYT concept.

Our Burger Creations, Fries & Sodas

Not long after, my burger creation arrives!  I selected the bakery bun, guacamole, long sliced pickle, tomato, lettuce, Swiss cheese, grilled mushrooms, tomato chilli jam with the 100% Angus beef patty.  My guest created a beef patty burger including a bakery bun, guacamole, chipotle mayo, tortilla strips, long sliced pickles, lettuce, cheddar cheese and grilled mushrooms.  The meals arrived on fancy wooden boards with the fries presented in stainless steel baskets.  Definitely presented a little different to a normal McDonald's meal in cardboard boxes! I especially love the addition of the wet refresher towel that is provided.

Taking my first bite of my custom designed burger and I'm impressed.  The bakery bun has a nice slight outer crunch and a dense soft inner.  The patty was cooked to perfection with a pink centre and all my ingredient selections were fresh and of good quality.  I especially loved the tomato chilli jam that had great spice and sweetness to it.  In all honesty the burger did not taste like a generic McDonald's burger at all but more like a gourmet type burger you would find at any of the other popular more gourmet burger shops.  The only thing reminding me that I was not somewhere fancier, was the basic common McDonald's surroundings.  On this occasion our fries were hot, fresh, crisp and salty just how I like my McDonald's fries! 

The CYT concept has also been rolled out to the Munno Para store with the plan set in motion to roll out this concept to all Adelaide metropolitan stores by June/July 2015.  I look forward to CYT hitting my local McDonald's as it will suit a variety of tastes including my fussy food friends as they can select exactly what they like in their burger, my more gourmet burger loving friends and also the kids who can continue to enjoy their cheeseburgers, fries and time on the playground!