Tag: Burger King

Believe it or not, long before the days Burger King became Smoothie Queen and BBQ Pork Noble, the chain actually focused most of its attention on hamburgers. And, what’s more, that creepy looking, high-as-a-kite King mascot of theirs actually cooked up a few tasty options for a buck. The Whopper Jr., anyone? Or how can we forget the Buck Double. A meal for a King, these items were not. But when it came to the dollar menu hierarchy of the Fast Food Court, they commanded some high praise.

Flash forward to the Burger Renaissance. The feudal days of cheap, dollar-menu burgers have all but disappeared, with burgers from the Big Three blurring the definition between fast food and fast casual. A few holdovers still exist on the value menus, but with beef prices rising at staggering rates, the dawning of a new burger age seems to have all but triumphed over the cheap burger nostalgia of a decade ago.

Burger King’s new Bacon Burger looks to recapture some of that nostalgia, mostly at the expense of former $1 offering like the Single Stacker and the Whopper Jr., which at my local BK were priced at $1.19 and $1.49, respectively. At a buck, the new Bacon Burger ditches the cheese in favor of “naturally smoked thick-cut bacon” and “creamy mayonnaise.” Why don’t they just say it? Food prices are going up, so we’re cutting back. LIVE WITH IT.

The burger is nothing if not “value” sized, with your standard puny Whopper Jr. hamburger patty. The bun to burger ratio obviously favors the bun by a substantial margin, but what the puny patty lacks in girth it makes up for with taste. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always found Burger King’s flame-broiled patties to be beefier, sweeter, and just more satisfying than the likes of McDonald’s and Wendy’s, even when shrunken to Lunchables-sized portions. It’s that flame-grilled, sweet aftertaste which affords me to overlook the unfortunate laws of fast food value burgers, which, if you didn’t know, don’t exactly come at a temperature of your choice.

The beef might be good by fast food value standards, but problems abound. Let’s start with the mayo, which covers up that small patty and drowns out the flavor in an insipid cloud of white. Good God, what a worthless condiment!

Don’t get me wrong, it serves its place on a BLT and the like, but here it just manages to turn the otherwise soft and malty sesame seed bun to a soggy mess on the interior, in the process drowning out the salty-sweet-acidic kick you’d normally get from the ketchup.

The onion is almost nowhere to be found, and despite loudly proclaiming this as their “Bacon Burger,” the bacon comes up short. It’s not bad – smoky, crisp, admirably meaty by fast food standards – but it’s underrepresented. What appears to be two halves of a single small slice don’t give you the kind of diameter-spanning coverage you’d want in such a small burger, while the lack of chewy and grassy fat limits its flavor. And can we talk about why lettuce and tomato were left out of the party? You have bacon. You have mayo. Seems to make sense to me to add some relief from at least a little herbage.

I don’t know about you, but if you’re going to name something a Bacon Burger, I’d expect bacon to be exploding out of the damn thing, much like the horribly unrealistic promotional photo hung in the windows. That, or I’d expect you to go all Slater’s 50/50 on us.

Be that as it may, the BK Bacon Burger serves a purpose for cheapskates everywhere who cling to the idea of that American right of cow munching for just a buck. Likewise, for those of us who could care less for the worthlessness of a barely melted half of American cheese, it makes sense to take any bacon where you can get it. If anything is wrong with the BK Bacon Burger, it’s the fact that it’s an unfortunate reality of market forces, forcing the downsizing of the beefy goodness and smoky brilliance that otherwise could pass for a Hamburger with Bacon.

My suggestion for the cheapskate braving this brave new burger world? Nibble, and bring your own tomatoes.

(Nutrition Facts – Bacon Burger – 320 calories, 17 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 500 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.)

Item: Burger King BK Bacon Burger
Purchased Price: $1.00
Size: 105 grams
Purchased at: Burger King, albeit, not in the Burger Castle
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Flame grilled burger taste on the cheap. Good beefy flavor. Surprisingly smoky and crisp bacon. Sesame Seed Bun lovage. Keeping the dollar menu memories alive.
Cons: Too much mayo overpowers small patty. Bacon lacks full burger coverage. Bun is too big for the beef, while lettuce and tomato would be nice. Economic reality. Missing the creepy King mascot.

