Joe: A Brit and an American swap countries
to try each other's KFC. This is "Food Wars."
We're going to start with some things you can get
in both the US and the UK to see if there are some
subtle differences in taste or anything else.
The first thing for me to try,
the main event, the fried chicken.
So, this is just original recipe chicken.
I've got what looks to be a thigh piece.
Visually, I think it probably looks slightly more appealing
than British fried chicken from KFC tends to look.
I always struggle to identify
where the bones are in pieces of KFC.
I don't want to just bite straight into a bone.
Mm-hmm.
OK, yeah, this is good.
Compared to the UK, I think I definitely
am getting more flavor.
I think a fair amount of that is coming from the breading.
It's actual seasoning and flavor.
It's a thick, juicy piece of chicken.
I don't want to go back to eating regular
British KFC after this.
Right, this six-piece bucket.
This looks like it has more skin
than what we got in the restaurant, I will say.
So already this looks like it has a better batter to it.
That is so bland.
I can taste the flavor. It's just not as strong,
and I'm assuming that's the chemicals
we put in our food to make it taste like, wah!
The next thing that we wanted to compare was
popcorn chicken, which I think in the UK is a pretty
iconic menu item, although weirdly enough
they've actually cut it from the menu in the US right now,
the exception being that
they will still add it to famous bowls.
But we'll get to that later.
So I guess for the time being I will try
a US chicken nugget and see how that compares.
I mean, this just kind of looks like popcorn chicken.
Definitely a bit more dry on the palate.
Again, I don't see why they've gotten rid of popcorn chicken
in lieu of these, because popcorn chicken is
effectively the same thing.
That's like a shot!
[air horn blowing]
Oh, half in.
No. I don't taste anything.
So far I would say that KFC chicken,
both on the bone and popcorn,
in the US, the flavor is more pronounced
and has more of, like, a savory flavor to it.
This flavor has training wheels.
It'll get there someday!
Firstly, there are some twists
on the classic fried chicken which we can't usually find.
The first variety we have here is the spicy fried chicken.
I mean, visually this looks fairly similar
to just the sort of standard original recipe.
Although I will say the breading looks pretty good.
You get a lot of these little flakes of breading,
which really tend to get crisp and stay crisp.
I don't know if there's enough to call it spicy,
because I'm not a guy who has a super-high spice tolerance,
and for me that's, like, warm, but not much more than that.
But it's very pleasant, and I do think
it's crispier than the original recipe.
Very juicy, flavorful.
I think this is really good.
I think I would be tempted to buy
this over just classic original recipe.
And it's not just spicy chicken that's available in the US.
You can also get another type called extra crispy.
As the name suggests, it's the regular fried chicken,
but made extra crispy.
I think extra crispy should be the KFC chicken,
and then the original should be, like, diet.
For some reason, the branch that we went to today
didn't have it in the form of regular,
original recipe chicken,
but they did have it in the form of a chicken little.
I'm just going to break off the end bit
that was untouched by the mayo
to see if it is actually crispy or not.
I don't think this is extra crispy.
Even though they told us it was.
Maybe their crispinator was broken today or something.
KFC US is very good at cooking chicken on the bone,
less good when it comes to cooking chicken off the bone,
because this is a little bit dry, a little bit chewy.
Moving on, the snack wrap. This one is the flamin' hot.
Oh, wow. This has got some heat to it!
OK, UK!
Yeah, that's, I like this. This is really good.
Kansas barbecue. OK.
This barbecue sauce is pretty good.
I mean, this is definitely a sweeter sauce,
which I think is indicative of Kansas City barbecue.
Anyway, yeah, not bad.
Sweet chili bites.
Too sweet. Not that spicy.
Now we're on to an item which I've been watching from
across the pond with a mixture of horror and fascination.
It's the KFC famous bowl.
Instead of me trying to explain it,
I feel like we should just get Joe in here.
Joe, do you want to come and explain the famous bowl to me?
A little bit of everything that's on the menu,
just in bowl form,
for anyone who just pretty much has given up on life
and doesn't care as long as they get it in the stomach.
Thanks, Joe. Joe: You're welcome.
Harry: It's looking more like an infamous bowl right now.
I'm going to ...
It's not horrible.
There's just a lot going on.
There's a lot of flavors fighting
with each other right now, vying for supremacy.
The main thing I get I think is the corn, actually.
I would've assumed that the mash and the chicken
would've been kind of the stars of the show.
But if anything, it's everything else in there
that you can actually taste more.
To me, it feels a little bit
like you're eating baby food for adults.
I was going to say I'm more excited to try the next bowl,
but I don't know if excited is the word.
Maybe less anxious to try the next bowl.
