Review: Wendy’s Breakfast, Part Two

My last encounter with Wendy’s breakfast was moderately successful, but there were a good number of items I still wanted to try. Mostly the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, I mean who wouldn’t want to try that? So once again I set out to my 4th-closest Wendy’s location, since the first 3 do not offer breakfast.

I ordered the Chicken Biscuit, Bacon Panini, Sausage Burrito, Oatmeal bar, and Home-Style Potatoes (which you can read about in Part 1). I was also charged $.79 for something called “tax,” which I do not recall ordering. I even checked the bottom of the bag and did not find it. Oh well.

Let’s begin with the panini. The Mornin’ Melt Panini is described by Wendy’s as such:

“…natural Asiago and Cheddar cheeses, fresh cracked Grade A eggs seasoned with salt and pepper and your choice of grilled all-natural sausage or thick, center cut Applewood Smoked Bacon and fresh, hand-cut tomato. All atop sourdough bread brushed with real butter and grilled in-store on our panini press.”

First of all, the bacon was great, as usual. Cooked perfectly and very flavorful. It’s certainly a very cheesy sandwich, and both flavors shined. The Asiago provided creaminess and some of that earthy umami flavor, while the Cheddar was a little nutty and quite good. Next there’s the egg, which I found to be overcooked and somewhat rubbery, but at least it was real. Still, I’ve had a lot better real eggs. Then there was a very small tomato slice. I really hate tomatoes so I took it off, but it seemed to be smaller than most and kind of pale. As for the sourdough, it really didn’t have much flavor. I was expecting it to be at least a little buttery, but I didn’t get that at all.

Overall, it’s not a bad sandwich, but I wouldn’t call it a standout. Bacon and cheese were the positives here. In typical Wendy’s fashion, it’s probably overpriced at $3.19, but that’s really not too bad, especially considering the higher quality of their ingredients. I give it 6/10.

Next up was the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, which is exactly what it sounds like:

“…a crispy whole breast chicken fillet topped with real honey butter — all on a warm, Southern-style buttermilk biscuit baked fresh all morning long.”

I’ll be honest – I’ve never actually had a chicken biscuit sandwich. We don’t have any Chick-fil-A’s up here in the Pacific Northwest, and while I’ve been compelled to try the Southern Style one from McDonald’s, I never have. With that said, I was definitely expecting to enjoy this because, well, what’s not to like?

I dove right in, and I was definitely feelin’ this bad boy. The chicken fillet was smaller than their normal chicken sandwiches, but it was crispy and flavorful, and the biscuit was really soft. The butter was present and I liked it, but there was really no honey flavor. However, on the second bite I got some of the sweetness from the honey butter, and it just didn’t jive with me. I think a chicken biscuit ought to be a savory sandwich so I couldn’t roll with this one.

The Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit is a pretty average value at $2.59. If it had just plain butter, or even no butter, I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more. As is, it gets 5/10 from me.

Next we have the Sausage and Egg Burrito. It’s a very simple value menu item at just 99 cents – sausage, egg and cheese in a tortilla. First, you’ll note that it’s the tiniest burrito of all time, measuring just 4 measly inches. It’s just about the exact same size as an iPhone. I was willing to forgive the pathetic size, however, if it tasted good. It did not. The eggs, which made up about 90% of the filling, were clearly made from some sort of mixture and had an off-putting flavor. The cheese was actually a liquid cheese sauce that was nearly void of flavor. Finally there are the sausage pieces. Well, sort of. I think there were about 10 itty bitty sausage crumbles. Being that there were so few of them, they were hardly noticeable in this burrito, one in which sausage is supposedly the star! Needless to say, I hated this burrito and it was a 3/10.

The final item was also from the value menu- the Fresh Baked Oatmeal Bar. I’m not sure the $1.29 price tag is justified considering the size, but once again, I’m judging the flavor. It’s pretty simple: oats, blueberries and cranberries. I broke it in half and was pleased to find that it was pretty soft in the middle. And after one bite, I was hooked. This thing is awesome! I’m normally not a huge fan of either of those berries, but they gave it just a bit of sweetness. The best part, however, was that there was a lot of cinnamon sugar baked into it, and you can’t go wrong with cinnamon sugar. The worst part was having to share it with my 2 roommates. If I had known how delicious it was I would have bought more. $1.29 is still a little steep for a little oatmeal bar, but I would definitely buy it again. 9.25/10.

So there you have it. I’ve tried most of the Wendy’s breakfast menu, and my feelings are mixed. A lot of the items fell short in my opinion, however it was obvious to me that the ingredients were high quality, so maybe it was more an issue of my tastes not being suited. My favorites were the Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Home-Style Potatoes, and Oatmeal Bar. I would also be curious to see how the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit might taste without the honey butter. Despite my not liking some things about it, you should definitely check out Wendy’s breakfast for yourself if you’re lucky enough to have it near you (locator here). Until next time, I’m Ron Burgundy. You stay classy, planet Earth.