Tag: Burger King

What is Burger King’s Brownie Batter Shake?

Burger King suggests that its new drinkable dessert features “rich, fudgy brownie batter” blended with its “signature” vanilla soft serve, topped with whipped cream. One thing is very accurate about this description — this thing definitely had whipped cream on it.

How is it?

Here’s a word I’d use to describe this shake that you probably don’t want to read in a milkshake review: gritty! That’s right, this thing tasted like the person making it had been at the beach all day before realizing that it was 10-til-4 and they wouldn’t have time to shower before their scheduled evening shift at BK. It was pretty intense. It was chocolatey, sure, but mostly in a very artificial, very Hershey’s syrup-esque way. Mostly, I was overwhelmed by the textural unpleasantness.

Less than halfway through, I realized I’d had enough. Have you ever had a quarter of a milkshake before declaring yourself done? It’s a strange feeling.

Anything else you need to know?

Sonic did a chocolate brownie batter shake last March that managed to feature small bits of soft brownie in it. I was sort of surprised that this wasn’t the tactic here. This was, very literally, just liquid brownie batter mixed into vanilla soft serve. No decadent, chewy chunks or anything like that. Just chocolate grit.

Conclusion:

Burger King has been on a good run lately with the delicious Garlic & Bacon King and the phenomenal Ch’King sandwich, so I maybe had my hopes up too high. Also, it’s a shake, right, and how can you possibly mess that up? Oh wait, I know — by making the shake in the middle of a New Mexico sandstorm, that’s how.

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: N/A
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 740 calories, 31 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 670 milligrams of sodium, 104 grams of total carbohydrates, 80 grams of total sugars, 3 grams of fiber, and 15 grams of protein.

Ah, garlic. Aggressively odiferous plant. Repellent of vampires. Destroyer of kisses. Enhancer of… well, I was going to say “enhancer of Italian food,” but garlic is like cuteness at a kitten convention — it’s everywhere, basically. Including this new burger from Burger King, which it’s calling the Garlic & Bacon King (GBK).

Burger King’s website doesn’t really explain what is on the GBK, but other sites use this description: “a new premium burger made with two quarter-pound flame-grilled beef patties topped with three half-slices of bacon, new garlic pieces, two slices of American cheese, and mayo on a soft sesame seed bun.”

I got the single which is also an option. That also reduced the number of cheese slices by one, which was totally fine, and I’m pretty sure the single came with two pieces of bacon instead of three. (Again, this made sense.)

The real story here is the inclusion of “new garlic pieces.” Now, if you read this but haven’t seen a picture, this is pretty broad, right? Are we talking minced-up garlic mixed in with the mayo? Loose cloves lying sleepily atop the patty? The possibilities are endless. (Okay, well, maybe there are only two or three actual possibilities. But still.)

In this case, we’re talking thin garlic petals that have been deep fried. And there are a TON of them. An overwhelming amount, in fact. If you do not like garlic, there is no way on Earth you like this burger. There is no subtlety here, oh no. This is a giant poke in the eye with a big, greasy, garlic-coated finger. And to borrow an expression from the youth of today, “I am here for it.”

I’m not sure I had a single bite that didn’t have a crispy, garlicky petal in it. Also, please note that I said “crispy.” Despite a 10-minute car ride home and some photography after, they were amazingly crisp. Texturally (and of a similar potency), the garlic reminded me of the French’s Crispy Fried Onions your Aunt Lydia puts on the green bean casserole each Thanksgiving. These things were STRONG, but delicious.

Everything else about the burger was pretty standard BK fare. The bacon was thick, well-cooked, and salty, the mayo was appropriately creamy, and the cheese was perfectly fine fast food American cheese. I will say, the patty tasted a bit more charbroiled than I think BK’s patties typically are. I’m not sure how these things are prepared, so I don’t know if it was something in the preparation, or if it’s something with the meat, or perhaps some combination. In any case, it tasted fresh and meaty, and I felt like it elevated this particular burger.

While this isn’t in the same league as the new BK Ch’King sandwich, it is a nice LTO that’s worthy of a go. Just don’t do it before heading to a make-out party or inviting any vampire friends over for a board game night.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: Single patty
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: Unavailable at this time (Okay, well, the website says the single I had has 214 calories, and something about that seems off. There are no other stats.)

Burger King has a mixed record with chicken sandwiches. My previous experience was in the form of the Original Chicken Sandwich. That’s the hoagie-like version that can have some questionable quality chicken in the form of a pressed patty. I ended up throwing half of it away because it was just not good.

So naturally, when Burger King put its new Ch’King into the ever-growing field of fast food chicken sandwiches, I knew it was time to give BK an opportunity to redeem itself.

In 2019, Popeyes started a movement through the fast food industry that is still being felt two years later. It started serving a high quality, flavorful chicken sandwich that made the standard fast food fare pale in comparison. In my opinion, Popeyes’ offering has yet to be bested. However, I went into trying the Ch’King neutral and was curious how it would end up ranking.

The options you have at the moment when ordering are either a Ch’King or Spicy Ch’King. Both come on toasted potato buns with a signature sauce and crisp pickles. The spicy variety is the same chicken as the original (no spicy seasoning in the breading), just tossed in a spicy glaze. BK also offers a “Deluxe” version of both that sees the pickles removed for lettuce and tomato. I opted for the standard Ch’King.

