21 July, 2017

Cheese Stars & Nougat Dream - Belgrade, Serbia - June 2017

McDonald's Serbia - Cheese Stars - June 2017
McDonald's Serbia Nougat Dream - Belgrade, Serbia - June 2017

Consumed on 25 June 2017
Location - Ушће шопинг центар, Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 4, Beograd 11070, Serbia
Price - Cheese Stars - 190RSD = $1.81USD. Nougat Dream - 210RSD = $2.00USD
Calories - Unknown
McDonald's Serbia Receipt 2017
I'm not sure if this giant fish tank was owned by the mall, or the McDonald's..
A few weeks ago I mentioned in my review of the Hong Kong Crispy Angus & Loaded Fries that I was visiting Croatia, Bosnia and for the first time, Serbia. I intentionally skipped the unexciting promo burger in Croatia, and although I spent nearly 2 full weeks in Bosnia, I didn't come within 200km of the nearest McDonald's so I wasn't able to try it.  I did however try two limited time items in Serbia, Cheese Stars, and the Nougat Dream ice cream, as they didn't have any promo burgers running at the time. 

The Cheese Stars are a recurring promo in most of the Balkan McDonald's, although previous iterations looked a bit different without the outer whitish flakes coating the outside, identical to the Camembert Cheese Bites I had in Oman last year. Not only are these Stars a recurring promo, but other cheese items pop up all the time in different shapes and forms.  The weeks prior to my arrival in Serbia when I was monitoring the website for new items they were promoting Camembert Cheese "doughnuts" which were doughnut shaped cheese sticks.  Just now they are serving Bacon Cheese "medallions" and I had a colleague fly me the Cheese Sombereos a few years back when I was living in Singapore.  Just like back then, the sauce served with the product had a Serbian label stuck on top of a sauce made in Germany, so my 'Pavlaka Sos' quickly became Sour Cream Dip when I peeled off the label, which I think might still be a first for me at McDonald's. The sauce itself looked a bit strange since it was much firmer than a standard dip, and still even had the ripple effect from being poured into the tub etched into the top of the sauce. 

McDonald's Serbia Cheese Stars
The Cheese inside the star wasn't a cheese like a typical Mozzarella stick, but rather an even more creamy cheese blend. There were clearly 2 different types of cheese with a white cheese being the predominant one, and an orange cheese being in the mix as well.  Unfortunately they weren't served straight from the fryer so they weren't piping hot, and the quality of cheese wasn't quite up to the standards I've had in other European countries, so it a bit of a letdown for me. It didn't taste like a from-the-box processed cheap mozzarella stick, but it wasn't that much better either.  Serbian food is typically very cheap, and most restaurants serve a cheese and cold cut plate and you'll get a huge selection of both for only a few dollars, so for three small stars being almost $2, it was an extremely poor value when you consider what you can get outside. 
McDonald's Serbia Nougat Dream Sundae - June 2017

I ordered Nougat Dream because The Wife and I spent nearly a full day in the sun walking on one of the hottest days of the year in Belgrade, so we were both pretty baked and an sundae sounded pretty appetising to both of us. Long time readers will know that McFlurries are usually what I go for, but Serbia wasn't running any special flavours, so I thought a sundae was a better choice.  The photos don't really do it justice about how large it was and generally how great this sundae looked was when served.  Just appearance wise it didn't look like a $2 Sundae from McDonald's, but rather from a expensive dedicated ice cream please.  First it was massive, the cup easily the size of a Medium drink, so at least 3 times the size of the sundaes in Asia, but it also had a foam tower on top. It wasn't even cheap foam either, it was pretty thick on it's own and tasty eaten on it's own.  There was actually so much ice cream hidden underneath we pushed most of the foam away because we knew we weren't going to be able to finish both, even being so hot. 

The flavours mixed together with the soft serve was a hazelnut syrup, which was surprisingly light all things considered, and wasn't overpoweringly sweet - it almost had caramel undertones rather than just simple sugars. But the stars were the speculoos cookies mixed in as well.  Just like when I had the "Mocha Flavoured McFlurry with Caramelised Biscuits" I thought the addition of these biscuits are always a great addition, and despite actively enjoying speculoos when I get them served in ice cream or on a plane, I never seem to buy myself a package to eat on their own...Over the next couple days in Serbia I debated giving the Cherry Sundae a try after enjoying this one so much, but we were just so stuffed from eating our regular meals we just didn't bother.

Cheese Stars - 2/5
Nougat Dream - 5/5

As always is my luck, just one week after departing Serbia back for Thailand, the same Ceasar Burger that taunted me in Bosnia, was added to the Serbian menu... (and you can see the new Bacon Cheese Medallions and Twisty Fries on the side)

McDonalds Serbia Ceaser Burger - June 2017