This new addition for Veganuary is technically a ‘return for Veganuary’ in that Burger King have brought back their bean burger for their 2024 offering. This was a product they offered as part of their main menu but they discontinued it in the last few years, no doubt to make way for their other plant based options including their Vegan Whopper and the Vegan Royale. So I decided to give it a try.
First off…fast food advertising never looks like the actual product. The pictures in the adverts obviously make this look like a really thick and juicy burger, but the reality is this little squashed patty and a very restrained offering of toppings with it. Personally, I don’t really care. I know that any fast food product is not going to be anything life changing, and if I wanted a proper juicy and exciting burger, I would go to an actual restaurant. But I am only human and sometimes you do want something with a load of salt and saturated fat in it, and I find Burger King is one of the better options out there. The vegan nuggets are my favourite nuggets out there at the moment.
As expected, this burger is…fine. It’s fine. It tastes…fine. The bean patty itself has a tiny kick of spice to it, however I found that this was very mild to begin with, and when combined with the mayo that comes with the burger, the spice is completely nullified. So you taste it in the first bite but not really anything after that. The burger bun is, as with all fast food buns, pretty dry, so having the wet of the tomato and the lettuce does help. So yes…the burger is absolutely fine. It doesn’t do anything special in the field of flavour or creativity with vegan food, but it is a fast food burger. So it is edible. And is tasty.
I am however finding that fast food is a) not that fast and b) not even that cheap. In comparison this meal was cheaper than an actual restaurant – depending on what side you get (along with what size of the side) and what drink you have, a meal will cost you under £10. So it is cheaper than an actual sit down restaurant. But not by a lot. For example an Honest Burger is around £15-£18, including a drink and sides. So Burger King isn’t even half price in comparison, which I had always thought was the main appeal of the fast food industry, that their food was super cheap in comparison.
It also took us about 20 minutes waiting for this to be made. Which is roughly the same amount of time it takes to wait in an actual restaurant. Which is pretty rough considering that in Burger King you wait 20 minutes and still end up with a rather sad looking burger in a take away container or a plastic food tray. At least in a restaurant the food comes piping hot on a plate with actual cutlery. So…it is hard to say whether the fast food is still the easiest option when it will likely still take me the same amount of time to order, wait and eat as it would do in a restaurant. And I’d only be saving about £5 in some cases.
Taylor Talks Vegan 