The Burger King Bacon Sundae is a little disappointing.

Oh, it’s tasty and you’ll gobble it up hard, like you’re a sugar monster, but it’s disappointing because after all the artificially-flavored bacon products I’ve tried over the years, I kind of miss the fear I had with each and every bite as I tried to consume them.

Well, the ten grams of saturated fat and 61 grams of sugar this sundae contains evokes fear, but I’m sad there’s nothing unnatural tasting about it that made me pause every time I put it near my mouth.

There aren’t any cerebral alarms going off to warn me. There isn’t an angel on one shoulder telling me not to do it and a devil on the other shoulder yelling at me, “Eat it, you pussy!”

Burger King went the safe route and just put chopped bits and a slice of their new thick hardwood smoked bacon on top of chocolate fudge, caramel, and their vanilla soft serve. There’s no bacon-flavored syrup, no sprinkling of Bacon Salt, and there isn’t even a cup shaped like a pig’s snout that I can wear on my face when I walk out of a Burger King and yell, “OINK! OINK! OINK!”

The Burger King Bacon Sundae comes with what I estimate to be two slices of bacon — one chopped up and the other sticking out of the vanilla soft serve like a bacon tombstone. Oh, when I say, “slices,” I mean Burger King slices which are shorter than the slices you would get if you threw some bacon into a pan. Two slices may not seem like a lot, but there’s enough bacon to have a little bit in every spoonful. The bacon wasn’t what I would call crispy. Perhaps hardened would be a better adjective.

I don’t think the bacon adds much of a pork or smoky flavor, instead it’s more salty, and I thought it went well with the gooey chocolate fudge and caramel. However, if I scooped up too much of the sweet sauces, which there were a lot of, they totally porkblocked any bacon flavor from my taste buds.

Burger King does a good job creating the coveted sweet and salty combination with its bacon sundae. Although bacon is the dessert’s special ingredient, its flavor is relegated to the background, which might disappoint hardcore bacon lovers. It’s a really nice treat, but my masochistic taste buds wish Burger King went way over the top with its bacon flavor.

Perhaps BK should’ve added a dollop of Baconnaise.

Thanks to TIB reader Stephen for demanding the Burger King Bacon Sundae be reviewed.

(Nutrition Facts – 510 calories, 18 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 670 milligrams of sodium, 75 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 61 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein.)

Other Burger King Bacon Sundae reviews:
So Good Blog
Brand Eating

Item: Burger King Bacon Sundae
Price: $3.49
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Tasty. Nice combo of sweet and salty. Lots of bacon. Nice sized sundae. Lots of chocolate fudge and caramel. Subdued pork flavor will make this appealing to more eaters. Thank goodness, no Baconnaise.
Cons: Doesn’t come in a cup shaped like a pig’s snout. Bacon flavor is muted. Might be disappointing if you’re a bacon lover. Probably not the best thing to eat, health wise, after consuming a BK combo meal. Being pork blocked.

With the introduction of their new Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, Burger King now has their own McRib. Actually, to be more accurate, Burger King now has their own limited time only pork sandwich slathered with sauce that’s kind of scary looking when you pull back the bun.

BK’s pulled pork sandwich brings together pulled pork, Memphis BBQ sauce, sliced onions, and a sweet southern sauce on a toasted artisan-style bun.

To be honest, I’ve never experienced Memphis barbecue because I’ve never been to the great state of…(double-checking on Wikipedia) Tennessee. So my digestive system hasn’t had the pleasure of eating at fine Memphis BBQ establishments like…(checks Google) Central, Neely’s, Corky’s, Payne’s, The Bar-B-Q Shop, and the G’town Commissary. Since my taste buds have never tasted Memphis barbecue, I can’t determine how offended Memphians (I hope that’s correct) should be or if they should feel offended at all.

