How Does McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Fare Against Other Fast-Food Fishwiches?

By Edwin Goei Fri., Mar. 2 2012 at 8:00 AM

Edwin Goei

Once again, it's fish sandwich season at the nation's fast food burger joints, a.k.a. Lent. It is said that 23% of Filet-O-Fish consumption happens during this period. But how do the others measure against what's arguably the nation's most popular fishwich, which McDonald's now offers in a double-dose with its Double Filet-O-Fish (seen above)?

Although many bloggers have done similar taste tests, what follows is this blogger's attempt to rank five fish sandwiches eaten over the course of five consecutive days at Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Jr, Jack in the Box and McDonald's. The results represent observations made from a single visit at each establishment...because even a person who's foolhardy enough to do such a thing isn't about to do it twice.

5. Burger King's BK Big Fish®

Edwin Goei

Cost: Small combo meal, $4.99. Sandwich only, $3.29.
Calories: 640

Tasting notes:

Fish doesn't get more squared off and look more processed than this. The corners could cut paper. Speaking of paper, it was also the one fish sandwich out of the five that used the most packaging. It was half-wrapped in paper *AND* served a box. But the downfall was the way the fish was cooked. The breadcrumb shell was near burnt, and worse, the oil that burned it seemed to have turned rancid. The now-dark-as-tea grease dripped off in puddles. The aftertaste that lingered was bitter and acrid, a flavor that overpowered the lettuce and tartar sauce. The best part of the sandwich turned out to be a bun that was substantial, dense, and sturdy.

Grade: C-

4. Jack in the Box's Fish Sandwich

Edwin Goei

Cost: Small combo meal, $3.59. Sandwich only, $2.59.
Calories: 650

Tasting notes:

Jack's sandwich consists of two of the oblong, triangular, fish fillets that are normally part of the fish and chips meal. Though the batter was a lacy, golden yellow, it left a dull, greasy film on the tongue. The fish flakes were whole, but the fish was so mild, it might as well be absent. Eating the sandwich felt almost as if I was breathing fish air. If it weren't for the crunch, I wouldn't think there was anything between the bun except for the lettuce. This particular sandwich distinguished itself as the fishwich that contained the most lettuce, which isn't a bad thing.

Grade: B

We Recommend

dtakeda1

How could I have missed this article when it was first published?

For those people who think cheese with fish is weird, I have two words for you: Tuna Melt.

It's been awhile since I've had either McDonalds' Filet-O-Fish or the Wendy's Fish sandwich, but I've always liked Wendys'eses -- as with their chicken nuggets, salads, and (dare I say) burgers, whereas McDonalds was the first-to-market, Wendy's actually offers the far superior product in those categories. (McDonalds still slaughters Wendy's in breakfast and french fries.)

I'm surprised your Filet-O-Fish didn't come drenched in tartar sauce, as mine always do.Don't get me wrong...like Mr. Burns, I love tartar sauce...but it's always way too much. If you look closely, McDonalds' line cook always shoots the stuff out of one of those tubes that looks like a freaking caulking gun. They need to re-calibrate that thing so it isn't the 9mm Glock of condiment dispensers.

And there's no way I can eat cheese with fish. It reminds me of the [extremely rare, biennial-ish] times I go into Subway and order a tuna salad sandwich, and they ask me, so earnestly, "What kind of cheese would you like on that?" That's akin to the Cold Stone Creamery person asking me what kind of cheese I want on my Like It™ size creation.