Hungry Jack's Classic Jack's Fried Chicken

Classic Jack's Fried Chicken is $10.80 and 2,843 kJ. It is Hungry Jack's answer to the fried chicken burger, and unlike most of the menu it is not a variation on the Whopper. Thick crumbed chicken fillet, lettuce and mayonnaise on a soft brioche bun. Three ingredients and a piece of bread.

The fillet is the entire product. It is thick rather than wide, so the bite has depth to it and the crumb has somewhere to sit. A thin pressed fillet goes crisp and then goes dry, and that is the failure mode of most fast food chicken burgers. This one holds moisture because there is enough meat under the crust to hold it. At 36.1g the protein is the highest of any single burger on the Hungry Jack's menu, beef included.

Brioche rather than a sesame seed bun is a deliberate switch and it changes the burger. Brioche is sweeter and softer, and it gives against the crumb instead of fighting it. A sesame seed bun would put crust against crust and the whole thing would eat dry. The softness is the point.

The seasoning is where it earns the name classic. There is no heat in it at all, which is what separates it from the Spicy version at the same $10.80. What you taste is salt, pepper and the fry itself, and the mayonnaise carries it rather than covering it. Sodium sits at 1,216mg, which is the price of a properly seasoned crumb.

Who it suits: anyone who wants fried chicken and does not want to leave for a different chain. It is also the pick for people who find beef burgers heavy, since at 2,843 kJ it lands under the premium beef burgers while carrying more protein. How much is Jack's Fried Chicken is one of the more common questions on the menu, and the answer is the same as most premium burgers on the board.

Pair it with Large Frozen Drinks at $2.00, or go for the Cheesy Bacon Classic at $12.26 when plain is not enough.