The KFC Doublicious, released July 5, has been unleashed upon the fast-food coprophiliacs. Naturally, City of Ate had one of its own take one for the team, eating the Original Recipe and Grilled versions of the heir to the Double Down
The Original Recipe Doublicious, a spongy stack of fried chicken fillet, Colonel's Sauce (a 23-ingredient chemistry experiment), bacon and Monterey Jack cheese is, like its "healthier" sibling, a small sandwich. In fact, it's smaller than the average New York deli sandwich roll. This is unexpected from something advertised as Doublicious, although the name actually refers to the twin flavor combination of sweet and savory, of which there was little. The best that can be said about it is that the bread adds a welcome texture to the bike-tube tough chicken and practically imperceptible bacon strips. The sauce and cheese were also present in bantam quantities.
Surprisingly, the Original Recipe Doublicious is low in calories (470), calories from fat (210) and total fat (23 grams). But the amount of sodium isn't anything to shake a drumstick at (980 gramsmgs). All things considered, The Original Recipe Doublicious is as underwhelming as the Grilled Doublicious is boring.
The Grilled Doublicious is composed of a dry grilled fillet, lettuce, Monterey Jack and topped with Thousand Island dressing that spilled over the sides of the sandwich and onto my fingers, where it left a lingering acrid scent. Sorry, did I say Thousand Island dressing? It's not supposed to be. KFC labels it Honey Mustard BBQ sauce. A more satisfying sauce could be made in your kitchen by blending ketchup and mayonnaise.
The substitution of bacon with iceberg lettuce is meant to make us think it's healthy, as if the consumer should believe he or she is enjoying a salad. What is healthy about a vegetable that is little more than water in a solid green form? What is healthy about a moisture-less piece of poultry? Well, like its crispy sibling, the Grilled Doublicious is low in calories (360), calories from fat (100) and total fat (11 grams). But the amount of sodium isn't insignificant (940 grams mgs).
Thankfully, consumption of either sandwich didn't end in a food coma. How KFC expects to trump the popularity and gimmick of the Double Down with this new product is dubious. Going from the avant garde meat-as-bread product to the traditional sandwich concept, which we are intended to believe is novel, is nothing more than a let down. It can't compete with social coup of the Double Down. The poor ingredients between the "sweet" Hawaiian bread aren't sweet. The best that can be said of the Doublicious is that the food stylists and marketers have successfully delivered a product that the masses are gullible enough to believe you can eat healthy pabulum at an international chain know for selling trading in greasy or extra greasy.
