La Luna Cupcakes

Update Review, October 2021

(oops, I totally forgot to publish until now!)

National Chocolate Cupcake Day. October 18. Did you know that was a thing? Yeah, neither did I, until I recently was hosting a "random days" event in my office, and got to pick a random national "holiday" to celebrate during October. I honed in on National Chocolate Cupcake day as the one to celebrate pretty quickly. An excuse to eat dessert? I was in.

As you know from my reviews, cupcakes aren't at the top of my list of dessert items to seek out, but, they have their place - usually, as a snack in the afternoon, or a lunch dessert if I've had a particularly big lunch and don't seek out a "real" full fledged dessert.  I don't mind cupcakes, just, usually, I want something more composed.  But sometimes, yes, I do just want a good cupcake.

"Love for sweets and a mission to bring tres leches into a bite size format.  Incorporated hispanic flavors like the tres leches and the Aztec chocolate."

Besides just eating cupcakes, our event needed to have some substance to it, so I sought out partnering with a local bakery that I remembered making a particularly good signature tres leches cupcake: La Luna Cupcakes (see my original review).  Myself and my co-planning partner invited the chef-owner, Elvia Buendia, and her daughter Aria, to do a (virtual, because, covid) talk, tell a little about the business (small, women-owned, La Cocina started), share fun stats on different types of cupcakes and how well they sell, and do a demo of how to beautifully decorate cupcakes.  The event was informational, unique, and really, quite fun.  I pat myself on the back for organizing this one.

Of course, I also had to try tons of cupcakes, you know, for "research".

Setting

La Luna is located inside Crocker Galleria, open Mon-Fri only, for a few hours around lunchtime and into the afternoon.

Storefront.

The ground floor location makes it easy to swing into.

Menu.

The cupcake menu board lists the standard daily flavors, and additional details on what each entails are provided on the countertop.

Cupcakes.

All the pre-made cupcakes are on easy display, this first section had the chocolate, caramel, chocolate & vanilla, and mocha with Bailey's from the regular daily menu, plus a seasonal pumpkin offering.

More Cupcakes.

Next came their signature tres leches, both original and chocolate versions, red velvet, cookies & cream, and a special birthday one.

You can also opt for any variety not already made, and it will be made in ... ~1 minute.  I was very impressed with how quickly my custom order cupcake was made!

Cake Pops.

Cake pops are available in 3 flavors: chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet.  A variety of designs were available, all marked by colored twistie ties to let you know what the base was.

Seating.

There is a small seating area inside the store, in addition to the regular Crocker Galleria seating outside.

Cupcakes

I was primarily there for cupcakes, available individually for $3.75 (or $4 for vegan or gluten free varieties). [ Note: this was originally written in 2021, cupcakes are now $4 for regular, $4.75 for vegan/gluten-free in 2025 ].

Box.

Cupcakes come nicely packaged in a branded box, with inserts to prevent them from tipping over.

4 Cupcakes: $15.
Birthday Cake, Tres Leches, Chocolate-Chocolate, Hot Chocolate.

My first batch was an assortment I picked: 2 chocolate based, 2 vanilla, including the signature tres leches.

My favorite of the bunch, no question, was the birthday cake.

4 Cupcakes: $15.
Neopolitan, Chocolate Tres Leches, Birthday Cake, Red Velvet.

My next batch included another of the birthday cake since I had liked it so much, but the rest were all different.

I again loved the birthday cake, although I appreciated the fruity topping on the Neopolitan.

4 Cupcakes: $15.
Raspberry Filled, Duo, Sunny Vanilla, Caramel.

My next visit, I was offered either a plastic box or the same cardboard box I had gotten before, and opted for the plastic, as it was far more compact.  Not sure why I wasn't offered those before?

Anyway, as always I went for two with caffeine, two without.  I intended to get the mocha and/or chocolate peanut butter, but alas, they did not have any that day.  I also was going to get yet another birthday cake but ... not available.  So I went a bit rogue, and got 4 new kinds to try, including a special that day: raspberry filled.  The raspberry filled was easily my top pick of the bunch, nearly rivaling the birthday cake as my favorite overall.

Oh, and I added on a cake pop too.

4 Cupcakes $15.25.
Mocha with Baileys, Birthday Cake, Vegan Red Velvet, Tres Leches.

Another day, another set of cupcakes.  Again, two caffeinated, two not.  This time I was able to get the Mocha with Baileys, and tried out a vegan one (red velvet).  I'm glad I tried the vegan one just to compare, but, I don't recommend it.  The birthday cake still stole my heart.

Dozen. $44.

My next visit was to bring cupcake to my office mates, so I got a wide assortment so everyone could hopefully find something they liked.  Of course I doubled up on the classic tres leches, ever popular red velvet, and the passionfruit that finally showed up, and threw on double chocolate, vanilla, duo, and Neapolitan to round out the basics, and two of the very requested Cookies & Cream.

I tried the cookies & cream (eh, not my thing) and the limited passion fruit ones this time, but still think the birthday cake is the best ...

