With its beef patty, roasted mushrooms, Applewood smoked bacon, muenster cheese, and creamy garlic spread, Wendy’s says that its new Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is “literally oozing with umami.” With so many savory ingredients, I don’t doubt that, but the burger is also seeping with some surprising spiciness.
That hint of heat comes from the creamy garlic spread, which is literally oozing out from the sides of the burger. Here’s a list of the sauce’s ingredients to help figure out what’s causing the slight spiciness and to add 50 words to this review:
Soybean Oil, Water, Egg Yolks, Salt, Cider Vinegar, Distilled Vinegar, Garlic, Contains Less than 2% of Onion, Sugar, Dehydrated Onion, Dehydrated Garlic, Mustard Seed, Spices, Xanthan Gum, Monosodium Glutamate, Potassium Sorbate (A Preservative), Natural Flavor, Oleoresin Paprika (Color), Parsley, Citric Acid, Calcium Disodium EDTA Added to Protect Flavor. CONTAINS: EGG.
Well, whatever it is, that spiciness doesn’t enhance the burger. If anything, it was more of a distraction because I usually don’t associate heat with garlic sauces. The garlic flavor is mild enough that if your significant other ate this and wanted to make out after, you shouldn’t be offended by their breath. It’s also subtle enough that it allows the mushroom’s earthiness, bacon’s smokiness, and the beef’s, um, beefiness to come through with every bite.
What doesn’t come through is the muenster cheese, which is supposed to have a mild nutty/buttery taste. Whatever flavor it has gets lost with all the other oozing umami. It’s so inconsequential that folks could be tricked into thinking this has Swiss, another mild-tasting cheese.
But the bacon and mushroom flavors do come through, and I think this is a good cheeseburger, with the garlic spread providing some difference from a standard mushroom and Swiss. However, it’s not oozing THAT much of a difference.
Purchased Price: $8.19*
Size: Single patty
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 670 calories, 43 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol, 1210 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 35 grams of protein.
*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.