Can you recall the first time your taste-buds relished the joy of a Big Mac? That irresistible combination of meat, bun, cheese and secret sauce? For this 99-year-old, he remembers it like it was yesterday.
Until recently, William Thorpe was completely oblivious to the world of fast food. Whether it be McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme or Greggs, he was out of the loop.
However, after enlisting the help of his pal Ann Sadler-Smith, 80, the pair ticked off all the major eateries on his bucket list – unsurprisingly, they were very tasty.
You can check out William and Ann enjoying their food in the video below:
After Oak House care home in Slough, Berkshire, put up a wishing tree for residents, William said he fancied trying a takeaway for the first time. The managers took it upon themselves to make it happen – ordering in food from McDonald’s, Greggs, Subway, Domino’s, Burger King and Krispy Kreme.
First up was the Golden Arches and their perennial Big Mac. For both William and Anne, it was a hit.
William said:
I loved the Big Mac, although I didn’t realise I had only picked up half of it, at first, what a huge burger that was. McDonald’s was my favourite of the day, the sauce they used was delicious and the price seems very reasonable.
Ann added: ‘I really like the Big Mac, it was quite large though so I’m not sure I would be able to finish it all, the chips were lovely too!’
From the soaring heights of McDonald’s, the pair went on to Burger King’s chicken nuggets. For William, they ‘were okay, they were just so dry’, with Ann adding: ‘I found these a bit more difficult to chew, so I probably wouldn’t get them again.’
From Domino’s, the hungry pair enjoyed a margherita pizza. William ‘almost enjoyed it more than the Big Mac. It’s a very close draw with those two. I’d order it again’.
Anne, on the other hand, was even more enthused:
Domino’s was my favourite, a definite winner for me. The sauce was very, very nice. I wasn’t sure how to eat it at first but it was lovely and chewy.
As for the Meatball Marinara from Subway, William said he liked it but there ‘was too much filling, you can’t really eat it like a sandwich without it spilling out, I would suggest they decreased the amount of filling’.
Here’s one for the naysayers of vegan sausage rolls – William said he’d never be able to tell it was meat-free, it just tasted like sausage (his only request would for it to be a bit hotter).
Last up: the Krispy Kreme doughnut. It’s safe to say, this one went down well with the pair.
William said:
Now that doughnut was lovely, but I don’t think it’s best eaten after a meal because you don’t enjoy it as much. The time for one of those is in the afternoon with a nice cup of tea.
Ann added: ‘Now that was a dessert I could have again and again. It was so good, and the chocolate filling sweetened the deal. I wish would have had that first.’
In William’s day, takeaway didn’t really exist. ‘You didn’t have so many different styles of food and you definitely couldn’t have it delivered to your door, so it’s quite exciting really. I’m used to eating from a plate with a knife and fork,’ he said.
Yvonne Keating, who leads the team at the Care UK home, said:
We are trying to grant as many wishes for residents as we can, from angling, to corresponding with famous football managers and we’ve really been busy this year. The wishing tree initiative is something you’ll see in every single one of Care UK’s 120 homes, together we have made hundreds of wishes come true so far with even more lined up for 2020.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.