There was a time when I had an idea for a blog that would have been nothing but fast food reviews, but it turned out there was already a lot out there about that. Why that stopped me when clearly there is no lack of sports writing out there is beyond me, but it's not the first time I've revisited the idea. You might remember all the attention the Impossible Whopper got when it was released, so I had to try that and get my thoughts out there. Today, I was compelled to do the same thing for Arby's rib sandwich. This maybe had more to do with their sign here at the Arby's by me that stated there were "No McFibs Here" or something along those lines. McDonald's isn't putting the McRib back out there until November 1, which I know because the McRib return date is almost always a news event. Should it be? No. It's fine enough. I've definitley eaten my share of McRibs. But they really aren't anything that special. I think I mostly like them because they give me a certain type of nostalgia for school lunches that can't be replicated anywhere else. I always get mine without onions, and typically without pickles, too. I don't need any dressing up for my pressed boneless pork patty bathed in barbeque. So I couldn't eat these sandwiches back to back, unlike with the Impossible Whopper vs. the Original Whopper. I think I'm enough of an expert to give an opinion without that though. I came into this with some high hopes. I like Arby's quite a bit, which feels like makes me a minority in my age group. It certainly seemed to in college, though maybe others in their mid-30's have come around in the last decade and a half. I love Beef-n-Cheddars, I really like the Chicken Bacon Swiss. Those are my two old reliables there. Sometimes I'll get a French dip,* and I even like their gyros. Even if I don't really think of them as gyros, I still like them. I don't get it as often, but I'm also a big fan of the Smokehouse Brisket. So, I came in expecting Arby's knew what they were doing with some ribs. *Which is my wife and her sister's favorite. I have to admit, I was pretty underwhelmed. There just was not a ton of flavor on this sandwich. The gouda cheese felt non-existent. I think all the gouda I've had has been more mature gouda, which has a stronger, smokier flavor. I know younger gouda is more mild, and this had to be some newborn stuff. No flavor and no texture at all. Arby's menu says there is mayo on this, but I definitely could not attest to that. I don't know if it was just forgotten or just used very sparingly, but I got no taste of mayo. The crispy onions were fine. They added texture without tasting like much, but that's pretty much their job anywhere. The barbeque sauce was there, and it was also fine, but there was just not enough of it. And, you know, I can actually see where Arby's might want to make their rib sandwich that way, especially when juxtaposing it with McDonald's. The McRib is, as I said earlier, absolutely bathed in sauce to the point where it really doesn't taste like much else. It is very easy to imply that is done to make up for subpar meat, which I have no doubt McDonald's is using the cheapest pork they can find. That's a huge reason for why the McRib comes back when it does every year. So, yes, I can see why Arby's, the "We Have the Meats" place, would want to really put their ribs front and center and let the meat be the star. Unfortunately, these ribs are not stars. There were a little mushy and almost entirely tasteless. Two things ribs should really never be. With stronger cheese and more barbeque, maybe this could have been saved, but as it is, this is a pretty big swing and a miss for me. Which almost hurt a little bit, because I wanted this to be good so badly. The McRib may well be a McFib, but just because something is true doesn't make it good. Comments are closed.
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