As you can see in the photo above, the BK Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich comes with a lot of pulled pork. Although, the pulled pork looks more like finely shredded pork. Perhaps, too finely shredded, because when I pulled back the artisan-style bun, the amalgamation of pork looked like clumped wet cat hair. So if you purchase this sandwich, DO NOT TAKE IT APART! Also, DO NOT LOOK AT THE SANDWICH WHILE EATING IT OR ELSE YOU WILL SEE THIS:

I know fast food in promotional photos never look like that in real life, but there was a major difference between BK’s photos of the sandwich and what mine looked like. While the beautifully photographed sandwich had pulled pork drenched in sauce, my pulled pork was just topped with sauce.

Because the pork wasn’t soaked in sauce, I noticed the pork was a bit dry and with some bites it was slightly tough. It had a mild pork flavor that doesn’t get completely overwhelmed by the sauces.

Wait. Now that I think about it, maybe it’s good the pork wasn’t drenched in sauce because the two sauces that top this sandwich made it extremely messy. I think I used three napkins to clean my hands. The BBQ sauce had a wonderful sweet and smoky flavor. Because there’s no spiciness to it, it’s slightly different from the usual barbecue sauce BK uses. The sweet southern sauce was also tasty, although its pastel yellow color looked a little weird. It gave the sandwich a little tanginess. The onions added crunch and complemented the pork and two sauces.

Even though it’s probably not comparable to a pulled pork sandwich from a Memphis barbecue joint and the pork is a little dry and looks like clumped wet cat hair, I think the Burger King Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich is surprisingly decent, thanks to the two sauces. It’s also on the smallish side, but I think it’s a better tasting pork sandwich than the McDonald’s McRib*.

*I don’t really care for the McRib.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 sandwich – 470 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,420 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 29 grams of sugar, and 27 grams of protein.)

Other Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich reviews:
Grub Grade

Item: Burger King Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich
Purchased Price: $4.99 (sandwich only)*
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Surprisingly decent. Tasty sauces. Lots of pulled pork. Onions were a nice addition. Bun held together despite absorbing lots of sauce.
Cons: On the smallish side. Pork not drenched in sauce. Pork looks like clumped wet cat hair. Hella messy. Sweet southern sauce has a weird yellow color. McRib.

*Prices will vary. I will pay more than most of you because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

NOTE: We also reviewed Burger King’s Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries. Click here for our review.

I’m not a fan of Burger King’s French fries because of their unnatural starchy coating and weak potato flavor, so I had low expectations for their new Sweet Potato Fries.

These sweet potato fries are part of Burger King’s new limited time only summer BBQ menu, which includes Texas and Carolina BBQ Whoppers and chicken sandwiches, frozen lemonades, a Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich, and a bacon sundae.

As interesting as a bacon sundae sounds, which has already been done by other places, I really do think these sweet potato fries are the most compelling item on the new menu because with their release Burger King becomes the first of the major fast food burger chains to offer sweet potato fries.

These fries have a beautiful orange color, which make them look as if they enjoy spray-on tanning or eating lots of carrots. They’re not thick like Burger King’s regular fries, in fact they’re noticeably flatter. These sweet potato fries are also not as erect as regular potato Burger King fries, instead most of them are quite limp.

That limpness probably makes you wonder about crispiness. When I comes to French fries, I don’t like to put limp ones in my mouth. Crispiness is what I want to put into my mouth, and these sweet potato fries are somewhat crispy. Now when I say, “somewhat” I mean the tips are crispy, but the rest of the fry, not so much.

Also, these sweet potato fries don’t have a very long crispy life. If you’re dining in, you’ll experience their crispiness. However, if you’re ordering from the drive-thru and you’re not one of those people who eat fries along the way to your destination, by the time you do eat some, you will be disappointed by how soggy the fries got.

After my drive home from Burger King, which Google Maps says takes eight minutes, the fries I purchased ended up soggy. Fortunately, I did eat some crispy fries since I’m one of those people who eats fries while driving.

Even though they don’t have the crispiness staying power I would’ve liked, the Burger King Sweet Potato Fries are quite delectable. If you’ve had sweet potato fries before, you’ll know what these taste like. They have a wonderful sweet potato flavor that’s enhanced by the salt, although some fries were a bit too salty. When they’re fresh, they’re addictive. When they’ve been sitting in a car for eight minutes, they’re still good.

If you’re getting a combo meal, you can switch the regular fries with these sweet potato fries, but it will cost a little extra (I was told 30 cents). Also, while they were fine with ketchup, you really should ask for a container of BK’s Zesty sauce to dip your sweet potato fries into. You’ll thank me later.

