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What Did You Think of McDonald's Serious Lamb Burger?

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by Lionel (subscribe)
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Published January 28th 2013

Since opening its first restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona in 1971, McDonald's has grown to over 780 outlets employing some 85,000 people who serve more than 1 million daily customers across Australia today.

As nationwide sales dipped due to lower consumer confidence and increasing demand for better value for money, McDonald's is working at wining back customers. The global fast food giant is focused on offering Australians cheaper items and a greater variety of meals including putting more lamb on the menu after the company felt that Australians embraced the lamb burger promotion.
Photo by brittgow of Flickr

Most readers will agree that lamb is a Australian iconic meat, frequently appearing as chops on the barbie and roasts in the oven.

To get the combination of flavours and ingredients attuned to the taste buds of Aussies, McDonald's Australia worked with the Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) organisation and spent over 18 months to develop and perfect the product.

The end result were "thick and juicy" patties made of 100 percent Australian lamb, combined with "egg and breadcrumbs, then seasoned with rosemary, parsley, oregano, garlic and real onions to create a mouthwatering taste". Fans of the golden arches would have been thrilled with the possibility of a new burger that might become a stayer on the perennial menu.

Photo by pj_in_oz of Flickr

Although we're a nation of lamb lovers, did a McDonald's lamb burger really made sense? Did Aussies truly felt the lamb burger was worth all the calories and price? Did you really enjoy the burger?

Macca's introduced its 'Serious Lamb Burger' on 15 August 2012 in one of its biggest launches ever Down Under. The burger was for a limited time only in a test market for new menu items. If all went well,, the burger could be introduced to the US.

Sam Kekovich, a popular former AFL player, was featured in a training film explaining how to construct the new burger, beginning with a 5 inch wheatgerm bun as the base, layered with a tomato slice, 3 red onion rings, the lamb patty, an oval cooked egg, 15 millilitres of tomato ketchup, 14 grams of greens, 20 grams of aioli, a slice of beetroot and finally top with the bun crown.

It was so 'serious' that Macca's recommended using both hands to eat the burger. Available in all outlets nationwide, the burger cost a 'serious' AUD7.95 and clocked 805 calories.


I decided to pick one up for a 'serious' taste test from an outlet in Melbourne CBD when the crowd had abated at night. The burger arrived in a larger than usual box stamped with the glorified 'Serious Lamb Burger'.


Tearing away the seal of 'quality', I came face-to-face with a hefty bun that hinted at a messy meal. It's larger size is also reflected in the premium price.

Although the burger contained all the promised ingredients of tomato, beetroot, aioli, ketchup, egg and onion, it looked nothing like the advertised image. A closer scrutiny of the lamb burger revealed a 1 centimetre thick patty, a well cooked egg with no over-fried edges, a sparse leaf of iceberg lettuce and a large beetroot slice and tomato.

A bite of the hefty burger revealed dry, crumbly and stale-like bun over crispy greens and soft tomato and beetroot. The patty was seriously more like a slice of salty and fatty meatloaf with indistinguishable lamb flavour. It could have been any meat.


Fortunately the overall taste was pleasant and the burger was not overly wet and greasy like some burgers. The accompanying fries were limp and the staff forgot the soft drink in my meal order. If Mary was Down Under and after a "little lamb", she might just think twice.
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One Macca's Lamb burger has cured me of eating such poorly prepared and presented junk food. Sorry Macca's you got it so wrong this time. Your Lamb burger just doesn't live up to all the hype in your extensive advertising.
We bought two at Westlakes. It came with some white lettuce only; no egg, tomato or beetroot or promising tasty flavours.
by Haydn Radford (score: 3|1147) 3782 days ago
Lamb burger -horrible full of food additives flavouings etc No thank you. I was still tasting it hours after I had eaten it
by peter (score: 0|4) 3784 days ago
Very artificialand overdone with herbs.
I cook lamb burgers all the time and mine dont taste like that.
by carlm (score: 0|4) 3781 days ago
I won't eat there while their awful little buns are mostly sugar and leave you hungry in no time.
by judit (score: 0|4) 3782 days ago
The burger was amazing, full of flavour. It was great to be able to buy a Lamb Burger for something different. I am very very partial to lamb. I gre up on lamb and was excited they had brought out a lamb burger. My ONLY complaint was they only put 1 slice of tomato on such a large bun. They charged 50c for each additional slice. Daylight robbery!
by Carolyn (score: 0|4) 3783 days ago
Really tasty and a great change from beef and chicken
by daryl (score: 0|4) 3782 days ago
The lamb burger left greas all over the wall of my mouth the only good thing about it I lost 2 kilos from being sick
by karen (score: 0|4) 3780 days ago
Serious Lamb Burger should not be for a limited time only this is Australia & should be available all the time. Egg & bacon muffins should be available all day too.
by blair8 (score: 0|9) 3445 days ago
I really liked the lamb taste, personally everything has additives or preservatives and is not that healthy but it was nice for a changed
by em076 (score: 0|2) 3570 days ago
Replusive, tasted like sausage mince with a supersize serve of fat. Blechhh:{p
by trish222 (score: 0|2) 3782 days ago
loved the lamb taster wrap. the burger had too much salad.
by lorna (score: 0|4) 3782 days ago
The burger was amazing, full of flavour. The combination of egg, beetroot, lamb & salad was a taste sensation. It was great to be able to buy a Lamb Burger for something different. I am very very partial to lamb. I grew up on lamb and was excited they had brought out a lamb burger. My ONLY complaint was they only put 1 slice of tomato on such a large bun. They charged 50c for each additional slice. Daylight robbery! I refused to pay 50 for a slice of tomato & stopped buying the burger.
by Carolyn (score: 0|4) 3783 days ago
A good quality vegetarian burger would be better
by Kathy (score: 0|2) 3782 days ago
Most awful tasting burger I have ever had as are all their burgers, they all taste like a chemical cocktail. Their burgers taste like a bottle of sauce between two buns.
I am a big person who eats too much junk food, this lamb burger is the only one that repeated on me.
On a good note though I like there breakfast muffins, maybe the same chemical cocktail but still tastes good.
by steve (score: 0|2) 3782 days ago
i loved the lamb wrap. Beetroot on a burger is not right.
by lorna (score: 0|4) 3229 days ago

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