In this Samurai vs Ninja burger ‘taste-off’, which burger wins?

As part of its “Honour your appetite” campaign, McDonald’s brought back two of its beloved burgers — the Samurai and Ninja — in less than a month.

The Samurai beef burger (S$6.80 for single a la carte) made its comeback on Sept 22 to great fanfare, while the Ninja chicken burger (S$7 for a la carte) returned on Thursday (Oct 13). 

In this taste-off, we pit both “warriors” against each other to decide the ultimate winning burger!

Overall presentation

In terms of presentation, the Samurai burger looked rather underwhelming. It looked flat, and similar to our last taste test, the chopped lettuce within limp and sloppily placed.

By contrast, the Ninja burger looked like it was put together with a little more care. Sandwiched between its buns was a thick chicken patty, topped with sliced cucumber and shredded white cabbage. 

For this round, the Ninja burger delivers a critical blow to the Samurai burger. It’s a promising start from Ninja burger, and the fight is on!

The buns

The Samurai burger used the regular sesame buns. It’s the same bun used by the other burger items on McDonald’s menu; there’s nothing special about it. 

The Ninja burger, by comparison, uses charcoal buns. These buns are typically made from activated charcoal powder from coconut husks. 

Taste-wise, we hardly noticed any difference between the charcoal bun and the regular bun. Apart from its black aesthetics, the charcoal bun does not really have a distinct flavour profile. It does taste slightly less sweet, but that’s about it.

The Ninja burger tries to attack with its sharp shuriken, but the Samurai burger dodges it skilfully. It’s a tie for this round!

The patty 

While the beef patty of the Samurai burger was juicy, the portion provided was rather small. The droopy pieces of lettuce neither inspired nor added anything to the taste of the patty. 

It’s evident that the Ninja burger outshines its rival with its thick and crispy chicken patty. Even the shredded cabbage it comes with has more life in them. The combination of textures makes munching on the patty way more satisfying.

The elusive Ninja burger performs a surprise jumping front kick on the Samurai burger, leaving the latter bruised. This round goes to the Ninja burger!

The sauce

As the Samurai burger struggles to pick itself up, will it survive this round?

As expected, the Samurai burger’s well-loved sweet and tangy teriyaki sauce was simply delicious. The slight black-peppery taste makes the sauce unique.

The nanban sauce of the Ninja burger, however, is too sweet for my liking. If it were less sweet, its acidity could have been a nice counterbalance to the chicken patty. 

Towards the end, the Samurai burger manages to deliver a deadly punch from behind. The Ninja burger falters, but is it enough to bring it down?

Verdict

Time’s up and the fight is over! The Ninja burger scored a decisive victory over the Samurai burger. In the looks and taste departments, the Ninja burger is a clear winner.

Fans of either burger may look out for a rematch next year as McDonald’s could be bringing them back again!

McDonald’s is on the GrabFood delivery service. You can also book a ride to its stores.