Burger King Winter Whopperland 2015

Review of Burger King Winter Whopperland

Website: http://www.burgerking.co.uk/

What they say:

Get in the Christmas spirit with the Meat Lovers WHOPPER® sandwich, a delicious combo of a WHOPPER® patty topped with tasty chorizo. Chipotle sauce gives an added depth of flavour and the burger is finished with creamy mayo.

Price: All £4.99 for the burger only or £6.69 as a meal.

Calories: 722 kcal (Meat Lovers), 920 kcal (Quattro Whopper), 945 kcal (Quattro Tendercrisp).

EXCLUSIVE: Burger Lad® reveals line-up for the Burger King Winter Whopperland promotion.

Winter Whopperland 2015…

You’ve got to admire the people at Burger King.

They know we will always go out of our way to book annual leave, travel down to London and sample their promotional burgers before they are on-sale but today they actually arranged a pre-launch preview for us at the BK nearest to BLHQ.

When I arrived I was told which burgers were in the 2015 Winter Whopperland promotion and to be honest the news that the Quattro Cheese Whopper was back didn’t fill me with much Christmas cheer.

It’s a hefty burger and we reviewed it last year, so it wasn’t the intention to do it again.

However, the BK people told me it was a new version, so I did find myself getting stuck into all three. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Up first though I went with another returning burger – the Meat Lovers Whopper.

This has had a slight tweak for the 2015 Winter Whopperland promotion. Last year, the version we reviewed had ham on it which wasn’t overly impressive.

It looks like BK is in agreement with that sentiment and have re-jigged the Meat Lovers Whopper this year to replace the ham with chorizo slices.

Exclusive first look…

There are three very reasonably sized slices of chorizo on-board, alongside familiar Whopper favourites such as lettuce, tomato, fresh onion and creamy mayo.

Also on the Meat Lovers Whopper there is a decent amount of bacon and the burger is finished with a new chipotle sauce, again reinforcing the tweaking and refining going on in this year’s promotion.

Presentation was good today and the ingredients all looked fresh so no complaints in that department. I removed the tomato on all three burgers because I really didn’t fancy them (long-time fans will know this particular burger topping and I do not get on).

BK Meat Lovers Whopper 2015…

You get that signature flame-grilled flavour first which is then complimented by the sharp-ish tang of the onion. I was expecting more of a dominant flavour to the chorizo but it was more subtle than I expected. When eaten individually it certainly has quite a distinctive flavour but is somewhat reduced when eaten with the rest of the build.

Still, whoever made the decision to swap this for the ham they used last year should be applauded. Burger toppings are always subject to much opinion, but ham, unlike its cousin’s bacon and pulled pork, just doesn’t really work.

I was picking up a slight heat on the palate too which at I attributed to the chipotle sauce. We’re not talking jalapeno-level heat, more of a hot paprika with a smoky element I would say, and it was really good.

Now with chorizo…

Despite a good supply of bacon it didn’t really come across in the taste test which was unfortunate. What you do get throughout however is the beef and fresh onion combo which is offset by the subtle sauce and the very, very creamy mayo.

I’m also not much of a fan of mayo so for me I’d prefer to see this burger without it so that you can truly focus on the chipotle sauce. Throw on some pickles and you’ve got a pretty respectable High Street burger.

That said, BK is flexible and if, like me, you don’t like mayo (or tomato) just ask for it without. Have it your way, etc!

Lifting the lid on the latest High Street promotion…

The next burger I would be testing is the updated version of the Quattro Cheese Whopper.

Now at first I only counted two cheese elements – the crunchy cheese patty which was on the Crunchy Cheese Whopper and the cheddar cheese sauce. But after a little bit of investigative work I uncovered that the cheese patty is in fact made up of three different types of cheese. And boy this burger is cheesy!

This is a very creamy burger and lovers of all things cheese will be all over it! I have it on good authority that our very own Miss Milkshake and Admiral Burgerbar are big fans of the Crunchy Cheese Whopper but for me I’m not a major fan. Personal taste, but a lot of people are going to love this.

BK Quattro Cheese Whopper…

On the Quattro Cheese Whopper you have the BK Whopper patty alongside the cheese patty, cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato and more lashings of that creamy mayo. It’s a very over indulgent burger and is very rich and creamy throughout, epitomising the excesses of Christmas eating.

Personally, I was struggling with this one but like I mention earlier it’s all about personal preference. For me it was screaming out for another ingredient, be that fresh onion, pickles or even jalapenos just to cut through that sea of creaminess.

After that cheese onslaught I was faced with another cheesy burger and this is the chicken element of the promotion – the Quattro Cheese Tendercrisp, to wind up BK’s 2015 Christmas triumvirate.

This is a mightily heavy burger! And weighing in at 945 calories this is really going to satisfy your hunger! As long as you love cheese!

And like its Whopper counterpart this again features the crunchy cheese patty and cheddar cheese sauce alongside the same salad items – basically the chicken version of the Quattro Cheese Whopper.

BK Quattro Cheese Tendercrisp…

It is very much what is says on the tin – cheesy!

The Tendercrisp patty is quickly becoming one of my favourite fast food chicken patties. Unfortunately though, it gets swept away in that wave of a creamy, cheesy and mayo combination.

Like I touched upon earlier, it is all about personal preferences and for me the Quattro editions at Burger King are just not an enjoyable experience. Again that’s just me.

Luckily I knew this would happen and retained some of the Meat Lovers Whopper to take away the creamy overload. I also noted that this must be the first ever promo to not feature one single slice of the standard cheese normally used.

For that Christmas association it would have been nice to have seen something similar to the recently released in New Zealand, Chicken Cranberry Tendercrisp.

I do appreciate that the majority of people like cheese more than I do, but a lot of the “gourmet” places do Christmas burgers with actual Christmas-type ingredients and as NZ shows us, the ingredients are available in BK’s repertoire. I’d love to see something properly Christmassy from BK in the UK in 2016.

Cranberry Tendercrisp next year…!?

Running alongside all three promotional burgers are two new sides; Shaker Fries with a BBQ seasoning which are priced from £1.79 and Chicken Strips with a tangy BBQ dipping sauce (£2.49 for two pieces or £3.99 for four). Unfortunately I didn’t get to try these on this occasion but they sound appealing.

Of the three, I would definitely say my favourite was the Meat Lovers Whopper.

I think I mentioned in a previous review that BK now appear to have a set of recurring promotions that sit well alongside their more daring innovations and I believe this is the third year of the Burger King Winter Whopperland.

There’s not much association with winter or Christmas with this one (apart from the Gingerbread Latte) and is arguably the easiest route for BK to take. But the fact that last year’s burgers are returning, albeit with some sizeable tweaks, is indicative of their popularity and therefore sales.

As well as a massive upsurge in innovation this year, BK is also very good at giving us what the majority like and want.

I therefore don’t want to end on a negative, as personally I think BK have had a very good year with promotions and look forward to seeing what surprises they have for us in 2016!

Burger Lad®