Chocolate Base

La Luna has an impressive, and extensive, chocolate cupcake lineup.   They offer a classic chocolate cake with chocolate, vanilla, or peanut butter icing, but also have a signature chocolate tres leches cupcake.  And then there is the “Duo” with both chocolate and vanilla cake swirled and topped with both frostings, and the Neopolitan with the swirl base and strawberry icing.  And an exciting "Asteroid" cookies & cream, or a caramel filled and topped one, or a Bailey's infused mocha cake with coffee buttercream, and even a “Hot Chocolate” with whipped cream frosting and marshmallows!  And don’t forget the Red Velvet - it has cocoa in it as well!

We learned in the presentation that La Luna sells far more chocolate cupcakes than vanilla, about 2/3 of all sales are chocolate.

Chocolate Chocolate.

"Chocolate cake with chocolate or vanilla frosting."

I started with the basic chocolate cupcake, to really evaluate La Luna's base offerings.

The chocolate cupcake is available with either chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting.  I went with chocolate, for the complete chocolate experience.  It came topped with a Hershey Kiss as well.  Chocolate on chocolate with chocolate!

The cake was light, decently moist, decently chocolate-y.  Not a super rich deep chocolate, but, decent. 

The chocolate buttercream was thick, chocolatey, and exactly what I wanted to make the chocolate experience more pronounced.

A solid, clearly fresh, standard chocolate cupcake, although I'll admit I like a deeper chocolate cupcake base.

3/5.

Hot Chocolate.

"Chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting topped with marshmallows."

Next I went for the "hot chocolate", not for the marshmallows perched on top that I'm sure draw some people in, but rather, for the whipped cream frosting.  I was really curious what that would be like.

The answer?  Well, it is, uh, whipped cream?  Fresh whipped cream.  Good whipped cream.  But, whipped cream.  It turns out, while I love whipped cream on most any dessert, I really missed the buttercream frosting that is standard on cupcakes.  The whipped cream did create a unique eating experience for a cupcake, much lighter and less sweet than a traditional buttercream.

The cake was the same as the previous cupcake, but without the chocolate buttercream, it felt even lighter, less intense chocolate, and did let me down a bit.

The result was perhaps appropriate for someone who doesn't like super sweet cupcakes, and isn't into frosting.  I think my mom would really like it.  For me though, it was a bit boring.  A toasted marshmallow whipped topping would be a better match, for me.

The decorations were adorable though, with mini marshmallows and a chocolate straw.  

My least favorite chocolate offering. 2.5/5.

Chocolate Très Leches.

"Chocolate cake filled with 3 different kinds of milk topped with chocolate whipped cream frosting."

While tres leches is normally a white cake, La Luna offers up a unique chocolate version, in addition to the classic.

This cake was quite moist, clearly soaked in the milks, with the center in particular actually oozing with milk.  It was dark colored chocolate, but I didn't find the cake to be that intensely chocolately.  It was slightly messy to eat once I reached some smaller bites though, as it was, well, wet.

The frosting was also unique - not buttercream based, but rather, whipped cream like the Hot Chocolate, but, chocolate whipped cream.  Very light, very fluffy, not nearly as sweet nor intense as a standard buttercream.  Again I really wished for rich, sweet frosting, but that is my taste, and I admit wouldn't make sense with the tres leches theme.  I appreciated the little chocolate chips on top for crunch and extra chocolatey bit.

3/5, mostly for uniqueness.

Red Velvet.

"Red Velvet cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting."

Yes, red velvet is listed here as a chocolate base, because, it is cocoa based.  Many people don't realize this, but I learned it long ago when I had a teammate who couldn't have caffeine, and thus, red velvet was never an option for him.

The cake was moist, and had a slightly interesting flavor, like many red velvet, you don't taste chocolate exactly, but can tell it is more than vanilla and food coloring as there is a bit more depth to the flavor.

A signature aspect of red velvet, besides the red cake of course, is the frosting, always cream cheese based, and usually quite sweet.  La Luna's frosting was a much lighter and less sweet version than many others I've had.  The frosting wasn't as strong in the cream cheese flavor either, but had a hint of it.

Overall, I'd call this a lighter red velvet, for those who don't want crazy sweet and rich frosting.  I really liked the candied flower on top.

3/5.

Caramel.

"Chocolate cake filled with caramel topped with cream cheese frosting topped with caramel."

I finally started getting adventurous, and opted for the caramel cupcake one day (I went hoping to get the mocha or chocolate peanut butter, but alas, they had neither).

This was a really unusual cupcake.  The cake was crazy moist, I think because of the caramel inside?  It didn't have a pocket of caramel though, but had a moisture that was very confusing ... almost like the inside of the tres leches, but in this case, there was no visible milk oozing out.  I think it was caramel, more of a thin caramel syrup like you use in coffee drinks, rather than a thicker style sauce.  Anyway, deep, moist, fresh chocolate cake.

And then, they top this with cream cheese frosting, rather than vanilla or caramel.  Like the red velvet, it is a lighter style cream cheese frosting, not too sweet.  I did taste more cream cheese this time than with the red velvet though.  The caramel on top added a bit of additional sweetness.

