THERE is inevitably a buzz of excitement when a new menu item is added to the McDonald's menu.

The choice to eat at McDonald's is often one of convenience.

In non-pandemic times the outlets rarely close, there is almost always one within a couple of miles, and with the abundance of drive-thru restaurants you don't even have to get out of your car.

So - with outlets in Broughton, Mold, Queensferry, Wrexham, and more - McDonald's and its wares are familiar to most of us.

With no menu item more familiar than the iconic - and I think it's fair to call it iconic - Big Mac.

So, when a few weeks ago, McDonald's announced it had given in to demand and would be releasing a Chicken Big Mac there was a fair amount of excitement.

It's not the first new burger to be released by the chain recently, with its flagship vegan option, the McPlant, becoming a permanent addition to the menu.

That burger has had a mixed reception - some are "lovin' it" while others were less than impressed.

But it was the Chicken Big Mac that I wanted to try. I also wanted to know how many customers had actually demanded it and why.

But now, McDonald's has pulled the Chicken Big Mac from its menu after it "sold out" due to high demand.

Luckily, I managed to sneak one in before they were gone (for now).

So, after a quick McDelivery, I had the new boxed burger in my hand.

On opening the box, I could not help but be struck by how beige it was. A tower of beige as if it had been sculpted from sand or, well, something else beige.

The two "deliciously crispy coated chicken patties made with 100 per cent chicken breast meat" in place of the beef patties on the classic Mac are indistinguishable in hue from the buns it was sandwiched betwixt.

So if we first eat food with our eyes (we don't, but you know what I mean) then the Chicken Big Mac was off to a poor start.

So, to the actual taste.

It's not unpleasant. It's not great, but certainly not unpleasant. And it certainly tastes better than it looks.

Perhaps, for me, the problem is the traditional Big Mac is perhaps too iconic (and we did agree that it was iconic).

The flavour combo of cheese, lettuce, pickles and Big Mac sauce is familiar. But where's the beef? It just tastes slightly wrong.

And the chicken patties are just too thin. I understand it is to match the dimensions of the beef in the original, but there isn't enough to literally get your teeth into. The sensation of biting into a chicken breast, drumstick, or even one of McDonald's own Chicken Selects is just not there.

The slogan to herald the 544 kcal Chicken Big Mac was "no hacks needed". But to experience the best of McDonald's chicken offerings with the taste and style of a Big Mac, would surely be to replace the patties with Chicken Selects. So, I disagree, hack needed.

To some up, I can see lots of people trying the Chicken Big Mac out of curiosity just like I did. But I have no hankering to try another. Perhaps this is why the Chicken Big Mac will only be available for a limited time.

In conclusion, the Chicken Big Mac is not the best chicken burger you can get from a fast food chain. It's not even the best chicken burger you can get at McDonald's.