Tag: Burger King

After multiple tries, Burger King is once again throwing its paper crown into the spicy nugget ring. Will it finally strike while the iron is hot, or will it flame out again?

Spicy chicken is nothing new for BK, but I feel it has always lagged behind the other behemoths in that category. Its spicy nuggets came and went with zero fanfare, the sandwiches never made much noise, and while I like hot Chicken Fries just fine, BK definitely has some catching up to do.

Those countless feeble attempts are actually what intrigued me about BK’s new Fiery Nuggets. I just assumed they were a re-branding of the previous spicy nugget, but they turned out to be much more. The innovators of the chicken fry have created something familiar but new here – chunks of chicken that exist between a standard nugget and a boneless buffalo wing.

“MEHHHH, boneless wings ARE just saucy nuggets.” – You. That’s you, right now.

You’re partially right when it comes to Fiery Nuggets, but I still think these are unique.

They may look like a redder version of BK’s traditional chicken nuggets, but they’re coated with “an irresistible spicy glaze” that contains cayenne pepper, bird’s eye chili pepper, and black pepper. Those flavors combine to give these a mildly sweet and spicy flavor unlike anything on the menu.

The nuggets are somehow both dry and super greasy. The coating isn’t quite a dusting, but also not quite a sauce. They feel a little slimy but still hold a slight crispiness. I don’t know how they landed in the middle of everything here, but they did.

The flavor is all over the place, but it’s… excellent? I’m still not sure what’s going on. The sweet into heat reminded me of teriyaki on some bites, but honey BBQ on others. It almost tasted like a Lay’s Flamin’ Hot BBQ. They ride the line between spicy, sweet, and salty really well. That grease though…

They’re so greasy! It’s definitely to their detriment. The bag was dripping. I devoured the eight nuggets and didn’t feel great about it. That being said, they went down pretty easy in the heat department. I saw some rumblings that this might be the hottest chicken in fast food, but I think I had spicier chicken at Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A during recent visits.

Your mileage may vary on BK nuggets. I like ’em, but I can see how someone might say they taste like an old yoga mat. I think Fiery Nuggets are a hit despite the sickening amount of grease. If they had the dry, crispier structure of McNuggets, I might’ve flirted with a perfect score.

I don’t know if I can say they’re better than the old reliable Wendy’s spicy nuggets just yet, but I have them above Spicy Chicken McNuggets.

I like to think BK dropped these in honor of the Heat-Nuggets NBA Finals, but the truth is they put them out for me. These are for me and people like me, and I appreciate it. Try ’em. They’re only three bucks.

Long live The King.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 8 pieces
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 530 calories, 39 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 1220 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 19 grams of protein.

Burger King, Burger King
Get a load of this burger thing,
Crimson bun, Whopper-sized,
Order with a side of fries,

Look out!
Here’s the… New “Spider-verse” Whopper.

Yeah, that ended with a whimper. Sorry, the lyrics aren’t as clever as BK’s current theme song, WHOPPER, WHOPPER, WHOPPER, WHOPPER, WHOPPER *repeat x10*

Before I review Burger King’s new “Spider-verse” Whopper, I just wanna give my quick review of 2018’s “Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse.” 10 out of 10. Certified banger. Best Spider-man movie ever made. No notes. If you haven’t seen it, find whoever is streaming it, and fire it up.

While you’re at it, flame broil up Burger King’s new “Spider-verse” Whopper, a burger that somehow almost lived up to the hype of the movie.

I say “somehow” because, in reality, there isn’t much difference from a tried-and-true Whopper here, but that’s the thing, reality is only a perception. This is a multiverse Whopper.

The obvious eye-catching draw of this burger is the beet-dyed red bun. As far as “photo versus expectations” goes, I gotta say, the real thing ended up looking way better than my Spidey sense thought it would. It tastes like a normal bun, but I swear it was a bit more “toothsome.” Perhaps mine was just mildly stale, like the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Sony paid me to say that.)

The other key difference from a standard Whopper is that American cheese is swapped out for melty Swiss. Why? I pondered that myself. Is Miles Morales a big fan of Swiss cheese? Is there a Swiss Spiderman out there in the Spider-verse? The only logical explanation I could come up with is that Swiss cheese famously has holes and the Spidey supervillain The Spot has a key role in the new Spider-verse sequel. I think I cracked the case. (Trypophobics need not Google “The Spot.”)

Anyway, I actually think the Swiss compliments the burger really well. It gave it a milder and slightly saltier taste than the usual Kraft single-esque piece of rubber.

