Review of Burger King USA A.1.® Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger
Website: http://www.bk.com/menu-item/a1-ultimate-bacon-cheeseburger
What they say:
Our A.1.® Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger Sandwich features two ¼ lb. savory flame-grilled beef patties, topped with thick-cut smoked bacon, melted American cheese, and featuring savory A.1.® Thick & Hearty sauce, all on a warm, toasted, brioche-style bun.
Price: $5.99 / $7.99 combo.
Calories: 850 kcal.
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| BK USA promotional picture… |
Next stop on the Arizona burger trail is a name we are all very familiar with in Britain. Burger King.
In the US, Burger King’s menu includes many of the items we have in the UK, variations thereof, and items we just don’t have at all. Today’s burger is in that last category.
It takes its name “A1” from the steak sauce that’s applied to it. A1 is a well-known brand here and it is sold in supermarkets as well.
In the UK you can pick it up in Selfridges and it is on the shelf of my local Tesco priced at £4 – sometimes TK Maxx have it stocked as well at a considerably lower price.
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| The A.1. Ultimate… |
The burger is quite a large size with a shiny bun. Inside, two large patties are adorned with bacon, cheese, lots of onions and of course the steak sauce.
When I opened it up I was greeted by the familiar BK smell. Here it is called fire-grilled, which is obviously the same thing as flame-grilled. The burger was hot and fresh. It was accompanied by fries and a choice of drink from the Coke Freestyle machine.
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| Smells delicious… |
The fries were really rather different to BK’s UK fries. They are crispy, certainly, but quite a bit thicker than the ones we have. They are tasty.
From the almost endless choice of drinks from the machine, I chose a Coke Zero Vanilla. I could’ve been there all day pressing buttons, but my burger would have got cold.
A few sips on a hot day, then I wanted to get on with my burger. I mentioned the smell. It was very inviting.
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| A meaty burger… |
And taste-wise, there were a couple of different sensations. Obviously a burger with bacon and two large beef patties is going to have a strong meaty component and that was certainly the case with this.
Just like the smell, the taste of the meat was the familiar BK flavour. On top of those sat the bacon. As always here in America, the bacon was the crispy, streaky kind, and provided the burger with the salty savoury tones associated with bacon, as well as a bit of a crunch.
That savouriness was nicely balanced by the slight sweetness of the sauce. It hadn’t been ladled on but just enough to be subtly noticeable.
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| Onions are a real treat… |
These two distinct flavours, the sweet and the salty, were further complemented by the tart tones of the fresh chopped onions.
A triumvirate of nice flavours created what I could probably say is one of the best BK burgers I’ve ever had.
I wouldn’t necessarily hold out much hope that we’d get this one in Britain. Steak and steak sauces are possibly less of a big deal than they are in the US and although you can get A1 sauce, I don’t imagine it sells anything like the quantities it does over here.
But we can always ask Burger King UK very nicely, can’t we?
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| One of the best BK burgers out there… |
Admiral Burgerbar