To begin, no, I don’t know why they call it “pretzel bread,” either. The bun doesn’t look like a pretzel, and it certainly doesn’t taste like one, either. But then again, I guess it’s a lot easier to fit the word “pretzel” on an advertising marquee than “try Burger King’s new Toasted Bun With The Letter ‘X’ Carved Into Its Bacon King,” so maybe it’s all just a matter of marketing?

As for the newfangled BK Pretzel Bacon King itself, basically what we’re working with here is the chain’s tried-and-true King burger, albeit with a much snazzier bun. As the name implies, BK has replaced the old sesame-seed-coated bun with a fancier, ritzier, and considerably fluffier pretzel bread base and it definitely distinguishes the product from its flame-broiled brethren.

On the whole, the product still has a fairly familiar Burger King flavor to it, but the texture is certainly something you don’t normally experience out of the fast food staple. Of course, it doesn’t quite taste like a gourmet burger, but it does provide a moderately more refined gustatory experience than most of the stuff you’ll be getting out of a drive-thru window these days.

Underneath the bun, however, there’s not a whole lot new to experience here. Basically, it’s one or two 1/4 lb. patties topped with a hearty helping of bacon, shellacked with a blanket of molten American cheese, and then inundated with a barrage of mayonnaise and mustard. This is a product that would have benefited from having a couple of more ingredients in the mix — lettuce, tomato, heck, even a couple of fried onion rings would’ve done a lot to help this one pop a little more on your tastebuds.

For the most part, every time you bite down you’re just getting a burst of cheese and mustard, which isn’t a bad combination per se, just one that’s, well, kinda’ mundane. A more exotic cheese (gruyere, perhaps?) would’ve given this one a firmer identity, and I’m still not sure why Burger King opted for the plain old yellow mustard when a spicier blend would’ve made for a more delectable limited-time-only product.

From there, the usual complaints and caveats about Burger King products continue to apply. I know it’s old hat, but with almost 2,000 milligrams of sodium in this sucker, you are really getting a high quotient of salt for one meal. And I wouldn’t suggest eating one of these in your finest apparel — even for a sauce-centric Burger King offering, this thing can get wildly sloppy.

On the whole, the Pretzel Bacon King is a solid and filing product, but its Achilles heel is that it’s too predictable. This is a fairly tasty L-T-O that plays things maybe a little too safe and offers consumers hardly anything they haven’t already experienced before. And at such a steep price point, you’d expect a little more than what you’re getting out of the overall package here.

Purchased Price: $5.79
Size: Single patty
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 920 calories, 60 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 135 milligrams of cholesterol, 1930 milligrams of sodium, 55 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 39 grams of protein.