McDonald's Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken & Cheddar Onion McChicken

Elizabeth and I were in bed last night, doing our favorite thing in the world.

Watching baseball.

It was the Dodgers at the Giants, and in the background an advertisement caught my eye, in unmistakable McDonald's font and colors, reading: "Cheddar Onion McChicken."

What is that?!! I thought to myself. That sounds good. So I went to McDonald's. Sure enough, there was an ad for two new McChicken sandwiches, both priced at $1.49 - the Cheddar Onion and a Jalapeño Cheddar. I ordered one of each.

I've had the McChicken before off the Dollar Meal. It's a basic, inoffensive chicken sandwich. There is absolutely nothing special about it but compared to most value menu chicken sandwiches, it's decent. (One of my less well-thought-out ideas was a massive post on value menu chicken sandwiches last summer. It was a silly idea... but at least it means I know what I'm talking about on the subject.) I was interested to see how it would taste with these new flavors.

The Cheddar Onion sandwich was good, although the onions were by far the dominant flavor. Not that that's a bad thing - caramelized onions are one of my favorite flavors - but I could not taste any cheese. The onions were much more caramelized than the ad makes them appear, but no big deal. The extra 30 cents (actually I don't remember exactly what the McChicken costs at my local McDonald's, but I think it's $1.19) is well worth it: the sandwich is no longer bland.

The Jalapeño Cheddar version was my favorite of the two, however: the jalapeños were delicious - spicy and flavorful. I did not taste more than a hint of cheese on this sandwich, but I didn't mind, because I enjoyed the jalapeños so much.

I read a few things online about this sandwich, including a rumor that you can order these jalapeños on any sandwich McDonald's serves. I would not mind trying their Southern Style Chicken Sandwich - which I actually enjoy - in that manner. That sounds pretty damn good.

I gave Elizabeth a bite of each sandwich. She agreed that the onion sandwich was good, and she really liked the jalapeno version, even asking if she could have another bite.

"Sure," I said, "have the entire half." And she did.

Look, this isn't gourmet stuff. And it's not even better than the fast casual stuff that I like: a Zankou Chicken tarna wrap or a Philly's Best cheesesteak is much better. But they're only $1.49. They make a good snack, and I would certainly would take either over any of McDonald's burgers.