It was interesting to see it packaged in a bag similar to Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. However, upon opening it, it was wrapped in the standard wrapper. I am not sure if it’s just my location that opted for this, but I have a feeling (based on some of the soggy bits) it may not be the correct way to serve it. The sandwich itself is decently sized — not quite as big as Popeyes’, but bigger than the standard Chick-fil-A.

Upon taking it apart, I notice the crispy pickles are certainly not the standard fast food pickles. I expected dill pickles, but found them to be more like bread & butter. Generally, I don’t care much for bread & butter pickles, but they worked very well with the overall flavor of the sandwich. The sauce, described as a “savory signature sauce,” was the weakest point. It was just a generic mayo-based sauce with no real strong flavors other than slightly sweet. I’d have preferred the standard mayo instead. The bread was a nice upgrade from the standard buns and helped sell the “premium” feeling of the sandwich.

It’s a good-sized chicken fillet, breaded in a crunchy coating we’ve come to expect from these new chicken sandwiches. However, by the time I got home, it had lost some crunch due to being double wrapped. This didn’t necessarily take away from my overall enjoyment, but I had looked forward to that TikTok-worthy CRUNCH and didn’t really get it. As for its taste, it was perfectly fine, but blander than Popeyes’. In fact, the closest comparison in flavor was Chick-fil-A. The meat itself was juicy and tender. It’s always nice to get a perfectly cooked chicken sandwich as I think we can all relate to that experience of biting into one, only to be greeted by dry or rubbery meat.

Burger King is certainly coming out swinging with its new sandwich. It’s a solid attempt with a lot to like and also some opportunity for growth. While I personally don’t feel like it topples Popeyes for the top spot, it certainly has its place at the podium.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size:N/A
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 800 calories, 36 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 90 milligrams of cholesterol, 710 milligrams of sodium, 69 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 33 grams of protein.

What is the Burger King Impossible Croissan’wich?

After the success of the Impossible Whopper, Burger King has brought the plant-based revolution to the breakfast menu in the form of the Impossible Croissan’wich.

How is it?

Before the McGriddle took over the fast food breakfast game, Burger King Croissan’wiches were number one in my heart with a bullet. I’ve probably eaten 200 Sausage Croissan’wiches in my lifetime, and I can happily report the “Impossible” version is about 95% as good as the old reliable I love so much.

I’ve had a couple plant-based breakfast sausages, and this was easily the best texturally. It wasn’t chewy or gritty at all. Coupled with BK’s classic fluffy egg and croissant, it actually had the exact same bite as a regular Croissan’wich.
The only reason I won’t say it’s quite as good is because the flavor of the sausage was slightly off.

This seemed to overcompensate, and pump too much of that smokey sausage gravy spice that always puts me in mind of Stove Top Stuffing. I said the same thing in my review of the Dunkin’ Beyond Sausage Sandwich (You’d think I’d know the spice I’m talking about by now).

I don’t.

Anything else you need to know?

I actually made a resolution this year to stop eating pork products*. I wanted to slowly but surely wean myself off eating meat every day, and I figured pork would be easier to kick than beef or chicken.

I was right, but man have I been craving a nice breakfast sandwich. I eat turkey bacon, but I haven’t had any sausage in 2020 until this, and it didn’t disappoint at all.

*Ok, I cheated once last month for the review of the Dunkin’ Croissant Stuffers. There was so little bacon in that, I’m not counting it.

Conclusion:

This is my favorite plant-based fast food item to date. I was right on the edge before, but now I’m a full-blown believer in “plants” as a sustainable protein source.

Between this and the Whopper before it, Burger King is absolutely leading the way when it comes to fast food plant-based options. I’m probably gonna eat a lot of these going forward.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: N/A
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 491 calories, 29 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 1058 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of total carbohydrates, 4 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of fiber, and 21 grams of protein.

Burger King is seemingly always in second place to the globally far-reaching McDonald’s. Its reputation as the bratty burger brother has always struck me as unfairly harsh and unusually cruel, especially when it offers up delish new items like the BLT Chicken Jr. Sandwich, a small menu item that can take on any of Mickey D’s big cluckers.

The sandwich itself, true to the unwieldy name, is BK’s take on the classic BLT, offering crisp lettuce, crispy bacon, and a very well-cut tomato. What differs, however, is the splendid addition of one of BK’s famed chicken patties underneath. Junior-sized, of course.

While not a spicy as I would have liked — let’s look into that later, Burger King — the sandwich has a rather juicy bite to it and a satisfying crunch with every mouthful. The chicken patty is actually moist and meaty instead of dry and cardboard-ish, with the tomato giving a crave-worthy splash of acidic flavor that does not go unnoticed.

The bacon also does a good job of mutually satisfying the taste buds with its salty wonder of greasy fat. But, as usual, the lettuce acts more like pretty garnish than a taste additive, with a large, vein white leaf adding a small bit of bitterness to these eats. After pulling most of it out, though, I was left with a gorgeously tasty experiment on the always exciting BK menu.

I understand this was included on the King’s likable 3 for $3 menu — although I paid $1.99 for the sandwich by itself — but I see no reason why this sandwich could not be expanded to a monstrous Whopper-sized pollo-friendly blessing, with much more of the chicken, bacon, and tomato.

Hold the lettuce, though.

Still, I guess that if you’re hungry enough, you might as well order two or three of these babies and call it a day. But do you think that I could get a spicy chicken BLT next time, Burger King?

Purchased Price: $1.99
Size: N/A
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 492 calories, 32 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 39 milligrams of cholesterol, 773 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.