This is the KFC mac 'n' cheese bowl,
but the kind of color on that is some cause for concern.
So, I think this actually works in harmony with the chicken
much better than the famous bowl does.
If I had to get a bowl, I think I would be leaning more
towards the mac 'n' cheese bowl than the famous bowl.
Next up is the KFC pot pie.
It's funny to see this on the menu at a KFC in the US
because I feel like meat pies
are generally associated with Britain more.
We love a meat pie in the UK.
Steak pie, chicken pie,
Greggs, Pukka Pies, all that good stuff.
So, with a meat pie in the UK, what you'll often get
is the pastry on the bottom as well.
So it's like a self-contained pie.
Whereas I think with a pot pie, you just have a layer
of pastry on top and then filling underneath,
and there's no bottom layer of crust.
But let's find out.
They haven't skimped on the carrot.
I taste a lot of the carrot flavor.
In the UK, for example, with a meat pie you tend to get
a gravy that will kind of run out when you cut into it.
But this is staying on the spoon.
It's not running off the spoon.
It's not great, but it's not bad either.
It's like, the sauce needs a little bit more seasoning,
I think. It's a little bit bland.
Bit more salt and pepper would not go amiss there.
I think with a few minor adjustments,
they could make this really good,
and I do think Brits would go for this.
This is super weird. Look at that!
There's a hash brown in there.
What does that have to do with tower?
Not much.
Hm.
I like everything that this is made of.
Together, I don't think it works.
If I was to get this, I'd ask them to separate it
across three containers
and just eat the hash brown, then the chicken,
finish it off with a slice of cheese.
There you go.
This would be closer to what our extra crispy is.
So this is supposed to be the spicy one.
It's going to zing me with spice?
Not bad.
It's not that I dislike anything I've had so far,
it's that it's all 60% to 70% as far as flavor
and intensity that I'm used to in the United States.
You can also get yourself a zinger stacker
and a zinger tower burger.
Yo, this is a thick one.
Wow!
I'm not going to bite into this, but, man, that's a lot.
This would be right at home on the US menu.
This would be like, "Yes, of course."
It'd be, like, the double zinger, and everyone's like,
"Yeah, of course it's double."
OK.
Vegan burger.
It kind of looks like chicken.
The mayo pretty much missed it, right?
See how it came?
So I gotta kind of activate the mayo.
Twist your vegan sandwich before you eat it!
Should I even ask what the mayo's made of?
I mean, when you rip it apart, it's like
one of those big erasers that you get when you're a kid.
I mean, I wouldn't just want to eat this in general,
but as far as a fake meat, it's pretty close.
And I don't know why if you were vegan
you'd be like, "Finally, a chicken sandwich at KFC."
No, you can eat this, there's no chicken meat in it.
It's like, yeah, but you're still
killing them by the millions.
So, there is a category in the menu
of twisters, rice boxes, and salads.
They had no rice boxes or salads.
They did, however, have the twisters.
But this is called a twister, not a wrap.
Leon: It's twisted.
What's twisted about it?
Well, it's not twisted.
It looks like they took a chicken breast and cut it in half.
And this was, like, one long tender.
I mean, it's also smaller.
I bet they wanted to appeal to a more male demographic.
So, "Don't get a wrap, get a twister!
I'm a big man! I don't want a wrap.
I want a twister! Yeah, it's twisted!
Wraps are for the ladies,
but the dudes have twisters. Ah!"
I don't think that, they think that.
KFC, shame on you.
Let's talk about some exclusive sides
that you can't find in the UK.
Firstly, if the mac 'n' cheese bowl is
too much mac 'n' cheese for you,
you can just get a little cup as a side.
You can also get a side of corn.
You guys just produce so much of it.
You can't get rid of it fast enough.
I'm not trying corn on the cob.
Here in the UK, you guys have corn on the cob.
Obviously ours is corn off the cob, but this would be easier
for driving or eating on the go, right?
Have you ever seen someone walking down the street
just chewing on a cob on a stick?
It's on a stick!
You've never seen that?
Keep your eyes peeled. I would like to get that trend going.
And, of course, apparently it wouldn't be
a US fast-food menu without biscuits.
This is an American biscuit.
It looks a lot like a British scone,
at least on the outside.
However, generally I think it's a bit more bready
and maybe slightly drier than a scone.
[thudding]
Texture check.
It's confusing because with a British scone,
they're generally sweetened with sugar
because they're eaten with things like jam and cream,
and it's more of an afternoon tea/dessert type thing,
whereas these ones are supposed to be eaten
with a savory meal but actually smell kind of sweet.
I think of the biscuits I've tried
from fast-food menus in the US so far,
this is probably my favorite one,
but it's somewhere between, like,
a British scone and a bread roll.
