Not every food adventure ends in glory… and this one definitely didn’t
As soon as we found out that the first Wendy’s had opened in Australia, we knew we had to go! With our heads held high & the expectations even higher, we stumbled down the busy Surfers Paradise Boulevard and we finally found the glowing Wendy’s sign. It was a bit underwhelming, a little unclean & with a few too many pigeons for our liking. Granted that this is Wendy’s first location in Australia & we heard about another 200 locations by 2030, we were definitely expecting more quality & more effort. For a restaurant that’s moto is ‘Quality is our recipe’, they really didn’t deliver.
We ordered 3 drinks, a juice popper, a coke and the one we want to talk about… the frosty. When ordering this so called ‘drink’ we were thinking more on the lines of a thickshake, but it was basically soft serve in a cup. It tasted like any ordinary fast food soft serve, nothing special.
Now the fries. We’ve eaten our fair share of fries over the years, so we feel reasonably qualified to pass judgement on this very important category. And unfortunately… these were not good. The regular fries were disappointing enough, but the so-called “cheese loaded” fries were a whole other level of letdown. Instead of the glorious gooey cheesy pile we had imagined, what arrived was essentially a slice of processed cheese thrown onto some dry fries. Calling these “loaded” felt wildly optimistic. This was, sadly, a fry disaster.
Next, we tried the regular chicken tender burger and the spicy chicken tender burger. These were… okay. Nothing terrible, but definitely nothing to write home about either. Just okay. If there was one highlight from the meal, it would probably be the spicy chicken burger. The chicken had a nice crunchy coating and a decent kick of spice that lifted it above the rest of the table. But beyond that, there wasn’t much else to get excited about.
We then tried a classic cheeseburger, hoping it might redeem things a little. Unfortunately, it was pretty bland… the kind of burger that makes you wonder where all the flavour went.
For the sauces, we tried some mayo and the signature sauce. The signature sauce wasn’t bad, tangy, a little sweet and with a small kick of spice. In fact, the sauces ended up doing quite a bit of the heavy lifting for the meal, but they couldn’t do enough to redeem those bland fries.
We also ordered the chicken tenders, which unfortunately were both bland and dry… not exactly the highlight of the meal.
By the end of the meal, it was clear this one wasn’t going to be a Two Curly Noodles favourite. We came in curious and hopeful, but most of the food landed somewhere between bland and disappointing. The sauces tried their best to carry things, and the spicy chicken burger had a bit of personality, but overall the meal never really found its stride.
Sometimes food adventures lead you to incredible discoveries… and sometimes they lead you to a plate of fries that appear to have had a slice of processed cheese thrown at them from across the room. Unfortunately, this visit landed in the second category.
Onward to better bites,
Two Curly Noodles
The Curly Noodles Munch Factor Rating:
| Unloaded For the “cheese loaded” fries that definitely weren’t. | 🍜 |
| Hype test Because with all the buzz around Wendy’s, expectations were high. | 🍜 |
| Bland-o-meter For how much flavour actually showed up to the party. | 🍜 |
📍 Wendy’s is located at 2 Cavill Ave, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4217
two curly noodles 
Leave a comment