Restaurant Review: Burger King
Today's #VeganMoFo prompt is "A dish that transports you back to a vacation." I grew up at various levels of the working class, sometimes on the lower end of the lower working class, so we had few real vacations, but we did go camping a lot, or go to visit relatives. On road trips, when we could afford it, my family tended to stop at Burger King, because my father loved Whoppers. It turns out that Burger King brought a vegan version they were originally testing in St. Louis nationwide this month, so I decided to give the Impossible Whopper a whirl to see if it brought back memories of those road trips.
Did it ever!
I hardly ever have fries, incidentally, though I realize between my 2019 vacation and this meal you've probably been seeing a lot of them. I also hardly ever had them in my pre-vegan days, because although I do enjoy them they aren't my favorite thing and I'm usually pretty full after a fast food burger, but I wanted to have the whole experience. I haven't been to a Burger King in probably something like a decade or more. So I got fries, too.
Some stuff has changed. They now have what I like to call a "choose-your-own-adventure" soda machine, so I got a vanilla root beer. And I also paid a little over $10 for my "value meal," said to be a size small (large is terrifyingly huge!), and I think this ran about $5 last time I was at a Burger King. (Inflation, being in a different part of the country with a higher cost of living, and having to pay a bit more for the vegan burger all contributed to the cost difference, I imagine.) But in general things were mostly as I remembered them.
I knew the Whopper was huge but opening it still startled me! This thing is gigantic! You'll need to leave the mayo off if you want it vegan; I got mine to go and took it home to put Vegenaise on it because I wanted to make it as close to my sense memory as possible.
This was so close to the omnivore version I remember it stopped me in my tracks. I could never have envisioned something like this when I went vegan, and I love how accessible this makes vegan options. Road trips will be easier for me to imagine going on now that I know I can grab a burger at Burger King or sliders from White Castle even in the most challenging geographic areas for a vegan. But eating this, even though it tasted good and familiar, made me realize I don't actually want to eat like this anymore if I have other options.
All of us have our palates change when we change our diets, finding new things to love. In the process, the old things we loved just aren't as thrilling sometimes. I'd read about fast food having added sugar in America but hadn't tasted the sweetness before now, really. I'd really had my fill of fries after about five of them, partly because the ketchup seemed so sugary, and the Whopper bun tasted bizarrely sweet to me now, too. The root beer tasted better after the ice had melted into it to dilute it. Having to cook so much for myself has made the whole world taste different, perhaps. I add sugar sometimes but not to everything! However, the fries were cooked really well--nice and crispy on the outside, tender inside, and perfectly salted. I probably should have just eaten them without the ketchup.
But it's all vegan, and I'd be super grateful for it in a pinch, And it definitely transported me to my childhood.
General thoughts: This is not a meal I'd want to eat on a regular basis, but it would be a reliable option on a road trip to or through places without other vegan options. Service was fast. The cost seemed kind of high, but it's not that much higher than a Whopper normally would cost from what I can tell (it's about 10% more for the vegan meal than the omnivore meal). And it tastes like the junk food I used to enjoy as a child--even though I'm apparently no longer as keen on that. 3/5
Did it ever!
Some stuff has changed. They now have what I like to call a "choose-your-own-adventure" soda machine, so I got a vanilla root beer. And I also paid a little over $10 for my "value meal," said to be a size small (large is terrifyingly huge!), and I think this ran about $5 last time I was at a Burger King. (Inflation, being in a different part of the country with a higher cost of living, and having to pay a bit more for the vegan burger all contributed to the cost difference, I imagine.) But in general things were mostly as I remembered them.
This was so close to the omnivore version I remember it stopped me in my tracks. I could never have envisioned something like this when I went vegan, and I love how accessible this makes vegan options. Road trips will be easier for me to imagine going on now that I know I can grab a burger at Burger King or sliders from White Castle even in the most challenging geographic areas for a vegan. But eating this, even though it tasted good and familiar, made me realize I don't actually want to eat like this anymore if I have other options.
