Mad Egg takeaway review: Exceptionally good free-range chicken burgers, crunchy on the outside and juicy inside

What’s on offer?

Stephen O’Reilly and Conor Sheridan opened their first Mad Egg restaurant on Charlotte Way in Dublin in 2018. From the outset, the quality of the birds they use has been central to what they do. All their chickens are sourced from John and Charles Smith’s farm in Cavan, the first chicken farmers in the country to be awarded a free-range farming licence. The free-range birds are tea brined for 48 hours to make them tender and juicy, double dredged in their (secret) spiced flour mix for extra crunch, and fried to order. For vegetarians, a vegetable fritter can be substituted for the chicken in any of the burger options. The burgers are served in soft Amish rolls from Coghlan’s bakery.

What did we order?

A Wild Thing, a Side Chick vegetarian burger and the DIY cheesecake.

How was the service?

Ordering online is intuitive, with customisable options to add or remove something, eg pickles or buffalo sauce.

Was the food nice?

The Wild Thing comes with an extremely good buffalo sauce on the side. The chicken, dressed with lettuce and pickles, is shatteringly crunchy on the outside and deliciously juicy inside. The Side Chick, which is our vegetarian option, comes with Nashville hot chick sauce and sriracha slaw. The vegetable patty is quite soft, a mixture of corn, cauliflower and herbs, with a spice coating on the outside. It is very tasty and so much better than a meat substitute. The DIY vanilla cheesecake, which became a bit of an Instagram sensation when it first launched, comes with three toppings which you spill over according to your preference. We’ve gone for milk chocolate, crushed honeycomb and caramel sauce. It’s fun and tasty.

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What about the packaging?

Our food arrives in cardboard boxes in a “Get Laid Get Fed” Mad Egg paper bag. All of the packaging is recyclable cardboard or paper and there are plans to move to compostable packaging where possible.

What did it cost?

€36.95 for dinner for two people: the Wild Thing, €14.50; the Side Chick, €13.50; and DIY cheesecake, €8.95.

Where does it deliver?

Available daily, 12pm-9.30pm, 10pm at weekends. Mad Egg has five locations in Dublin: Charlotte Way, Millennium Walk, Dundrum Shopping Centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Blanchardstown. Deliveroo delivery is within a 2.5km radius of each branch.

Would I order it again?

Most definitely, not only does Mad Egg get top marks for provenance and sustainable packaging, its food is also delicious.