Hi friends, this blog post is going to start with a lot of rambling updates so feel free to skip to the next paragraph! A few months ago, I wrote about having parosmia as a long covid symptom - I'm happy to announce that while it did last an entire six months, as of March 1st, I have been able to eat onions, garlic, chocolate and everything else that tasted absolutely vile during my parosmia era, once again, without issue. However, even though I can eat meat again, I have decided that I really haven't missed it at all so I'm continuing to be a pescatarian, potentially with intent to be a full time vegetarian over time. As well as that, I wanted to note that I have missed blog posts lately because a) I didn't really know what to write about, even though I've been planning this blog post for a few weeks, I did want to wait to try out four other vegan burger places on my list before putting it up so that it would be more comprehensive, but I think those will likely all be post-wedding trips now as things are getting close and I need to save money, but I do think I have enough of a scope here for a part 1 version of this blog post, so I hope you enjoy it - and b) I've shared a lot of myself and my life in these blog posts recently, and while that's therapeutic at times, it can also be a lot to give so much of yourself to something that anyone can read if they want to, including people who I no longer speak to/don't have access to me anymore and it feels weird to me that they can know so much about me via my blog instead, so I'm going to be more intentional about the kind of things I write about going forward. Saying that though, I am getting a tattoo this week so there will definitely be another post next week, and then we'll see what happens after that. Now, on to the burgers!
First of all, I just have to tell you how exciting it is that I get to try all of these fast food/restaurant items now, because I never ever would've been able to when I had parosmia - literally everything has onions and garlic in it, so I'm really enjoying getting to actually experience how enjoyable being more plant-based is. Obviously, this isn't even half of the actual diet I eat, it's a lot more nuanced than this in my everyday life, but I have enjoyed being able to try things again, knowing they won't make me instantly sick.
The first burger to make it on this list is the McPlant from McDonald's - and I absolutely loved this. I've actually enjoyed McDonald's way more in general ever since I stopped eating meat - I don't know if anyone will know what I'm talking about here, but I don't get that gross sickly feeling after a McDonald's meal anymore that I used to get before, but the McPlant is absolutely a step above their regular vegetarian options. It uses Beyond Meat, and you will notice a trend here - I love the Beyond Meat patty and I will generally scope out burger places that use it because I know that I'll like it. We recently found it in Tesco which is incredibly rare, and we made homemade burgers with it - 100/10, would do it again. Aside from this, it features all of the other ingredients they put in their regular McDonald's burgers. There's not much to say about it - it's a regular fast food burger, and tastes how you'd expect it to - but as it was my first vegan burger, it definitely left a good impression on me and I'd order it again.
Next up is something I ordered while on a date night at Honest Burger. I tried their 'Plant' burger, and this was definitely something different from the McPlant as it was more of a gourmet burger. It features a Beyond Meat patty once again, but this time, it includes Applewood smoked cheese, (which I've bought to use at home before, and I just couldn't get it to do what I wanted and ultimately, I'd never buy it again as I'm clearly doing it wrong) but they really got it right and it was delicious, along with vegan chipotle 'mayo', mustard, red onions, pickles, and lettuce. It's such a gorgeous burger that I would definitely get again. I recommend Honest Burger more generally too, if you haven't been before!
The next place on the list is Neat Burger, which has quite a few locations around London, and ever since I saw a photo of the cute pastel interior/pink burger boxes, I really wanted to go. I ordered the Chick'n burger, fries, 'cheezy' tater tots, and the original chick'n nuggets. The chick'n burger wasn't ultimately my favourite, but I heard lots of good feedback about the burgers which use their 'neat meat' patty, (good ol' Beyond Meat again), so I think I'd be able to recommend that instead, and I definitely would go back and try that out for myself. The 'cheezy' tater tots were gorgeous, as were the fries, and the nuggets. My favourite thing was actually something that Stephen and Jade ordered that I didn't, but really should've, which were the buffalo nuggets. I know absolutely nothing about how they make this sauce taste that incredible, but the one I stole from Stephen was the best ever. I would go back just for the buffalo nuggets alone. Something I've been really missing is the crispiness of a good nugget, and Neat Burger really nailed it - even the sauceless original nuggets were still incredible, but the sauce just really took it to the next level.
Finally, the most recent food adventure I've been on is trying some things from the Vegan Burger King range. We ordered the Vegan Royale, the Plant-Based Whopper, and the vegan nuggets. I'm going to say this from the get-go - the nuggets really missed the mark, and they're the only thing from this entire blog post that I wouldn't order again. They were kind of dry, and super bland which is a shame because I was hoping I'd be able to find some delicious vegan nuggets which are closer in proximity to us than Neat Burger all the way in London! However, the Vegan Royale was amazing, but the Whopper was my favourite. Stephen still eats meat and even he agreed that the Whopper tastes like beef - not that a meat alternative needs to taste like meat to be good, I don't think that at all, but it is pretty cool when that happens. I would definitely order it again, and I think I'm also starting to see a pattern that I tend to prefer mock 'beef' burgers than vegan chicken, so that's an interesting thing to find out - useful as I continue my vegan burger adventures!
The other four burger places on my list which I will hopefully get around to reviewing after the wedding are:
Oowee - I like the look of their fried chick'n burgers, and their vegan mac and cheese, even though I'm not vegan and can eat regular mac and cheese myself, I'm always intrigued to try mac and cheese, it's one of my favourites!
Halo Burger - They're known for their BBQ burgers/hot burgers, and that is something I would absolutely love to try.
The Vurger Co - They put hashbrowns in their burgers. Need I say more?
Mercy Burger - Known for Chilli/Smoked burgers, which also sound absolutely divine.
I found out about all of these plant-based/vegan burger joints from WaffleswithLeila on Youtube - specifically these videos were very informative! If you're looking for good recommendations for places like the above, I think you'd really enjoy her channel! xo
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