Burger King California Whopper
Review of Burger King Tastes of Route 66 California Whopper
Website: http://www.burgerking.co.uk/
What they say:
We’ve been on the road, searching for bold tastes to put into our latest seasonal menu. And here it is, the taste of Route 66. Buckle up and let’s explore this bad boy.
Price: £4.59 for the burger only (price subject to variation).
Calories: 627 kcal.
Hello and welcome to the latest Burger Lad® review and a happy New Year to all our readers old and new!
Thanks to our man on the inside we reported on Thursday 12 December that the Route 66 promotion would be coming to Burger King in January and with a limited time-frame we were there on day one to check out the California Whopper.
The California Whopper with guacamole and honey cayenne sauce has previously been available in Hungary and Switzerland (and possibly other countries) so when I saw this on the leaked promotional picture I received this was always going to be my first stop on Route 66.
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| BK Tastes of Route 66 promotional items… |
Now this particular review might portray me in a foul mood but bear with me for a moment as a trip to this BK branch always gets me semi-angry. Firstly, who in the audience would agree with me that Burger King is fast food?
Well it took a “whopping” great TEN MINUTES from walking in the door to actually receiving my burger.
That quite frankly is not good enough! It is always the same here though as literally one guy or gal seems to be making the burgers.
I counted at least four people leave the queue and this is on a High Street during lunchtime… poor.
Secondly, the pikiest looking “woman” blatantly decided against queuing and a member of staff asked if she had pushed in and the liar was like “no I haven’t”.
Had it not been for the bulldog in tow I would have definitely said something. Even the girl in front of me turned and said “what a liar?”
And finally, Erica. Dearest Erica. I don’t expect silver service standards when I come into your restaurant but what I would like is some eye contact and basic customer service skills please. You never know you might be serving a vindictive burger reviewer.
With that off my chest let us take a look at the latest limited time offer being served up by the King and Co. – would this be a whopper or a flopper? We’ll find out now…
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| BK trials new heat mat… |
Oh there was no promotional box. I do love a promotional box at McDonald’s so was disappointed to get the standard Angus packaging and the burger was wrapped up in an additional sheet to give it more protection? Keep it warm? Well unfortunately the California Whopper was lukewarm but had been put together pretty well.
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| The Burger King California Whopper… |
We’ve encountered guacamole on a burger before when we taste tested the impressive McDonald’s Great Tastes of the World Mexican Fiesta. So how did it fare on the flagship Whopper?
It was pretty good, distinctive flavour that works well with the beef and it had a striking resemblance to the
Mexican Fiesta guac. Well yes it would Burger Lad.
The California Whopper is dressed with lettuce which was plentiful, crispy and fresh and tomato which was destined for the bin as ever. To be fair to my Solanum lycopersicum friend it looked pretty good but alas we’ll never get on…
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| Note the box: there is no BBQ Sauce on this… |
Now you know there’s no burger slide going on with these as everything in this place is made to order (hence the long waiting time and queue deserters or jumpers).
The cheese slice looked ever so grand cause it hadn’t melted by the lukewarm Whopper patty but it was a welcome addition to this promotional burger from the Golden State.
And the element I was most excited about on this was that honey cayenne sauce.
It had a sweet flavour but with a bit of a burn too. It doesn’t fry your taste buds like say an ultra-hot curry, but you feel it and then it creeps up on you and continues to remind you of its presence. Yeah not bad and works well with the guacamole.
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| Our first lift the lid of 2014… |
Overall, the California Whopper is pretty good. I wouldn’t go over the top about it but it has a fresh and marginally innovative new taste with a surprising heat intensity which, as cayenne does is subtle at first but then burns just a bit. My lips must have been a bit chaffed as I even felt them tingle a bit.
I wasn’t going to but I’ll probably be back next week with a review of the Texas BBQ Angus. I may even take Ketchup Girl along but can’t promise anything. If I don’t get my magazine or TV deal in 2014 I’ll be retiring.
With that let us take one last quick glimpse at the California Whopper now available at your local BK. Just hope it isn’t the same local as mine!
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| The ‘real’ Route 66 California Whopper… |
P.S. BK, why do you not update your website with your latest promotional offerings? I know it is on Facebook but I would imagine people check your website to see if the Route 66 LTO is running or not.
Burger Lad®
