Next up in Blog Preston’s series of reviews – Best and Worst Preston Takeaways According to Just Eat – is the fast food behemoth KFC. The Riversway Ashton branch has the poorest reviews, scoring a floppy 3.74 out of 6 in reviews. Customers mention missing items, late deliveries, cold food and a poor response to complaints.

The food was due to arrive just half an hour after I’d placed my order and was delivered eight minutes early, which was an excellent start. It was still as hot as could be expected and everything I ordered was there. 

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I wanted to try the vegan burger even though I eat meat. As I hadn’t heard good things from friends who’d tried it, I was expecting it to be unpleasant. I was surprised to find it okay, though still not great.

It had the recognisable KFC coating which could make anything apart from a mushroom taste good. It surrounded a substantial chunk of Quorn, topped with lettuce shavings and vegan mayo/white stuff. Unfortunately once past the interesting spices the mouthful of Quorn was dry and hung around a lot longer than I had hoped, like a mean grandma. For £2.50 I might buy it again but for £5.09 it wasn’t the best, and KFC fries are neither vegan nor vegetarian so there isn’t a meal option. 

Next up was the All Stars Flamin’ box meal. At £3.69, it included a flamin’ wrap, a small popcorn chicken and regular fries. Or flamin’ wra’, smal’ popcor’ chicke’, and regula’ frie’ – if you want to be even more down with the kids.

I quite enjoyed it, apart from the gluey cheese slice that tasted like it had been created in a 3D printer. Also, there wasn’t much flamin’ going on with it, so maybe all the heat was in the missing G. The popcorn chicken also got a thumbs up from Ground Zero and her friend who arrived unexpectedly just as I’d donned my ceremonial takeaway kaftan. The fries were crispy and still enjoyable when they’d gone cold, which gives them the edge over McDonald’s.

Read more: “Thin, stringy fries” from this Preston Indian takeaway

I’d ordered a side of gravy for £1.59 to stand my fries in, and a side of southern rice to resent. The gravy wasn’t great. Very salty, heavy on the cornflower and light on chicken feet or whatever they use for stock. The rice looked and tasted like it was part of a new Ainsley Harriot “from packet to bin” range, so one mouthful was enough of that. 

The last item was the £5.99 Daddy Burger, weighing in at a terrifying 641 calories. It consisted of a chicken fillet, hash brown, bacon, pepper mayo, ketchup and a sarcastic piece of lettuce, and was assembled using the classic KFC technique of drive-by burger construction, also popular at McDonald’s.

The hash brown was greasy and mushy and the streaky bacon was unforgivably floppy. The whole thing was the bland, disappointing kind of daddy you’d hope would nip to the corner shop for a packet of fags and never return.

Riversway KFC did well on delivery time, the food was still hot and my order was complete, which were the three complaints that feature most frequently in negative reviews. However, I don’t believe that the vegan burger tastes good enough to tempt carnivores away from their chicken. I’m not sure it would attract many vegans either, as that lifestyle choice is often due to environmental and ethical reasons and KFC is all about chicken and single-use packaging, so it may be falling between two stools.

Read more: “Fantastic” chicken from African-Caribbean takeaway Manjaros

I wouldn’t order KFC on Just Eat again as I didn’t enjoy much of the food, and when the £2.50 delivery charge is added on it’s overpriced compared with similar takeaways. Instead I’d use the drive through, order everyone the £3.69 All Stars Flamin’ box without drinks and make them have Vimto at home.

Read more: Food reviews (and some other random stuff) from Karen

Are you a vegan or meat-eater who would/wouldn’t try KFC’S vegan burger? Tell us why in the comments