This was a unique cake, and it reminded me of a red velvet in many ways, just, without the red hue, and with a touch more sweetness from the caramel.  I love buttercream though, so I didn't appreciate the cream cheese frosting quite as much.

3/5.

Mocha with Baileys.

"Chocolate cake infused with Baileys Irish cream and coffee buttermilk frosting."

I finally got my hands on a mocha with Baileys!  I was excited for this one because I went through a little phase in college where I loved sipping on Baileys on the rocks in the evening (in my head, I was being very classy, lol).

The cake was extremely moist, wet from the Baileys it was infused with, but otherwise the same chocolate cake as others.  It had a slight boozy kick, not over the top, but, you could taste a bit of booziness.  

This is the only item La Luna makes with buttercream other than chocolate and vanilla, and the mocha flavor was reasonably strong.  Another not sweet topping, with the slight bitterness from the coffee.

My favorite part was the chocolate covered espresso bean on top - it had been ages since I had one, and I loved the crunch.

Overall, a good cupcake, moist, flavorful, and perfect for someone who likes a bit of booze and coffee flavors.  3/5.

Asteroid Cookies & Cream.

"Chocolate cake with cookies with cream cheese frosting and oreo cookie."

I don't really care for Oreos, which is amusing given that I grew up in a house that *always* had them (my dad's favorite), so the "Asteroid" Cookies & Cream was my last pick.  I split it with a coworker, just for completeness of my review.

It had the same chocolate base as the others, very light, airy, and not the style I really care for (again, just personal preference), but it was a bit more fun as it had little bits of Oreo cookie integrated throughout, which gave pops of crunch.  

The frosting was the basic cream cheese frosting used in the red velvet, not very sweet, but richer than regular buttercream due to the cream cheese.  I had hoped for sweeter, something more like the inside of an Oreo, the "stuf" (which is the best part, imho!).  Perched on top was the lid of an Oreo, *not* a whole Oreo, kind of a unique touch.

Given that cream cheese icing isn't my favorite, I don't really care for this light style of chocolate cupcake, and I don't like Oreos, this was pretty low on my list, but, I'm glad I tried it.  I do think they kinda missed the mark on embracing the cookies & cream element though, as the sweet "stuff" from the inside of the Oreo was not included.

2.5/5.

Vanilla Base

The vanilla based lineup is considerably smaller than the chocolate, with just basic vanilla, a birthday one, and passionfruit (that I never saw in the shop), in addition to their signature La Luna Tres Leches.

Sunny Vanilla.

"Sunny Vanilla Rich vanilla cake with vanilla frosting."

Just like with the chocolate base, the basic vanilla is available with either chocolate or vanilla frosting. I went for vanilla, to keep it caffeine-free.

The base was a pretty standard vanilla cupcake, clearly fresh, moist.  Not particularly strong vanilla flavor, but not fake, not too sweet, and had a nice crumb.  The frosting was totally what I was craving: sweet fluffy buttercream.

This matched my mood well.  Simple, classic. 3/5.

La Luna Tres Leches.

"Tres leches vanilla cake filled with 3 different kinds of milk and whipped cream frosting."

I obviously had to get the Tres Leches!  Not only is it their signature cupcake, but, I like tres leches cake in general (mmm, lots of sweet cream!).  It was this cupcake that I had tried, and loved, before as well.

If you are unfamiliar, tres leches cake is normally, um, a cake, soaked in 3 kinds of milk (one of which is sweetened condensed milk, for extra sweetness), and topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.  This was basically that, minus the fruit, in cupcake form.

The cake was nicely moist, particularly in the center, but, it lacked the real soak that I associate with a tres leches cake ... which makes sense, given that it wasn't sitting in a pan full of the milks.  I certainly prefer mine dripping with leche, but, I fully understand that wouldn't really work well for a cupcake.

The whipped cream frosting seemed slightly different from what I had on the hot chocolate cupcake, rather than a plain, pure cream flavor it seemed to have ... a little something to it.  I'm not sure what, but maybe there is sweetened condensed milk or something in it?

Overall, I appreciated the moisture level from the tres leches, but, I think I prefer traditional tres leches cake - more soak, and fruit, makes a difference.

3/5.

Update: I had another, to try the signature item one more time, but, felt about the same.  The cake was moist from the milk soak, but ... just not very flavorful.  I know some people like the lighter style whipped cream frosting, but I yearned for sweet buttercream.  I added fresh raspberries and strawberries to it, and enjoyed it more, but still, just not one I get excited for.  3/5.

Happy Birthday.

"Funfetti cake with vanilla buttercream frosting with colorful sprinkles."

Was it my birthday?  Nope.  But did I still get myself a birthday cupcake because I love sprinkles?  YES!  These are available with either chocolate or vanilla buttercream, with or without a happy birthday sign.

The cake was everything I wanted it to be - moist, dense, loaded with funfetti bits, and tasting like "cake batter", if you know what I mean.  The frosting too was exactly what I wanted - sweet, rich, thick, vanilla buttercream.  The additional sprinkles added a little crunch.

I loved everything about this cupcake, no complaints whatsoever.

4.5/5.

Another Happy Birthday.

