A Flood of Fish Sandwiches: Day 1 – McDonald’s Filet O’ Fish

By Cat Taylor on March 31, 2014

It might be the originator, but Mickey D’s could also rival Charlie Brown in teaching children lessons in disappointment.

Waa-waa-waaaa!

One of the few fast food restaurants to offer fish sandwiches year-round is the world’s most famous fast food regime, McDonald’s. My biggest question for them isn’t why they offer fish year-round, but rather why their sandwich is called “Filet O’ Fish” instead of “McFish?” Everything at McDonald’s is McSomething. Yet, when it comes to fish they apparently want to stop O’Charley’s from competing. I haven’t done any research to support that conjecture but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Now that you’ve read it on the internet, you can quote it as a fact.

Moving on, one factor of great importance to me in any food selection is price. Price-wise, McDonald’s has one of the best fish specials going: Two sandwiches for $4.00 (no tartar sauce on mine though. I don’t like it and you can’t make me eat it.) and you can get any size beverage for one dollar to wash them down. Plus, McDonald’s has free WiFi. So, I was able to type and post this column while I ate. Upon receiving my order, I noticed that underneath the plain white hamburger bun was a slice of American cheese and a fish square that was barely bigger than a White Castle burger. As if to add insult to injury, the cheese and fish weren’t centered on the buns and I wasn’t able to correct the disruptive presentation because the melted cheese had the fish slab glued into the wrong position leaving me stuck working around an incorrect set-up. You may think this is no big deal but just wait until you take your first bite and get no bottom bun only to have nothing but bottom bun left for your final farewell bite. The balance is all askew!

Buyer beware: while two fish sandwiches for four dollars sounds like a great deal, McDonald’s actually only gives you about one and a half fishes worth. In addition, I’m pretty sure these are the same frozen fish squares you can buy at the grocery store in the frozen food aisle.

Final ratings:
Value for the money: 3 out of 5 Rockaway Beaches
Appearance: 2 out of 5 Admiral Ackbars
Taste: 3 out of 5 Prince Namors