BURGER KING Revisited and now A BUNLESS WHOPPER" You heard it here first!!!
Written: Jan 13 '04 (Updated Feb 05 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: After all the years since my first Whopper, I still like the taste
Cons: Terrible fries
The Bottom Line: Though the Whopper seems to have gotten a bit smaller and the meat a little less tasty, I still like the overall Whopper experience.
|
|
|
| popsrocks's Full Review: Burger King |
The first time I ever heard of Burger King was back in 1972 when my wife and I went down to Florida for some vacation time. We were married earlier in the year and Walt Disney World was still in its first official year of business. I remember going to the Magic Kingdom and visiting the Contemporary Hotel on that trip. This was the first of many trips to Disney over the years. I mention Disney opening to give you a time line as to when I had my first WHOPPER. I had my first as a young just married man. Now, at this time of my life, I look forward to taking my grand daughters to Walt Disney World. I'm still checking out WHOPPERS too.
MY FIRST
My first taste of a Burger King WHOPPER was in Miami Beach during that 1972 vacation. At the time I don't recall any Burger Kings being on Long Island, NY. When I took my first bite of this two fisted sandwich in Florida, I was hooked. For years the WHOPPER was the only burger that made it for me. It was my favorite burger and I liked the fact I could have it "my way", extra tomato and onions.
I also enjoyed the fries and a delicious chocolate shake to finish it off.
Over the years that huge burger sandwich seemed to get a bit smaller. Maybe my hands and stomach were getting bigger. My wife and I started doing a bit more going out to dinner at non fast-food eateries and we slowed down on our visits to the King. I hadn't had a WHOPPER in quite a few years.
THROUGH the YEARS
Over the last thirty years plus, Burger King has changed and upgraded much of its menu.
They now serve breakfast featuring their CROISSAN'WICH. Eggs and cheese with ham, bacon or sausage are the big sellers. They also serve on a sour dough. Breakfast also offers French Toast Sticks, Hash Browns and other items.
The lunch/dinner menu now has a couple of salads. A chicken Caesar and tossed greens.
Regular burgers and cheeseburgers are available for 79 and 89 cents.
The Original WHOPPER now has the company of a double WHOPPER and the Original Jr. WHOPPER.
One of the newest additions to the Burger King menu, as of a year and a half ago, is the Chicken WHOPPER. This has fire grilled chicken fillet, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on that familiar round sesame roll.
Chicken is served in other ways too. Grilled Chicken Club, Chicken Tenders, and chicken Caesar salad are some examples.
ADVERTISING
Through the years Burger King also had a successful advertising campaign with the jingle about "Having it Your Way" This pertained to my Original WHOPPER. This add came out in 1973, the year after my introduction to the WHOPPER.
"Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us". Ha, I rarely ever "held" anything. I looked for more, and they always gave it.
These days they tell us a WHOPPER consists of 1/4 pound of beef, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle, onions on a freshly baked bun and if you want cheese it's 30 cents extra.
TODAY'S BURGER KING
A few nights ago my wife and I were coming home from some shopping and decided to "take out" some Burger King product for dinner at home. She had some discount coupons.
We went to the Burger King we always had gone to in Baldwin, Long Island. It hadn't seemed to have changed much in years since I've been there. Maybe the doubled up stations for ordering in the drive thru has been updated. The rest seems much the same. The inside of the establishment is bright with florescent lighting and set up with fixed tables and booths with seating for up to six people on about eight tables. This place is kept very clean. You purchase a soda and fill them yourself at an open fountain.
I went and took another peek today at this Burger King's interior before writing this review. I tried a Chicken WHOPPER while I was there, it was excellent. I had the fries again too. There is no change on my take on them. That information is coming up soon in this review.
WHOPPER of an ORDER
That night we ordered a couple of WHOPPER'S "our way" and with cheese at $2.39 each minus a bit due to the coupons.
I liked the fact that, after ordering at the drive thru, you could see the order printed out brightly on a TV like screen in front of you on the outside board where you place the drive thru order. This made it very clear that they had my order exactly as asked for.
This carried over to the WHOPPERS too. When we took them out of the bag later each WHOPPER had checked off items on the wrapping that were added or deleted from the basic original Whopper. We knew exactly whose WHOPPER was whose.
We has also ordered one portion of the largest fries they sell. My wife and I were going to share it. They come in the usual cardboard container but we were very disappointed.
You know how when you order a large fry the container is usually over flowing. In this case it wasn't. My wife took out the fries and it barely had fries up to the front lip of the box. I told her they all must have fell out and are on the bottom of the take out bag. No luck! What's more, the fries had a burned taste to them. They were not dark on the outside and overcooked looking. It was just a bad burned taste that must be from the oil they fry them in. I realized after a second visit that this is the taste of the fries now. I just don't care for it.
When we arrived home we opened our WHOPPERS. They still have that same old look. I looked at the meat however and it looked overcooked, dry and in fact it was a bit chewy.
I like that Burger King burgers are Fire-grilled. My WHOPPER meat was just a bit too grilled and dried out of any meat juices.
When I bit into the sandwich I did get those old Whopper flavors and memories back. The taste of the combination of ingredients were exactly as I remembered. I enjoyed the flavors even though the meat was a bit more chewy and the bread seemed more abundant in ratio to the meat.
I did not get to taste a shake like I would have ordered years ago.
As stated earlier Burger King has much more to offer than they did years ago. The burgers, fries, onion rings and shakes has now been greatly expanded with chicken sandwiches, salads and much more. Why you can even eat a healthy meal, by some dieters standards, at Burger King now.
BREAKING NEWS!!!
To really jump on this trend of diet watching Burger King announced today, January 13th 2004, that they will now offer a Bunless WHOPPER!!
Yes, the low carb diet has hit the KING's menu. They will offer the Whopper in a plastic bowl with a plastic knife and fork. They will also offer salads instead of fries when you step it up to a meal.
Burger King will also be extending their salad offerings starting next month with shrimp and and in may with steak.
IN CLOSING
The Bunless WHOPPER is pretty big news in the fast food industry. I suppose I could deal with knowing I can eat a WHOPPER and still be on a healthy diet.
Even though I was a bit disappointed with the Whopper I had the other day, I will continue to stick to my Original WHOPPER, extra tomato and onion please.
More chain eateries by popsrocks
Applebee's / Romano's MACARONI GRILL / KFC / OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE / Wendy's
OUTBACK Restaurant / Cozymel's / Cheesecake Factory / McDonald's / Taco Bell
/ Checkers Burgers / Red Lobster / The White Castle / TGI Friday's / Charlie Browns / Burger King / Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips / Dunkin' Donuts / / Ralph's Famous Ices / Cold Stone Creamery / Boulder Creek Steakhouse / Waffle House / Krispy Kreme / Friendlies / Nathan's / Jillian's / / IHOP, International House Of Pancakes / Quizno's
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|