Baked beans.
Ugh. Eh. Yeah, these are way more tomatoey.
To-MAH-to-ey, excuse me.
The tomato sauce that it's in is similar to
whatever Spaghettios come in.
I will never be in the mood for that.
Southern rice.
What the hell?
I don't know what they think Southern is.
I'm surprised at how different it is.
You'd think an international food chain
would want it to be the same everywhere,
but playing to the UK tastes, I assume.
KFC in the US has a bunch of sauce options
that we can't get in the UK, which means it's time for:
Sauce talk, "Foreign Exchange"!
The theme seems to be that they have a lot of honey
on the menu when it comes to their sauces at KFC in the US.
The sauces on offer here are hot sauce,
honey sauce, a honey barbecue sauce,
KFC sauce, and yet more honey, a honey mustard.
I usually like a honey mustard, but I do think
you have to get the balance of honey and mustard right.
Yeah, that's not bad. That's a pretty well-balanced
honey mustard, I think. I'm intrigued by KFC sauce.
I quite like it.
I really can't put my finger on exactly
what's in it right now.
Next up we've got the honey barbecue.
Oh, extremely sweet.
Both on the honey side and even on the barbecue side.
Let's have a look at the honey sauce.
It's fine. It does taste pretty much just like honey.
And then finally they have a hot sauce.
Yeah, that's pretty comparable to, like, a Frank's RedHot.
Barbecue!
OK, Kentucky smoked barbecue.
Actually, this is on point.
Sticky sweet chili sauce.
Why is it sticky?
Yeah! Oh, that's good.
All right, garlic buttermilk mayo.
I like all three of those things separately.
Mm! Yeah, that's pretty good.
Now let's look at some exclusive drinks
served in these delightful "Diablo"-branded cups.
You guys love a advertisement tie-in, don't you?
So, I believe this one is Starry, Joe's beloved Sierra Mist,
unfortunately culled recently and replaced by Starry.
Let's give it a try.
It's more what I'm used to, I guess,
from a UK version of a lemonade-style drink.
And, of course, we have a US-style lemonade.
It's pretty good. Again, to me it's slightly weird
what Americans consider lemonade,
considering coming from the UK,
lemonade is basically Sprite.
It's a clear, carbonated, lemony beverage.
It's pretty good.
It's probably slightly more refreshing and hydrating
than a Sprite is in the UK.
There are a couple of other exclusive drinks
which we can normally get,
but unfortunately our local branch did not have,
devastatingly, because I really wanted
to try the Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning
and regular American Mountain Dew.
When we ordered the bottles of drinks, didn't we think
it was just going to be, like, a personal one? I don't know.
Tango, orange.
Ugh, 7Up free.
Pepsi Max cherry.
Krushems! UK of course has exclusive Krushem drinks.
I have them in front of me. I said, "Give me one of each,"
and they did. Milkybar.
Mm!
Aero. Is that normal?
Charlie: It kind of was advertised as a "healthy" chocolate.
Leon: Because it's got more air in there. It's healthy.
We're still charging the same,
but you get less in there, so, OK.
Less calories by default because it's filled with air.
I might be the last person to point this out,
but, like, they took the candy bar,
and they crushed it, and that's why it's Krushems. OK.
Oreo one. I mean, come on.
That's really good. I would definitely get this.
Dessert.
Exclusive desserts. You get a white chocolate chip cookie.
You can also get a pineapple stick,
but they didn't have any at the location we went to.
Also, I don't know what a pineapple stick is.
Leon: It's a terrible dessert. Joe: Why is that dessert?
I think if I could pick one item from this menu
to take back with me to the UK
and put on our menu over there,
I think it would probably be the spicy chicken.
I just like how it was slightly more crispy
than the regular chicken and just added a bit more flavor.
The level of heat was really good.
Yeah, I think that would come back with me.
If I could remove one thing from the US and all other menus
from KFC, I think it would be the famous bowl.
I'm sorry, guys. I don't want to start
some kind of revolutionary war again,
but I just feel like it's not very good,
because those ingredients don't really go together,
texturally, it's a bit of a nightmare,
and honestly there's just way better things
you can do with the stuff on the menu.
I was really impressed with the flamin' hot wrap.
I might have dogged on it a little bit earlier
because it was smaller, but that spicy sauce
you guys have is actually pretty good.
Honorable mention, the vegan burger.
Obviously, I'm not vegan, but I guess I was surprised
by how kind of decent it was.
It's not my favorite, but, I mean,
points for it being edible. Way to go.
I will do everyone a favor,
and I will say I'm not cutting a menu item.
Let's get that potato off of your sandwiches.
They just don't work together, period.
Full activity.