Hungry Jack's Cheesy Bacon Classic Jack's Fried Chicken

The Cheesy Bacon Classic Jack's Fried Chicken is $12.26 and 3,126 kJ. It takes the Classic fillet and adds premium eye bacon and melted cheese, keeping the lettuce and mayonnaise on the toasted brioche bun.

Adding cheese to fried chicken is a harder problem than adding it to beef. A beef patty comes off the grill wet and the cheese melts into it. A fried fillet is dry on the outside by design, so cheese laid on top sits there rather than bonding. Hungry Jack's puts it on hot enough that it slumps into the crumb rather than sliding off, which is what makes the burger hold together.

The bacon changes the texture balance. A Classic is crumb crunch against soft brioche and soft lettuce, two textures and not much between them. Eye bacon gives a third: a meaty chew that neither the fillet nor the bun provides. That is the real reason this version eats differently rather than just bigger.

On the numbers, protein climbs to 41.7g from 36.1g and fat to 53.1g from 48.3g. Sodium reaches 1,590mg, which is close to seventy percent of the daily reference and the figure worth knowing before you order. Energy at 3,126 kJ puts it near the top of the chicken board.

Who it suits: anyone who orders the Classic regularly and wants more of it. The two dollar step up buys genuinely different eating rather than a bigger version of the same thing, which is not true of every upgrade on this menu.

Pair it with Small Thick Cut Chips at $2.00, or take the spicy version at the same price.