Interrupting our scheduled programming to bring you this important update about our experience trying Taco Bell in Australia...
We wholeheartedly believe in sampling the local cuisine as much as we can while we’re traveling but let’s be honest, we also get a kick out of checking out familiar/not so familiar menus at staple American fast food restaurants abroad. Peter is a big fan of McDonald’s worldwide. Side note: get the macarons in the McDonald’s in France. This blog post is a review of Taco Bell in Australia, my personal favorite of the big five fast foods chains. (I know you’re dying to know. The big five are: McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Arby’s. COME AT ME - I’ve thought long and hard about this.)
We decided to go out with a bang and spend all $42 of our remaining Australian dollars at Taco Bell on our last night down under. TBD on how we fare on the long plane ride to Thailand tomorrow. We got a chicken quesadilla, a chicken crunchwrap supreme, a beef crunchwrap supreme, a beef boss burrito, and a cheesy g taco. We’re still guessing what the “g” stands for - feel free to drop your guesses in the comments below.
There was a little misunderstanding with the sauce situation. Apparently, they stopped doing sauce packets in Australia, which good for them and the environment, but the 12-year-old taking our order neglected to inform me. So when she asked me “how many” sauces I wanted, I said 10. If you’ve ever gone to Taco Bell with me, you know that 10 is the number I give when I’m embarrassed to ask for how many I really want. And yes, I do use up all of it or save the packets for later - no sauce left behind. Another side note: did you ever hear about the man who survived 5 days in his car by eating taco bell sauce packets?
We started to get worried when we saw her rummaging around in the kitchen for like 5 mins. How long does it take to grab some sauce packets? Imagine my shock when she came out with 10 CONTAINERS of fire sauce. I’m sorry to say that this time the sauce did get wasted. I tried drinking it all, but Peter wouldn’t let me.
Anyway, after the sauce fiasco of 2022, we drove back to our hotel to consume our bounty in peace, in bed, where all Taco Bell should be consumed. It was a mixed bag in terms of familiar flavors. The best item was the beef boss burrito, filled with double beef, Mexican rice, guacamole, black beans, sour cream, cheese, fiesta salsa and a “delicious zesty” ranch (their adjectives, not mine). Kind of like the quesarito that Taco Bells in the US have unfortunately taken off their in-person menu. (I’m still mad about this one. When am I going to remember to order off the app?). Second best was the beef crunchwrap supreme. We quickly realized that their chicken is mushy and unflavored, most closely resembling canned chicken. The cheese sauce is also a little different, more runny and a yellow that we’re unfamiliar with. Needless to say, we weren’t big fans of the chicken crunchwrap supreme or the cheesy g taco.
The most unfortunate surprise, however, was the chicken quesadilla. The tasteless, gluey chicken wasn’t even the worst bit. I was so distraught by my first bite that I had to look up the different recipes on the US and Australia Taco Bell websites. Apparently, in the US, the quesadillas have a three-cheese blend and a jalapeño sauce, whereas the Australian version uses a two-cheese blend and a jalapeño MAYO. Let me tell you, that mayo tasted like my worst mustard (not mayo) nightmare. It was highly acidic and tangy and just plain wrong. Also, that third cheese deserves a raise because it must be working overtime to create the flavor I know and love. Unfortunately, the websites did not disclose what type of cheeses were used.
I’m sad to report that no amount of fire sauce was able to save this quesadilla.
All in all, we were not super impressed with the food in Australia. Peter says, “Aussies and Kiwis don’t season their food. It’s like American food, but more bland."
We did have one exceptional meal at Sum Yung Guys in Noosa. I would include it in the top 10 best meals of my life. I'm still dreaming about their chicken.
Anyway, there’s a Taco Bell in Bangkok, so we’ll wait a few weeks for the horror to abate before we attempt round two.
Shriya & Peter