Burger King – Michael Eats

Location: 6010 Dixie Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.burgerking.ca/

Burger King has come out with a new “better than ever” Whopper and… it’s fine? It’s a Whopper? I don’t know what to tell you.

Here’s how Burger King describes it: “Already BK Canada’s most iconic burger, the Whopper has been further refined to deliver an even better experience. Made with more than a 1/4lb of 100% flame-grilled beef and hand-cut produce, the Whopper is now served on a more premium, better tasting bun and in a box to help ensure it makes it to Guests exactly the way it left the kitchen.”

The news stories about this thing also mention a new mayo, but the Canadian press release doesn’t have a peep about that, so I’m guessing that part didn’t come to Canada.

About a month ago, when the news first came out and before the new Whopper was introduced here, I went and had an old Whopper so I could compare the two, and it was perfectly pleasant. It came wrapped in paper but wasn’t smushed at all, and the bun was fine. Maybe a bit too sweet and dense, but totally acceptable.

The biggest issue was the burger patty itself, which is not being improved, but probably should; it had that smoky flavour you associate with Burger King, which is nice, but it was extremely dry.

As for the new Whopper, I think maybe the bun was slightly more plush, but otherwise they both tasted exactly the same. It’s possible that if I had eaten them side by side, the differences would have been more apparent, but a month apart they were basically identical. The old one? Fine. The new one? Also fine. Perfectly acceptable fast food hamburger, but definitely not my first choice.

Location: 4141 Dixie Road, Mississauga
Website: http://www.burgerking.ca/

Burger King is the worst. Seriously. The absolute worst. I remember at a certain point, several years back, thinking that it was one of the better fast food joints. But then the quality started going downhill, and at first I thought “oh, I must be at a badly run Burger King,” but no. They’re all bad now.

I’m not a fast food snob. I enjoy it, for the most part. You have to adjust your expectations, obviously, but a Big Mac can be quite satisfying when the craving hits.

My personal ranking of the big fast food burger chains would probably look something like this:

A&W
Wendy’s
McDonald’s
Harvey’s
Garbage from a dumpster
Burger King

So when I found out that Burger King was serving a McRib-esque sandwich, my better judgment told me to stay away, but hey, you only live once, right?

I should note that I actually do like the McRib. Maybe it’s because I have fond childhood memories of the thing, but every time McDonald’s brings it back I feel obligated to eat it at least once.

Burger King’s version has all of the same components (barbeque sauce, mystery-meat-pork patty, and pickles), save for the onion. But it is — surprise, surprise — not good. The salty patty is a lot chewier and more rubbery than the McRib, and the cloyingly sweet barbeque sauce is one-note and vaguely unappealing. The bun and pickles are fine, but the whole thing was kind of gross and nothing I’d ever want to eat again.

I tried the new doughnut holes, too, which were also pretty gross. Can we just use the words Burger King as a replacement verb for gross? I think so. The doughnut holes were pretty Burger Kingy. Doughy, soggy, and downright mushy, the only highlight was when I remembered that I am a human being with free will, and can choose to never eat another one of these for as long as I live. I wish I could make that choice for Burger King in general, but I know curiosity will drive me back here when they introduce something else new to their menu. Oh well.

Tag: Burger King

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