It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down and eaten a Whopper AT the home of said Whopper, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I do have one minor complaint though. Why did Burger King just stop at a red bun? It has dabbled with flavored buns and hot sauces in the past. I think this bun should have had a *THWIP!* of heat, or there should have been a sauce component. They could have called it “Radioactive Spider-bite Sauce” or something. Then again, maybe it’s best to limit the number of spider references. Some people might think they’re eating bugs.

Either way, I love the movie, I really liked this burger, and I can’t wait to watch the sequel next week. You have until June 11th to try the burger. After that, it’ll be gone like Uncle Ben – the rice guy and Peter Parker’s dearly departed guardian.

Oh, there are also cool little Miles Morales-themed Burger King crowns. I won’t lie; I snagged one. Two. I snagged two. I’m giving one away, I swear.

This was fun. Maybe next time BK can do a Venom-themed burger with black buns and … oh wait, no! No, they can’t do that again, lest they want everyone to expel their own symbiote.

Ok, on that gross note, I’m gonna websling outta here. Try the burger!

Purchased Price: $5.00 (Special Monday only price in the App – a steep $8.19 otherwise)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 795 calories, 54 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, 115 milligrams of cholesterol, 1700 milligrams of sodium, 56 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 38 grams of protein.

I’m not sure chicken fries are a product that anyone was really asking for. No one eats chicken tenders and then says, “You know, I’d like these to be thinner. A lot thinner.” At least, I’m pretty sure no one does; you do you.

Needless to say, I was skeptical about the potential appeal here with Burger King’s new Spicy Chicken Fries. I expected them to be dry little strips of chicken fried to oblivion, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I am enough of a fried food enthusiast that sometimes, I actually like over-fried food in a masochistic sort of way. But I wasn’t expecting anything that would be good in any sort of objective sense of the word.

However, after getting these out of their paper carton, adorned with a scowling cartoon chicken (unlike the non-spicy chicken fries, which feature a happier chicken), I took my first bite. My first immediate thought was that I wished the serving size was bigger, which pretty much tells you all you need to know right there. But I am supposed to write more than a few sentences, so I guess I should carry on.

The spice level is just about perfect. These things are about as spicy as the (excellent) Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets, or perhaps just a tad spicier. It’s a zingy kind of spicy that stops just short of making your nose run. If you want something really spicy that’s going to give you a Nashville Hot Chicken kind of feeling, these are not going to do it, but let’s be realistic: nobody goes to Burger King looking for that kind of experience. That said, if you paired these with the quite good BK Mexican Chicken Sandwich I reviewed just a few months ago, it would be a lovely meal for a spice fan.

Perhaps more important than the spice level is the chicken, which is really moist and flavorful. A lot of fried chicken products are dry (like, say, oh I don’t know, DAIRY QUEEN — you know what you did, DQ. Stick to ice cream.) But these are just perfectly moist little mouthfuls that have real chicken flavor, not just that generic, salty fast-food-protein flavor.

The breading is interesting: it’s more like the breading you get on a mozzarella stick than a chicken nugget or tender, which works nicely. But to be honest, I barely noticed the outside shell when I was eating. Logically I know that the spicy flavor comes from the outside layer, but beyond contributing spice, the grainy breading stands back and lets you go to Happy Succulent Chicken Land without getting in your way.

I did not think to try the fries with any of the sauces, but honestly, I think that would be a waste. These things don’t need anything else.

Do you know what would be awesome, though? If BK made these spicy chicken fries in a larger, chicken tender format and really entered the competitive fried chicken world. Give KFC a run for its money, BK. I’ll be rooting for you.

Purchased Price: $3.69
Size: 9 pieces
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 14 grams of fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 750 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrates, 40 milligrams cholesterol, 0 grams sugar, 1 gram fiber, and 14 grams of protein.

I feel like there’s some really clever joke that does something with the idea, “Hey, you got your Taco Bell in my Burger King!” but I can’t actually think of the joke; I just know it’s out there, somewhere, in the ether. Maybe “My Burger King may taste like Taco Bell today, but at least my Dunkin’ doesn’t taste like Arby’s!” Nah. I’m going to need to workshop this one.

We’ve been getting some dinners from Burger King lately since the BK in the area is right on the way home from my daughter’s dance class, so it was very convenient to try out this new sandwich. Apparently, there are other special chicken sandwiches on offer right now: an Italian-style and an American-style, but the Mexican is the only new offering — others are returning fare.