All of us have our palates change when we change our diets, finding new things to love. In the process, the old things we loved just aren't as thrilling sometimes. I'd read about fast food having added sugar in America but hadn't tasted the sweetness before now, really. I'd really had my fill of fries after about five of them, partly because the ketchup seemed so sugary, and the Whopper bun tasted bizarrely sweet to me now, too. The root beer tasted better after the ice had melted into it to dilute it. Having to cook so much for myself has made the whole world taste different, perhaps. I add sugar sometimes but not to everything! However, the fries were cooked really well--nice and crispy on the outside, tender inside, and perfectly salted. I probably should have just eaten them without the ketchup.
But it's all vegan, and I'd be super grateful for it in a pinch, And it definitely transported me to my childhood.
General thoughts: This is not a meal I'd want to eat on a regular basis, but it would be a reliable option on a road trip to or through places without other vegan options. Service was fast. The cost seemed kind of high, but it's not that much higher than a Whopper normally would cost from what I can tell (it's about 10% more for the vegan meal than the omnivore meal). And it tastes like the junk food I used to enjoy as a child--even though I'm apparently no longer as keen on that. 3/5
There is so much drama going on about this Whopper it's almost amusing at this point. It's not something I rushed out to try but I'm definitely not opposed to it. I have heard that it is a great option and I just love that chains are recognizing the value of having vegan options. It will be great if meat eaters choose a meat free option now that it is available. It is also nice to have options when in a pinch or on the road or just if you want something different. I think tastes tend to change on a vegan diet, especially when you don't eat a lot of the processed convenience food. Once you eat highly processed or fast food it's so different!
ReplyDeleteOh and the drama is just vegans fighting each other on whether or not they consider the Impossible Whopper vegan. Just wanted to clarify, ha! Nothing to do with you or your post (which was so interesting!).
DeleteYeah, and I think Burger King only plans to have it for the novelty factor and phase it out, from what I've read. But people are trying it who are definitely not vegan or even vegetarian and liking it, so it may make vegan food itself seem more mainstream and less weird. That's probably a plus for most of us, because as options spread we'll all be less restricted if we find ourselves stranded somewhere.
DeleteI totally agree. I think mainstream options are always a good thing. I know people take issue with the fact that Impossible foods did some animal testing so they are very opposed to anyone vegan promoting or consuming the product. The Facebook debates are exhausting.
DeleteI think my tastes have definitely changed since I became vegan, and even during my being vegan.
ReplyDeleteWe have Hungry Jacks here, which is like the Australian Burger King. They have had a vegan cheeseburger for a while, including vegan cheese and mayo. But the patty is just one of their vegetable patties, which are not great. Pretty smooshy and flavourless. But a lot of other people like them, so I am glad they are selling them.
I am no fan of mushy burgers, but so many people do like them, I can't begrudge them, either!
DeleteA couple of weeks ago we decided to get an Impossible Whopper to share to see what it tasted like because we were curious. All 3 of us were quite please with it and we're carnivores tried and true. If I could no longer eat the beef version I could easily see myself having this one. I was surprised, though, that nutritionally speaking, it's only very marginally better than a regular Whopper. It has maybe 40 fewer calories and 6 fewer grams of total fat, but there were other areas where it had less when you wanted it to have more, such as fiber. And more when you'd want less, like carbs.
ReplyDeleteHi, Brenda, long time no see! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteRight, it's not meant to be nutritionally superior, unlike, say, the Beast Burger. It's definitely junk food. It's weird that the original burger would have fiber, though--that suggests they're using fillers, because beef itself certainly doesn't have fiber.
It's crazy how sugary most processed products are! I definitely notice it too. Just read through some of the other comments -- I didn't realize BK planned to phase it out; that's a huge bummer. Maybe they'll change their mind once they realize how popular it is. Some of my vegan friends have had it at least once weekly since it was introduced, and they're people who haven't set foot in a Burger King for 5+ years! It's clearly bringing new business...
ReplyDelete