The next time I visited, it was no question that I wanted another birthday cupcake.  This time, they had both chocolate and vanilla frosted, and I almost went for chocolate, to try it, but ... I couldn't resist getting the one I had liked so much before.

And I was very happy with my repeat choice.  Again, the cake was moist and flavorful in a "cake batter" way, and the frosting was sweet and a perfect match.  A cupcake I can eat just as a cupcake, not requiring ice cream alongside (although, I'll admit, I had this one with a scoop of Tillamook Birthday Cake ice cream for double the funfetti goodness ... yes!).

This is clearly "my" cupcake from La Luna, and I'll continue to get it again and again.

4.5/5.

Update: I had it yet another time, and felt the same way.  It really is just a fantastic cupcake.  The cake is somehow more dense and moist and flavorful than the others, and I like the sweet buttercream.  My fav, again and again.  4.5/5.

Special: Vanilla with Raspberry Filling.

"Vanilla cake with raspberry filling and whipped cream frosting."

One day, La Luna had a random special, a raspberry filled one.  I obviously had to try it, particularly when the staff member helping me said he'd already had 2 that day :). On occasion, they offer this one filled with passion fruit filling instead.

I knew this would be a lighter offering than a standard cupcake, since it uses the whipped cream frosting, not buttercream.  This is actually a deterrent to me as I love sweet frosting, but, actually, it worked really well on this cupcake.

The base cupcake was good, moist, slightly above average vanilla cake.  The frosting, yes, just the whipped cream, which before I felt kinda let down by, but here, it worked, because it paired really nicely with the filling.  The filling was fruity and sweet, and the cake was very generously filled.  Nearly every bite I had came with plenty of fruity filling, cake, and whipped cream.  It was like a strawberry shortcake almost, although obviously raspberry and not strawberry, and just like in a shortcake, whipped cream is a key component so this frosting was perfect.

Not a super sweet cupcake, and a surprise to me how much I liked it.  My second favorite La Luna cake overall.

4/5.

Passion Fruit.

"Vanilla cake with passion fruit filling and whipped cream frosting."

My very last visit to La Luna, the elusive passion fruit showed up.  I found out from a coworker that they had supplier issues, and thus no passion fruit cupcakes for quite a while.

It was the same concept as the raspberry filled one with standard vanilla cake, this time filled with passion fruit syrup, which made it super moist, and quite fruity.  The simple whipped cream frosting wasn't sweet, but that was a nice compliment to the otherwise quite sweet passion fruit.  I would have loved to see real passion fruit puree used rather than just syrup, but the flavor was there, and it was very moist.

3/5.

Other

La Luna occasionally offers up a seasonal cake (like pumpkin in October), and they can also make custom flavors for catering.  Sometimes carrot cake even pops up.

Duo.

"Infused chocolate and vanilla cake topped with chocolate and vanilla buttercream frosting."

The Duo is really just a merging of the regular chocolate-chocolate and vanilla-vanilla cupcakes.  The cake is chocolate on the bottom, vanilla on top, and as you can see, both kinds of frosting are on top.

It was a fine cupcake, moist enough, and I did like having both kinds of buttercream.  The buttercream was quite fluffy, very sweet, and totally what I was in the mood for.  The chocolate buttercream had a nice cocoa base to it.

Not a particularly exciting cupcake, but a nice mix up of classic vanilla and chocolate.

3/5.

Neapolitan.

"Infused chocolate and vanilla cake topped with strawberry frosting."

The Neapolitan is a step up from the Duo, both of which feature chocolate and vanilla cake, the former with chocolate and vanilla frosting, this one, with strawberry.  I picked it entirely because I wanted to try the fruity frosting!

The cake was mostly vanilla with a slight swirl of chocolate.  The cake was decently moist.

The strawberry frosting was fluffy and fruity, exactly as I was hoping.  

A basic cake, and I appreciated the fruity (and colorful) touch.  It did make me wish it had a maraschino cherry or something on top though ...

3/5.

Vegan

Always available for special order, and sometimes in the shop, La Luna makes both vegan and gluten-free versions of their basic chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet.

Red Velvet. $4.

"Vegan red velvet cupcake topped with vegan vanilla frosting."

I decided to try the vegan red velvet one day when it was available.  I was super curious to see how it compared to the regular red velvet.  And you know, I needed to do "research" for you all!

The verdict?  It was clearly quite different.  The frosting in particular, was totally and completely different.  It tasted like Tofutti.  Or at least, my memory of Tofutti, as it had been years since I had it.  It was really fluffy, and, yeah, didn't taste like real cream cheese at all.  Sweeter than the regular ones too.

And the cake?  It seemed drier, less open crumb.  Fairly meh.  Not a strange taste, but, felt like lower end generic grocery store cake.

So, sorry to the vegans who were hopeful here, but, I don't really recommend it, although the frosting certainly was interesting ...

2/5.

Cake Pops

Cake pops come in chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet varieties, regular only (no vegan nor gluten-free).  They are $3 each, or $35 for a dozen.

I always want to like cake pops more than I really do, but I still opted to try them, as I knew a cake pop would last ok until the next day, and thus I could get more goodies.

Chocolate.

"Handmade chocolate cake, blended with creamy chocolate frosting, and dipped in dark chocolate."

