First off, I'll state that I'm not a vegetarian. I do eat meat, but I'm not altogether comfortable with that, and I think there are a lot of positives involved in eating lower on the food chain. Better for your health, better for the environment, and certainly better for the livestock. If there are things out there that do a good job of behaving like meat, give me my protein, and are affordable and convenient, what's not to like? So it was with great anticipation that I sat down to try an Impossible Whopper, Burger King's new offering, a soy-based meat substitute.
The Impossible Whopper is available with all the typical fixings you can get on a regular Whopper (and yes, you can get bacon on it, if you feel a bit more callous toward pigs than cows). I ordered mine with cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and ketchup. People have been mentioning the price as being higher than that of a typical Whopper, but the sandwich and a side of mozzarella sticks cost $8.20 all together, and I didn't find that particularly exorbitant (this is in North Carolina; your results elsewhere may vary). By the way, I'm happy that Burger King offers mozzarella sticks, but sad because they never seem to be freshly made. If you want good drive-thru mozzarella sticks, go to Arby's. Their sticks game is on point.
As for the Impossible Whopper, I liked it. It was tasty and satisfying. It did not, I repeat,
not, taste like beef. However, it still tasted good, and it tasted like "a burger", if that makes sense. Part of that was the toppings and the bun, I'm sure, but it also had the right texture, or "mouth feel", as they say. One thing that I will note is that it was not juicy, although frankly, a lot of juiciness can make a burger excessively sloppy, and I do not have much interest in wearing a plastic bib everywhere I go to eat. It didn't taste dry, either--it wasn't crumbly or mealy. It was firm and meaty, and of course the mayo and ketchup added a decent amount of sloppiness to the burger experience.
The verdict: I'm in. It's a win-win: I get my burger, and nobody has to die. From now on, I'm getting my mozzarella sticks from Arby's, but when I'm at Burger King, I will happily order the Impossible Whopper from now on!
