I like BK a lot. BK was tied to one of my first "food opinions" as a kid, when I liked to proclaim the superiority of BK over McDonalds. Anyhow, I don't go to BK all that often. And, even though their larger burger, the XT, has been on the market since February, I'd never tried one of those. So, since I'd been pretty quiet on this blog the last week, I figured I'd try an XT. Well, not only did I try the XT, but I tried a new Jalapeno-Cheddar Stuffed XT. Figured I'd go with as new an item as I could find.
But, when I returned just now to my desk, I couldn't really find anything about this burger on BK's site, or on other food news sites. There was news of BK mentioning a stuffed burger was in the works, but nothing concrete. I am, therefore, assuming that Indy is a test market for this new product.
So, I tried it out. I don't' know what the standard preparation is, but after losing 50 pounds as a 14 year old, one thing I have mostly kept as a food resolution is to avoid mayonnaise. I held the mayo and added ketchup and mustard, but had the stuffed burger standard except for that. The meat was dense and had clumps of green and yellow. The jalapeno taste was prevalent, but I felt like it lacked in cheesiness (I suppose I could have added a slice of cheese). The burger has that expected BK taste, so it was pleasing if you like Burger King. Mayo likely would have made it a smoother taste. I don't remember any onions, and so they were either very stingy with the onions at this location, or it isn't part of the standard preparation. My recommendation - add onions, can't get enough of the stinky foods in my opinion.
I'm sorry about the iPhone picture above. Along with being a reluctant food photographer, I'm never sure if anyone out there is actually interested in images of partially consumed food (I suspect "no"), but this seemed to make more sense than the plain burger before it was pierced by my teeth.
Overall, stuffed burgers seems like a great idea whose time has come for fast food purveyors. The taste of this one was pleasing, and had some fire, but still seemed to fit a mass population that BK aims for. The bakery bun is decent, but I prefer the old poppy seed bun on the whopper (just like I prefer the quarter-pounder bun over the bun McDonald's serves on the angus burgers). As far as a variation from their menu, I preferred the Angry Whopper over this one. As far as price, this small sized meal came in at $6.20 with tax. That's pretty decent, but I'm not sure how they'll price it once it is rolled out nationally.
The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Decent value, great idea, first to mass market.
Post Script: Are you aware that for the most part, Burger King goes under the name Hungry Jack's in Australia? My first big trip overseas came around Christmas of 1995 with two of my best friends to satisfy one of the guy's quest to dive at the Great Barrier Reef. We never ate at Hungry Jack's, but somehow it became part of our trip lexicon, though it was shifted to Happy Jacks party way through the trip.
P.S2: AHT reports that a regional burger chain in the DC area is about to have a Snooki Burger.
P.S3: Little did I know that both the Burger Business and A Hamburger Today sites did not know that the stuffed XT had hit test markets. Your friendly mystery blogger is actually breaking some news!
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