I’ve always been fond of the BK long-and-thin chicken sandwich, so it was an appealing package right out of the paper sack. When I opened the sandwich up to see its beautiful innards, I saw a whole bunch of green specks that looked a bit like grains of rice. Later, I would find out these are little pieces of fried (and crunchy) jalapeno. I purposely didn’t look up the components for this item before tasting it so I would take note of what I was actually tasting and not what I was “supposed” to taste, so the little green bits were mysterious at first, although now I can’t imagine what else they could have been besides jalapeno. The other spicy component is a queso that is slathered on the buns.

For the first few bites, it was just a regular BK chicken sandwich. I asked my husband, “Are you sure you got me the Mexican one?” He gave me a “How stupid do you think I am?” look and I sheepishly returned to eating my strangely-oblong sandwich. Fortunately, it was at that point I started biting into the little jalapeno crumbs of joy and a pleasant spice began burning my mouth. This is actually pretty spicy, with the queso cheese bringing most of the heat, but as I’ve mentioned recently, I am new to spicy food so my “really spicy” might be someone else’s “meh, whatever.” That said, this sandwich was about as fiery as my food can get before it becomes a problem and I need a drink (and possibly some consoling), so it’s definitely not bland.

So, between the jalapeno and the queso, there’s definitely some spicy action going on here, but is it really “Mexican?” I can’t decide. With those two components, the sandwich definitely should taste Tex-Mex, but something about the stolid flavor of the original BK chicken sandwich seems to fight against that. I definitely want to have it again though, so it’s clear BK did something right. Even though they don’t carry the brunt of the spice quotient, those tiny little green jalapeno fried bits are addictive; as soon as I finished my sandwich, I ate all the little jalapeno pieces that had fallen onto my wrapper.

There’s something in me that doesn’t want to give this sandwich a high score because it’s not “really” Mexican, but….so what? More importantly, it was delicious, and deliciously spicy. Now I have a new dinner order for dance class nights.

Purchased Price: $5.29
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 680 calories, 31 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 1900 milligrams of sodium, 75 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 28 grams of protein.

Despite its godawful name, I liked the Ch’King. While it wasn’t Popeyes-level delicious (I mean, what is), it was better than many other fast food chicken sandwiches. But, as with my appreciation for McDonald’s short-lived Arch Deluxe, I was in the minority and the Burger King fat cats 86’d it. So it goes. In its place is the Royal Crispy Chicken line, which, I guess is “Royal” because of the whole “King” thing.

Between us, it just seems to be a pretty standard chicken sandwich patty.

First, I’ll tell you some things I liked about Burger King’s new Italian Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

The chicken patty was quite large. Two of its edges hung off the side of the bun, which, as we all know, is a generally agreeable quality in a chicken sandwich. (Well, okay, provided you want to actually EAT said chicken patty.)

Further, this large chicken patty was not dry. I’d stop short of calling it juicy, but I’ve had much drier chicken patties from the King and his many competitors.

And finally, the “marinara sauce” that lightly adorned the sandwich was definitely recognizable as an Italian red sauce, and not just like ketchup with some oregano.

That’s it. Those were the three things I liked: the big piece of chicken wasn’t bone dry and it had a little Prego on it.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, I know. But then again, if I didn’t like it, I guess I shouldn’t give it a ringing endorsement, right?

Here’s my main complaint with this chicken sandwich: it was completely uninspired. Yes, it was problematic that the execution and ingredients were lackluster; the big-and-not-dry patty was bland and void of any real flavor; the marinara was indistinguishable from a jarred supermarket spaghetti sauce; and the long slice of mozzarella was, for lack of a better word, floppy and tasted like white American cheese.

But aside from the poor ingredients, were we as consumers really clamoring for another burger baron’s take on an Italian chicken sandwich? It feels like everyone trots theirs out every couple of years and none of them are ever very well received, and they eventually fade into the lost land of LTOs, where they silently remain for a handful of years before bursting back onto the scene with an un-triumphant flourish.

I mean, if you’re gonna do it, maybe try something interesting like Wendy’s with its Deep Fried Mozzarella Disc. Or what about doing something with Alfredo sauce instead? But also, do I really want to eat Alfredo sauce from Burger King? And why am I asking so many questions?!

In the end, this sandwich will fade from memory, just as the universe intended. If you liked it, I’m sorry. Take solace in the fact that it will be back again in a year or two, just the way you remembered it.

Purchased Price: $5.49
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 533 calories, 21 grams of fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 5.4 grams of saturated fat, 78 mg of cholesterol, 1641 milligrams of sodium, 57 grams of total carbohydrates, 8 grams of sugars, 9 grams of fiber, and 33 grams of protein.