Although they get limp quickly, I enjoyed BK’s new sweet potato fries significantly more than Burger King’s regular fries, and I hope they become a permanent addition to the menu.

(Nutrition Facts – Medium size – 390 calories, 190 calories from fat, 21 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 720 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.)

Item: Burger King Sweet Potato Fries
Price: $2.99
Size: Medium fries
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Wonderful combination of sweet and salty. Much better than BK’s regular fries. Tips of the fries are crispy. Pretty orange color. Goes good with ketchup. Goes great with BK Zesty sauce.
Cons: They get soggy quickly. Flatter than BK’s regular fries. Available for a limited time. Getting oil on your steering wheel. Some fries were too salty. BK’s regular fries.

McDonald’s Frappé is a photocopy of Starbucks’ Frappuccino. So Burger King’s Frappé is a photocopy of a photocopy. Although, if I were to include Cinnabon’s Mochalatta and Dunkin’ Donuts’ Coolatta, then Burger King’s Frappé is a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.

Do you know what happens when you photocopy a photocopy, then photocopy that photocopy, and photocopy that?

Let me explain using the following example. Let’s say I were to walk into a Kinko’s at two in the morning, go up to one of their copy machines, pull my pants down, jump up onto the copy machines, gently sit down on the glass plate, and take an awesome photocopy of my butt with its crack going perfectly down the middle of the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

Then let’s say I further waste the machine’s toner by photocopying that perfect butt photocopy, taking the result of that, placing it into the feeding tray, photocopying it, and then wash, rinse, and repeat several times. Eventually, that perfect photocopy of my butt won’t be so perfect. My butt crack that went straight down the middle will, instead, drift to the left or right. You can still tell it’s my butt, but it isn’t quite like the original.

So, basically, the Burger King Frappé looks like a Starbucks Frappuccino, but is inferior to the original.

Like McDonald’s, BK’s Frappés come in two flavors, Caramel and Mocha, and are topped with whipped cream and drizzled with mocha or caramel syrup. Wait. Did I say drizzled? I meant splooged, like it was shot out of a fast food mayo gun. The whipped cream dollop on top of the blended coffee beverage, surprisingly, stayed perky after the 10 minute car drive in my air conditioner-less car, which is something I can’t say about the whipped cream on top of the McDonald’s Frappé.

The Burger King website says each Frappé is “made with a hint of coffee.” To be honest, I wish they were made with a KAPOW or BLAMMO of coffee because I thought the BK Frappés had less coffee flavor than the McDonald’s version. Between the two flavors, the Burger King Caramel Frappé is more guilty of hiding the coffee flavor. As someone who likes his iced coffee with lots of cream and sugar, I never thought I’d miss the bitterness of coffee.

Now with all of that said, the Burger King Frappés are like BK’s fries, they’re decent, but I prefer the McDonald’s version. They have a pleasant smoothie consistency and, if you look at the table above, they’re slightly better for you than McDonald’s Frappés. But I really think Burger King should’ve given them a stronger coffee base and I’m disappointed they didn’t take advantage of their partnership with Seattle’s Best Coffee.

To sum up what I think of Burger King’s Frappé, I’ve created a simple formula.

Starbucks Frappuccino > McDonald’s Frappé > Burger King Frappé

And while I’m getting comparisons off my chest…

Broccoli > Carrots > Cauliflower

And…

Pandas > Penguins > Koalas

(Nutrition Facts – 12 ounces/small – 410 calories, 170 calories from fat, 19 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 58 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 39 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.)

Other Burger King Frappé reviews:
So Good Blog
Brand Eating

Item: Burger King Frappé (Caramel and Mocha)
Price: $3.29
Size: Small/12 ounces
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Caramel)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Mocha)
Pros: Decent. Less calories and sugar than McDonald’s Frappé. Perky whipped cream topping. Nice smoothie consistency. Broccoli. Pandas.
Cons: Weak coffee flavor. Not as good as McDonald’s version. Having an over-photocopied photocopy. Having to put an accent mark in frappé. Cauliflower. Koalas.