Review: Burger King - Big King

Burger King's Big King is their permanent challenger to McDonald's Big Mac and, as such, comes with two flame-grilled beef patties, a slice of American cheese, fresh onions, pickles, lettuce, and a "thousand island-style" sauce on a sesame seed bun with the requisite middle bun.

I picked one up for $2.99 (which is interestingly less than the suggested retail price of $3.69).

Burger King has been playing up the "fire-grilled" angle to differentiate the Big King from the Big Mac, which is nice if not for the inconsistency of the result. Having eaten my share of burgers from Burger King a (arguably more than my share you might say if you've perused through the Burger King tag of the blog), the char of the flame grill has been pretty hit or miss, sometimes I can taste it and it's great and sometimes it's just not there.

On this occasion, it just wasn't there. The burger patties are the same as you'll find on the Whopper Jr. and regular hamburger. They're thicker than McDonald's Big Mac patties but are a fair bit smaller than the bun, which left me eating a good number of meatless bites. On the plus side, the bites with meat were meatier than a Big Mac. Still, according to the nutritional info, a Big Mac is heftier and offers more protein.

The Big King bun is heartier than McDonald's spongier bun and the way the middle bun fit with the top and bottom bun ("crown" and "heel" in McDonald's speak) made me wonder if Burger King just sent bag fulls of middle buns to all their restaurants.

Regardless, the third bun is a waste. It might work for a meatier burger but it just dulls the beef flavor and made me feel like I was eating mostly bread and veggies.

The "thousand island style" dressing is similar to Mac sauce but was just a little bit sweeter (not to the extent of the Bonus Jack though).

The lettuce was fairly crisp and looked hand-torn rather than shredded. The pickles and onions were bigger, crunchier, and more impactful than in a Big Mac.

The cheese was nicely melted.

Overall, the Burger King Big King is a decent rendition of an okay burger (the Big Mac trades on nostalgia more than anything in my mind). Like the Big Mac, there's not enough beef for a middle bun and, in particular, BK's bun is too hearty (and their patties too narrow) to include a middle bun. I would recommend going without the middle bun if you're looking to try it.

Nutritional Info - Burger King Big King (190g)
Calories - 510 (from Fat - 260)
Fat - 29g (Saturated Fat - 10g)
Sodium - 780mg
Carbs - 38g (Sugar - 8g)
Protein - 18g