I went for a chocolate cake pop to start, drawn in by the adorable dino head peeking out of it.  The dino was fine, regular chocolate.

The shell was much softer than I was expecting, and seemed to just be blue colored melting chocolate, not dark chocolate.  It certainly didn't taste deeply chocolate, and didn't have the snap or crack to it I was expecting, although that is good, as it didn't shatter when I bit in.

Inside the shell was very soft, moist chocolate cake.  It was deeply chocolatey, a very different texture than the chocolate cupcakes (which makes sense, as it was blended with frosting), almost like a very rich, dense brownie.

I found it "fine" but like most cake pops, left me wanting something a bit different.  That said, I decided to dunk it into sweetened milk (kinda like you can do with a chocolate chip cookie), and that was actually a fun combo, it soaked up milk quickly and got even more moist!

3/5.

Another Chocolate.

I went intending to get a vanilla cake pop my second visit, but ... they had only chocolate.  Thus, another chocolate it was.  This one had M&Ms on the outside.

It was, yup, a cake pop.  I again decided to submerge it in milk, pair it with fresh strawberries, and add whipped cream, and enjoyed my soaked milk pop creation.  But, uh, perhaps not how it was meant to be served.

3/5.

Halloween Chocolate.

Another day, another chocolate cake pop, again the only variety available that day.  This time, they were freshly made.  It came with standard fall sprinkles.

I still felt the same way about the cake pop though.

2.5/5.

Winter Chocolate.

In the winter, the cake pops were *adorable*, but, again, only chocolate available.

I particularly was smitten by the looks of the snowman, with a Hershey Kiss hat!

Red Velvet.

"Handmade red velvet cake, blended with cream cheese frosting, and dipped in white chocolate."

The next time I got a cake pop, it was near Halloween, and thus, the cake pops were decorated accordingly.  I selected the eyeball.  They finally had a flavor other than chocolate, this time, red velvet.

It was, well, a cake pop.  Moist inside, mushy, and, yeah.  A cake pop.  I didn't taste the cream cheese at all here (it was very mild in the red velvet cupcake itself).  

The eyeball was the most fun part about this.

2.5/5.

Original Review, 2015

I used to eat a lot of cupcakes ... as in, several per week.  The reason is simple: the pastry department where I work made really good cupcakes, and we always had cupcakes on Tuesdays, aka, "Cupcake Day", and usually one other time during the week as well.  While cupcakes are actually not one of my favorite dessert items, they did a really good job, and my cupcake desires were always more than satisfied.  I haven't found anywhere else in the city that even comes close to being as tasty, so I generally just don't even try anymore.

But "Cupcake Day" ended when we changed pastry chefs, and even though I still don't love cupcakes, I've been more likely to try them lately, like, as you read about last week, I had to try out Sprinkle's Cupcakes.

So when I found a newish cupcake shop a few blocks away in Crocker Galleria, I had to check it out.   I was further intrigued, because not only do they offer standard cupcakes, they have ... savory cupcakes!  I love my baked goods and sweets, so these weren't exciting to me personally, but I have friends who do not like sweets, and it would be so fun to have them try the savory cupcakes.  Emil in particular has proclaimed before that there would never be a cupcake that he'd like, but maybe the "New York, New York" with its scallion, dill, and havarati custard base topped with smoked salmon would appeal? Or the "Mission", with ground beef, pinto beans, salsa, corn, and questo fresco, in a toasted tortilla crust, topped with sour cream?  How adorable!

Anyway, back to La Luna.  La Luna was also founded by a La Cocina graduate, and I always like supporting these small incubator businesses.  They also have froyo, although the machines were not working the day I visited.  Cupcakes and froyo, right in the middle of the FiDi?  Potential!

The staff were very friendly when I visited, and I did enjoy the cupcake I had.  I will be back, and must investigate these savory cupcakes sometime ...

Tres Leches Mini Cupcake.  $1.25.

I went for their signature cupcake, the one that basically every review I read of the place praised, and  the staff member told me was the best.  Described as "vanilla cake filled with three different kinds of milk and cream frosting".

The cake was very moist, as you'd expect from a tres leches.  It almost seemed as if it were filled with cream, but I believe that was just the tres leches effect.  The frosting on top had a slight citrus flavor to it, and was creamy.

Nothing at all to complain about here, just a really nicely done cupcake.  $1.25 for a mini was a great price, and a very friendly size.  Honestly, if I worked close by, I'd probably be swinging by for a "little treat" regularly.

Update: I attended a brunch, and someone brought a batch of these.  I again loved the moist, almost custard-like filling due to all the milk.  And the frosting was perfect, not too sweet, just sweet enough.  I may or may not have had two that day ... because, mini cupcakes don't count, right?

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Truvani

Truvani is not a company I'd normally seek out products from, but apparently, at some point, I did.

"Plant protein with no nasty ingredients."

The company mostly makes products I don't care about: protein powders, supplements, collagen peptides, etc, but they also do make a line of snack bars, which was vaguely interesting to me, as I often incorporate bars into my lifestyle as I'm frequently on the go, and care about getting decent protein and easy snacks throughout the day.  Everything is made with simple ingredients, no preservatives, no artificial things, etc, etc, and all are vegan, gluten-free, and the like.

