Menu

Fast Food Review: Jack in the Box Chick-N-Tater Melt Munchie Meal


munchiemealchicken.jpg

It’s part of their line of “totally not for stoners, except when we admit that they are” line of late-night Munchie Meals (fun fact: after I got a marketing guy to basically admit it on camera, he emailed me later and asked if I could please re-edit the video to remove it. I asked our corporate lawyer and he said I don’t have to). The Chick-N-Tater Melt sandwich replaces the breakfast-themed burger and the exploding cheesy chicken on the after-9 p.m. lineup, and I’d love to tell you it’s for the better. But will I?

First caveats first – I ordered the sandwich without bacon, because I don’t really like bacon. It didn’t occur to me at the time that the bacon would be the only flavorful element. The advertised ranch sauce was seemingly absent (either that or invisible to tasetbuds), and the rest…well…

I’ll be positive – the sandwich, which is a breaded chicken patty and a hash brown patty with cheese sauce and sliced cheese on a croissant bun, is hearty, filling, and texture-wise has the right combination of grease and heft. What it doesn’t have is a whole lot of taste. Jack has a sriracha burger elsewhere on the menu, and I found myself wishing some of that sauce had made it onto the side.

Now, arguably, this is not about taste so much as filling the big emptiness in your gut that you imagine the bong has hollowed out. Mission accomplished there, though ANY Munchie Meal, with its sides of two tacos, fries and curly fries, will do that. My question, foolish as it may be, is why I’d get something with not much flavor that’s so obviously unhealthy. The tradeoff and silent bargain one makes with fast food is usually taste for artery damage. Jack’s jalapeno poppers and I, we know this dance well. I liked this sandwich better when there was a burger on it instead of the chicken patty.

Part of the ongoing promotion is a “Muchie Peel” thing where you can peel off stickers and possibly win prizes instantly. I did not win, but you have till the end of the week to try it out. If you can take the heat, though, I’d recommend the Hella-peno burger instead.

If you do pick this one, however, and if you like bacon I concede it is probably a much better deal, beware of it squirting on you as if it were a non-stoned teenage boy. The hot cheese can surprise. I wish it hadn’t surprised me by being as tasteless as it was, but I do like my spice.