Battle of Breakfast Sandwiches: Tim Hortons vs. McDonald’s

OK, here is something I am not afraid of admiting: I used to like to eat breakfast sandwiches in McDonald’s. Specifically, I liked the folded egg with sausage in a biscuit (just in case – the American definition of biscuit). However, they phased that one in favour of the Egg McMuffin. Not that it is not good, I just preferred the other version. In a way, it was a good thing, as ever since, I stopped going and started to prepare breakfast myself. Enter Tim Hortons Breakfast Sandwich. For the most part, it was almost example the same as that breakfast sandwich I used to like; however, because I changed my diet, rather than jumping directly to have it every single day, I would have it once in a while, specially when I am in Vancouver International prior to a flight. Since comparing a discontinued product (or, at least, not available here, as far as I could see) is unfair, I thought it would be a good thing. That is… Until Tim Hortons released their new breakfast sandwich: instead of using a biscuit, it was made of an English muffin. So I couldn’t help it… The battle of Breakfast Sandwiches… (And borrowing that line from Iron Chef:) Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

I am no food stylists, nor I will try to make it look as good as shown in ads!

Tim Hortons Breakfast Sandwich with Sausage in English Muffin	McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin with Egg sandwich
CDN $1.99 (current promo)/CDN $2.59	CDN $2.49
410 calories	440 calories
Options: no sausage (the basic version), or bacon	Options: You can pretty much add whatever you want in the menu to it

The initial challenge was to find a place where there will be a Tim Hortons and a McDonald’s side by side. That place ended up being the Save-On-Foods in Metrotown. However, I still had to drive home which meant, by the time I got home, there will be a compromise on what will be consumed. So, caveat emptor!

I will start off with Tim Hortons. The muffin was lightly toasted and was cut to order. Now, there was a funny incident when I was ordering it: they were about to run out! It seems they underestimated the demand for this sandwich! Now, I am not sure how you guys like yours but, in my case, I prefer it chewy to the initial bite and this one accomplished it. The egg was obviously pre-cooked but, somehow, I like it. Probably because it has an almost soft tofu/custard texture. Now, it had some strange, almost un-egg non-egg taste to it and couldn’t really pinpoint what it was… The sausage had a really light pork taste, which was a good thing because it did not conflicted with the egg, despite that odd flavour I mentioned.

Of course, since the actual “cooking” in McDonald’s is behind the scenes, I can’t tell if the muffin were just cut. However, one thing is pretty evident: it is almost charred. I am not sure if this works for me. Toast, yes; muffin… only slightly toasted. The notable item of the McMuffin would be the egg: You can at least tell it came from an egg! Now, what I wonder is the size of the egg, though, as it barely covered the whole sandwich and it was almost flat; unlike the ones I have had in the past where it was slightly “higher”. The sausage was seared and had a stronger meat taste than that of Timmy’s. However, it was also a good thing because the egg in this sandwich by itself wasn’t as flavourful.

At this point, some might argue: But, wait, you can’t do a straight comparison because of the way the eggs are cooked! Well, actually… I remember a couple of weeks ago when Raidar (of Eating is the Hard Part) in a post made reference to a beast of sandwich in McDonald’s: Basically, you can request to add anything to a sandwich. So, if you wanted to, you can take a Quarter Pounder as a base, add a grilled chicken breast, a fried chicken breast, the fish filet (of the filet-o-fish) and so on. In this case, I asked to have a sausage McMuffin with the folded egg…

In this case, it was an epic fail. It was far from the folded egg/omelette I used to love couple of years ago. It did not have that custard texture. In fact, it tasted almost like an overdone fried egg.

So, is there one that is better than the other? Well, if it was for me, I think I will go for Timmy’s. I know that cracked egg from the McMuffin is better but it is that custardy texture that won me. However, if nutrition is an issue, either version sans bacon or sausage are good options.

Tagged under: Breakfast • Chain Restaurant • Sandwich