Bars

"Our USDA Organic Only Bars are made with only 5-12 ingredients. Enjoy sweet satisfaction. Ingredients you know. Plus, they taste like nostalgic childhood treats that meet adulthood standards."

The bars come in 12 flavors, including some fun ones like cookie inspired chocolate chip cookie dough, snickerdoodle, or sugar cookie, dessert bar inspired like chocolate brownie or lemon bar, and crowd pleasing peanut butter chocolate chip or chocolate peanut butter.  I only tried one flavor, not the ones I would have selected, but somehow wound up with a box in my pantry that I'm not quite sure where they came from.  I'll admit the flavor choices wasn't a good one for me, but they didn't give me any motivation to buy others.

Coconut Cashew.

The bars are simple as they say, with only the expected cashews and coconut (given the variety I had), and the standard base of dates, maple syrup, and sea salt.

And they tasted like that.  Very heavy on the dates, which, given that I don't like dates, was a immediate turn off.  The bits of cashew were nice texture, and I could taste them, but, this just tasted healthy in all the ways that I don't find enjoyable.  It was mushy besides the bits of pulverized cashew.  I didn't taste much coconut.t

It reminded me of an RXBAR in many ways, just, without any of the good bits that make me tolerate RXBAR sometimes.  Not a product for me, 1.5/5.

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Bernal Bakery

Update Review, 2026

This is only my second time having goodies from Bernal Bakery, as they don't have an actual storefront, and I don't live anywhere near where they pop up.  I really enjoyed some of the items I had my first time though, so I was quite happy to see that another co-worker had selected Bernal Bakery as the place to acquire cookies from for a team event.

Salted Chocolate Chip. $3.50.

"Brown butter chocolate chip cookie! Chewy and rich!"

I'm not really a cookie person, but, these looked very good for chocolate chip cookies, and I'd been impressed with the bakery before, so when someone wanted to split one, I didn't say no.

It was a nice enough cookie - perfectly soft, but with crisp edges, evenly cooked.  I didn't really taste any additional complexity from the promised brown butter, nor extra hit of salt I expected given the name.  The chocolate within was great though, clearly high quality, chopped pieces, and there was plenty of it.  To me it ate as a very average good enough but not special in any way cookie, 3/5.

Peanut Butter (Gluten-Free). $3.50.

"Chewy, flourless peanut butter cookie!"

This is one of the best gluten-free cookies I've had.  It was soft, had great peanut butter flavor, big pieces of peanuts.  Sweet but not too sweet.  It did have a bit of gluten free funk though in the texture, but the flavor was great.  3/5.

Original Review, 2023

Another day in the office, another co-worker bringing in treats from somewhere to share.  This time, my co-worker came yielding goodies from a bakery I hadn't heard about: Bernal Bakery.  As a daily consumer of baked goods, I was certainly curious, and wondered how I'd missed out on hearing about the place. 

"It started off small, just baking a few loafs of sourdough for the neighbors. As word spread about our story and goods the community almost instantly adopted us and started pouring in their support. Within just a few days Bernal Bakery was up to its neck in orders! We expanded our menu to offer sourdough cinnamon rolls, brown butter chocolate chip cookies and a seasonal crumb cake. "

Bernal Bakery is a pandemic-born business that still does not have a physical storefront.  They bake in a commissary kitchen, and show up on Fridays at Charlie's Cafe, and farmer's markets on the weekend.  My co-worker grabbed goodies at Charlie's Cafe, and said he's a regular there to get them.

The lineup from Bernal Bakery is relatively small, with a few different styles of bread, a couple cookies, croissants (plain, chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, ham & cheese, almond), donuts, cinnamon rolls, and seasonal danishes, including signature croistocks (croissant-bostocks).   No cakes, cupcakes, pies or items like that.

It doesn't seem like Bernal Bakery has one item that people love the most.  Some folks go for the bread.  Others adore the slightly unique brown butter cookies or sourdough cinnamon rolls.  Others rave about the donuts.  I don't see any "signature" item, just, well, everything gets good reviews. 

Sourdough Cinnamon Roll, Apple Cider Donut (Left).
Savory Danish, Pear & Pomegranate Croistock (Right).

My co-worker brought in a few items, and had them already cut up into pieces.  This meant I was able to easily try all 4 items, 3 sweet, 1 savory.  

Seasonal Savory Danish.  $5.

"Whipped Brown Butter Ricotta, Delicata Squash & Fried Sage."

The first item I tried was the seasonal savory danish.  I heated it up lightly.

It was fantastic.  The pastry itself was outstanding - perfectly laminated, so flaky, and nicely crispy.  If this is what their croissants are like too, I'd love to try them.  Top notch danish base.

In the middle was a gob of ricotta, not just any ricotta, brown butter ricotta.  It was creamy, not too rich, and had a lightly nutty flavor.  It provided a softness that was a nice contrast with the flaky pastry.  And then, rings of roasted delicata squash, that paired nicely with that ricotta.  My hunk didn't have any of the fried sage, which was a loss, as I think it would great on here.

