Wendy’s 1, McDonald’s… 0!
About a month or so back, I reported on my experience with a McDonald’s grilled chicken salad. It was truly the most pathetic salad I have ever encountered and still remains so. I was most disappointed at the effort Mickey-Dees was making in providing real alternatives to the usual high-calorie, high fat offerings. The salad was, plain and simple, a joke.
At the time, I remembered Wendy’s competitive offerings in a much more favorable light. Well, guess what? A recent road trip forced me to stop at a highway rest stop for sustenance.
And as luck would have it, this one featured a Wendy’s.
Game on!
The first thing of note is that Wendy’s salad was priced at $6.99 (CAD). That’s exactly the same price as the McDonald’s salad. The second thing to note is that I ordered a Mandarin Chicken salad – the Mickey-Dees salad was a grilled chicken salad. So the salads are not identical, which makes this an imperfect comparison. Nevertheless, let’s continue…
As I wrestled my salad out of the bag, I saw it came with two 21-gram packets of slivered almonds (very impressive – a nice touch!) and a packet of Oriental Sesame dressing (170 calories, 10 grams of fat, 18 grams of sugar). Wendy’s web site also indicates it may come with a package of crispy noodles, although mine did not.
When I opened the plastic serving container I was even more impressed. Where the McDonald’s salad was wilted and sad looking, the Wendy’s was definitely fresh – no signs of wilting or brown anywhere. Best of all, there was plenty of it, too! The chicken breast was an improvement over the “Big M” too; at least twice the amount, nicely browned and better yet – tasty!
And the mandarin oranges? I didn’t count them, but they were in abundance. There were very few forkfuls of salad that didn’t contain at least one, I can tell you that.
When I mixed in half a packet of salad dressing and the slivered almonds, I had a very acceptable, rather delicious salad. Most importantly, it easily addressed my hunger and didn’t leave me staring longingly back at the menu for something else… something I did when I visited McDonald’s. Additionally, I felt like I received real value for my money, and I certainly did not feel like Wendy’s salad offerings were merely paying lip service to the idea of providing alternatives to high calorie meals.
One thing to keep in mind though…
Once you chuck the salad dressing, the chicken breast and 2 packs of slivered almonds into the mix, you’re starting to accumulate a pretty substantial calorie count – just over 600. I’m a pretty big guy, but this is right on the edge of the total amount of calories I should be eating at a single sitting. If you’re not weighing in at 245 lbs. like I am, you may want to consider using only one package of slivered almonds, and only half of the salad dressing (this will drop the caloric value down to a more acceptable 395). The best thing about this salad is that the large amount of mandarin oranges makes it easy to eliminate the salad dressing altogether, if you want to go that route.
Short of the salad dressing, which really should be trimmed down in the calorie department, Wendy’s Mandarin Chicken salad is a real winner, and delivers great bang for the buck.
And it definitely kicks the butt of the Mickey-Dee salad I had. The folks at the golden arches should take note; this is how you do a salad!
