NEWS: McDonald’s Japan Creates New Line of ‘Big America’ Burgers That May Create A Big Japan

Marvo 8 Comments

Last year, McDonald’s Japan started the Big America campaign with limited edition burgers that captured the flavors of Texas, New York, California and Hawaii. This year, they’re doing the Big America promotion again with a new lineup of burgers. Texas and New York are represented again with the Texas Burger 2 and Manhattan Burger, while the rest of the Big America line up consists of the Burger Idaho and the Miami Burger.

Texas Burger 2 has chili beans, bacon, onions on top of the middle bun found in the Big Mac. Underneath all that, a Quarter Pounder patty sits on top of a slice of American cheese and mustard relish. Burger Idaho is made up of a quarter-pound beef patty, mustard, bacon, onions, cheese, a peppery sauce, and a hash brown in-between an onion bun. The Miami Burger is part taco and part hamburger, and it contains a quarter-pound beef patty with lettuce, tortilla chips, shredded cheese and a chili sauce in between a bun. Finally, the Manhattan Burger combines a beef patty with mozzarella cheese, lettuce, onions, sour cream sauce and a slice of pastrami in a bun.

The burgers are available for a limited time only in Japan ,which makes me wish I knew someone in Japan who is willing to ship one to me via overnight delivery in dry ice, and also pay for that expensive delivery.

NEWS: Subway Testing a Falafel Sandwich That Makes The Veggie Delite Even Less Appealing

Marvo 7 Comments

Eat Fresh

Subway sandwiches are a healthier fast food alternative to burgers and fries, but the problem I have with them is that, if you put on the same toppings, they aren’t very different than each other in flavor, and their Footlongs make me feel inadequate as a man.

However, in Chicago, Subway has been testing a falafel sandwich.

Some of you might be asking, “What’s a falafel?” While others might be wondering, “Does falafel rhyme with waffle?” A falafel is a deep fried patty (or a ball) made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans, and it’s served in some kind of flatbread. And, yes, it rhyme with waffle.

The Subway version comes with whatever vegetables a patron wants and a creamy cucumber sauce. The falafel sandwich is slightly more authentic with Subway’s flatbread, but it can also be made with any other type of bread. Because falafels don’t have any meat products, the sandwich is appealing to vegetarians and makes the Subway Veggie Delite look like rabbit food in a bun.

Complete nutrition facts aren’t available, but according to the Subway Falafel Sandwich website, it has no cholesterol or saturated fat.

Currently, it’s only available in Chicago at participating locations.

Source: Subway Falafel Sandwich Facebook Fan Page

Image via flickr user paris_corrupted / CC BY ND 2.0

NEWS: Mountain Dew To, FINALLY, Bring Back Grape-Flavored Pitch Black

Marvo 23 Comments

Pitch black, or not

Over the past five years, McDonald’s has brought back the McRib four times in the United States. During those same five years, not once did Pepsi bring back what I think is the best Mountain Dew flavor of all time — Pitch Black.

The grape Mountain Dew flavor was introduced in Fall 2004 and it was also re-released in 2005, although it was reformulated and not as good as the original.

However, after years of whining and testing my patience, I’m happy to say Mountain Dew Pitch Black, one of my favorite ways to consume high fructose corn syrup, is returning for a limited time as part of their “Back By Popular DEW-mand” promotion. I don’t know which version they’ll be bringing back or if they have a new version of the soda that will probably be called Pitch Black 3, but I’m just glad Pepsi decided to bring it back, period.

Mountain Dew Pitch Black will be available for eight weeks, beginning in May 2011. I just hope they bring it back Next year, and the year after that.

REVIEW: Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Burger

Marvo 16 Comments

Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse

Children have such innocent minds, and those minds ask silly, but innocent questions, like:

Does chocolate milk come from a brown cow?

Why is the word “dictionary” in the dictionary?

Does daddy like to drive a car with no top because daddy has no top on his head?

Another silly question a child might ask a parent is: To make the new Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse burger, do they make the cows eat jalapenos and cheese?

If a child asks a parent that, it’s the responsibility of the parent to set them straight and tell them that pieces of jalapenos and small chunks of cheddar cheese are added later to the ground beef. However, if a child turns the question into a statement, he or she might be eating glue.

Stuffing a burger patty with ingredients that are usually on top of it isn’t something Burger King came up with first, although they are the first of the fast food giants to do so.

Almost exactly two years ago, Burger King released the Angry Whopper for a limited time. When I reviewed it back then, I was disappointed to discover it wasn’t as angry as I hoped. I would consider it having a level of anger that could easily be controlled with taking a timeout or deep breathing exercises.

However, the Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse is definitely angrier than the Angry Whopper, but not drunk Mel Gibson talking on the phone to his girlfriend angry. It’s angry enough that I think it might need to take anger management classes or a low dose of prescription drugs.

Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Patty

The jalapeno pieces in the burger patty aren’t the only ingredients that make the Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse spicy hot; it’s also the creamy poblano sauce, which tastes like a spicy thousand island salad dressing. These spicy ingredients not only brought the heat, but they also gave it a flavor that I think makes it tastier than any other BK Steakhouse burger I’ve tried. Although, in my eyes, that’s not hard to do, since I think other Steakhouse burgers are quite bland.

Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Split

The Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse has the same lettuce, tomatoes and bun as the regular Steakhouse, so I’ll only spend these 26 words on them. Surprisingly, the thick burger patty didn’t turn out as dry as I thought it would be. Perhaps my slightly juicy burger turned out the way it did because of the liquid from the jalapenos, or maybe the Burger King I went to has a flame-broiling master.

As for the cheddar stuffed in the ground beef, it does add to the flavor of the burger, but the spicy ingredients are definitely the screaming children trying to gain your attention. I’m just glad they didn’t go all Pizza Hut on this burger and stuff the cheese into the bun.

Oh great, I probably gave Burger King another idea. I hope if Burger King does come up with a Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse with a stuffed bun, it’s as good as the regular Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 burger – 590 calories, 34 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,240 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar and 26 grams of protein.)

Item: Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Burger
Price: $3.99
Size: 1 sandwich
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Nice heat from jalapeno and poblano sauce. Tastiest of the Steakhouse burgers. Poblano sauce tastes like a spicy thousand island dressing. Stuffing jalapenos in burger patty and not under the bun means no falling jalapeno slices. Surprisingly slightly juicy burger patty.
Cons: Probably not good to eat daily, or every other day. Lame iceberg lettuce. Buying a convertible to make up for balding. Eating glue. Mel Gibson drunk dialing.

NEWS: Slim Jim Gives Convenience Store Owners More Flavor Options To Offer To Teenagers and Stoners

Marvo 9 Comments

Slim Jim section at Winkler's local 7-11

I didn’t know there were so many Slim Jim varieties one could snap into. Not only do they come in different flavors, but also a range of sizes. Slim Jim’s latest varieties are the Slim Jim Giant Jamaican Style Jerk and Slim Jim Monster Zesty Garlic.

For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of snapping into a Slim Jim, Giant and Monster are two sizes Slim Jim offers. The Giant Slim Jims are tall, skinny, 28 grams in weight and can be used as an impromptu whip, while the Monster Slim Jims aren’t as tall, but are thicker, weigh 55 grams and can be used as an impromptu (insert imagination here).

The Slim Jim Giant Jamaican Style Jerk Flavor has a suggested retail price of $1.45 and the Slim Jim Monster Zesty Garlic will be $2.49. Both flavors will be available this month, probably at your nearest convenience store.

Image via flickr user Bennett 4 Senate / CC BY SA 2.0