Overall, this was just a beautiful item.  Excellent pastry, flavorful toppings that went together well, and it was nice to have a savory pastry to mix it up.  I think it would be great with some caramelized onions or toasted pumpkin seeds to jazz it up even more, but, it didn't actually need them.  My favorite of the items, and yes, I picked a savory for first place.

4/5.

Apple Cider Donut. $2.50.

Next up, alongside my coffee in the afternoon, the apple cider donut.  Since I don't generally love cake donuts, I took just a small hunk of this one, so I could focus on the other sweets.

It was good though - a fairly dense cake donut, a bit of depth of flavor to it from the apple cider, and well coated in cinnamon and sugar.  It was remarkably not greasy, and nearly tasted healthy.

I liked it dunked in my coffee, and it was exactly the kind of old school donut that brought back nostalgia for me (yes, I grew up near lots of apple orchards!).  4/5 calibre, although kinda just a 3.5/5 from me as it isn't the type of item I get that excited for.

Seasonal Croistock. $5.50.

I moved on to the one I was most excited for: the croistock!  I expected it to be a hybrid croissant-bostock, and the looks of the caramelized edges drew me in, even if the toppings (seasonal pear and pomegrante) weren't the most exciting.  It had been several years since I had a bostock anywhere, and I still drool thinking over past ones I had elsewhere, like the one from Neighbor Bakehouse.

It was ... ok.  I didn't really understand the "crois" part of it, as the dough didn't seem to be laminated like a croissant, or really mirror a croissant in any way.  It was just a thick slice of toast really.  It also didn't seem to have any almond or frangipane component, that I kinda thought most bostock should?  The edges were lightly caramelized, but mostly actually just tasted a tad burnt.  The entire thing was quite dry, it didn't seem to have a fruity soak either.

So ... a thick slice of decent enough toast, with lightly burnt edges, and a scattering of pomegranate seeds and slices of pear on top?  Not compelling to me, even when I warmed it up and added ice cream.  I wished I had skipped it and opted for more of one of the others instead.  My least favorite.  2.5/5.

Sourdough Cinnamon Roll. $5.

"Sourdough culture, sweet and salty cream cheese frosting."

And lastly, the cinnamon roll, one of their first items Bernal Bakery offered (after bread), one people love, and ... the one I approached with apprehension.  Sourdough.  Sigh.  I just truly don't like sourdough.  (Yes, it is possible to live in San Francisco, and not like sourdough.  I'm also allergic to avocados, so you can guess how I feel about brunch menus filled with artisanal sourdough avocado toast.  Puh-lease!).  

I took one hunk, and wished I had taken more.  It was even good at room temperature!

The dough was lofty and, uh, dough-y, and did NOT taste like sourdough.  It was perfectly baked - lightly golden on the outside but not burnt nor dried out on the edges, and nicely moist in the middle but not under-baked anywhere (picture Paul Hollywood poking at it here).  The folds of cinnamon were flavorful, and the frosting was great, sweet but not cloying, and a decent amount of it.  It tasted more complex than standard cream cheese frosting, and I was expecting to see use of brown butter here too, but it seems it really was just sweetened cream cheese with a touch of salt.

Overall, very good, nothing sourdough about it, and an item I'd gladly get again. My second favorite of the items.  4/5.

Read More...

Burger King

Update Review, February 2026

Fries. Value Size. $3.99/250 Crowns.

The last time I had fries from Burger King, it was 2013, and they were crinkle cut fries, and I didn't care for them.  I was curious to see how they'd changed over the years, as I knew they reverted back to regular non-crinkle fries at some point.

The fries were actually not bad.  Fairly hot and fresh.  Nicely salted.  Perfectly crispy, that part in particular really impressed me.  A thicker style than McDonald's, and I preferred that.  They tasted less ... fast food than McDonald's.  I think I mean less generic oil taste to them, more strong potato taste.  I certainly preferred them to McDonald's.  I did have 1-2 that seemed underdone, a bit raw, but otherwise, these were truly not bad for fast food style fries.  If I was craving, or for some reason needing to eat fast food, I'd get them again.  A random thought I kept having is that they'd go great with chili (I think they must have reminded me of Wendy's in some way, where I always got a small chili with cheese and biggie fries from the $1 menu, or perhaps of ski lodge fries and chili).  3.5/5.

Burger King. Cheeseburger. $3.99/200 crowns.

"A flame-grilled beef patty with crunchy pickles, yellow mustard, and ketchup on a toasted sesame seed bun."

I recently learned that the cheeseburger is basically the same as the Whopper Jr. (what I always got ... when I went to BK as a kid).  Same patty, same everything, but the Whopper adds the lettuce/tomato/onion.  Given that I never care for their tomatoes, and had my own lettuce and onion easily on hand, I felt no need to "splurge" for a Whopper Jr, particularly because the cheeseburger was so much cheaper (and the Whopper doesn't include cheese by default).  The regular Whopper *is* different, a bigger patty and all, but the Jr?  Same-same.

Anyway, it came with the regular extremely lackluster Burger King bun, yes, sesame seed, yes, sorta toasted inside, but these never taste particularly good to me, and I swear I had actually clicked the "low carb" button to just get it as a salad bowl, but, alas, I got the bun.  Eh.

Cheeseburger: Contents.
(+light mayo: Free!).

My burger came with the expected allocation of 2 pickles, a little bit of mustard and ketchup sorta just a squirt of each in the middle, and my addition of mayo (the only free modification allowed).  Anything "fancier", like lettuce/onions/tomatoes would have been extra, so I omitted, as it isn't like BK is known for these things.

The ketchup/mustard/mayo is certainly not fancy by any means, but it really does have classic fast food burger nostalgia for me, and I find that trio to work quite well.  The pickles delighted me in much the same way - one bite of one of these, particularly with a little ketchup/mustard/mayo on it because they are adjacent in the sandwich construction, and classic fast food burger vibes are so strong.  No, they aren't my great aunt's "famous" pickles, they aren't even good grocery store pickles, but they are fast food pickles, and I kinda adored them and wanted more.  Highlight of my burger.

The cheese was a single thin slice, American, as is their standard (I could opt to upgrade to swiss, but, nah).  Again, not fancy, but, it works in this setting.  I did kinda want double cheese though, it felt a bit meager.

And finally, of course, the burger patty.  Thin.  Fully cooked.  Firm.  Not particularly beefy.  It is what it is, no more, no less.  It wasn't worse or better than any other BK or McD's patty to me.  Certainly best with the cheese and condiments.  Not really my style of burger, I'd prefer thicker, juicier, mid-rare, charred on the outside, and well, higher quality beef, but, again, it met expectations, and was fine for what it was.

I'll give this a low 3/5 because it truly was an absolutely fine burger of this style, no surprises whatsoever.

Update Review, March 2025

It turns out, I've been missing out at Burger King.

Now, I haven't actually been to Burger King *that* many times in my life (my family and field hockey team were always McDonald's bound when fast food was in order, my high school friends and I were team Wendy's, and, well, I pretty much stopped eating fast food other than out of novelty for freebies or in other countries since actually growing up), so I suppose it makes sense that I had never tried some hits on the menu (no, not burgers or fries), but I was still a bit surprised that folks don't mention some of these things more!  (and, as I went through my love affair with the Hershey Sundae Pie, and proclaimed its goodness to everyone around, none of THEM had ever had it either ...).

Anyway, without further ado, I had some random BK rewards points (er, crowns) to spend, and decided to have fun with them.  Spoiler: zomg, the sundae pie!

Onion Rings (Value Size).
$4.09 / 250 Crowns.

"Golden brown, hot, and crispy."

Behold, my first Burger King onion rings.  If you are unfamiliar with these, just a warning: they are really quite different from most people's expectations of onion rings (including mine, but I had done my research so I knew what I was getting in to).  For example, um, they don't have an actual slice of onion inside the ring form.

Yes, onion rings can come in different shapes, sizes, and styles in general.  They can be crumb coated like these, or beer battered, or Japanese tempura. They can be seasoned or not. They can be thin, they can be just strings, they can be thick and juicy inside.  They can be petite, have a large girth, or be a mix.  The batter can fall off too easily, the onions can be overly slimy inside, etc, etc.  I personally prefer beer battered or tempura, thick, and assorted sizes.  These are crumbed, small, and all about the same size.  And yes, again, they don't have an actual onion slice inside.

The crumb coated style and petite size already makes them a bit 'eh' to me, but they had some good qualities.  They were very well seasoned (high salt level!), and remarkably crispy.  I got my order fresh from the fryer, and they were piping hot inside too.  Well drained, not too greasy nor oily.  For all these reasons, I did like them.

But then there is the whole glaring issue: the lack of onion inside the ring!  They taste vaguely onion-y, but really its just more a savory fried crispy crumb ring.  Which is good, much in the way that Funyuns can be good, but, when I think of an onion ring, I want more than just vaguely onion-y savory fried things.  I applaud Burger King for having onion rings in the first place, as they aren't very common at generic fast food restaurants, but ... you kinda gotta just think of these as fried savory crumb rings.  As fast food fried side items go, I'd give them a high ***+, but if I was judging as onion rings, they'd only get a **.  They really are so crispy and I did enjoy them, all the caveats aside.

Best dipped in bbq or honey mustard.

(And if you are curious, the ingredients list for these is amusing.  Of course, they do not actually contain actual onions, you will not see "onion" listed as an ingredient.  Only minced onion.  And that is the 5th ingredient, behind #1 corn meal, #2 vegetable oil, #3 salt, and #4 rice flour.  MSG, whey, buttermilk powder, and a whole lots of chemicals round them out.)

Soft Serve Cup.
$2.79 / 250 Crowns.

"Cool, creamy, and velvety soft serve."

It had been a while since I last had Burger King's frozen soft serve confection, which, you will note, is not called "ice cream" on the menu, and is not described that way either.  Like most fast food soft serve, it is not, in fact, ice cream, as it contains too little milk fat.  Soft serve frozen dairy delight it is.

The soft serve can come in a cup or cone.  One small size only, thus, I got two.  No toppings available.  McDonald's definitely has the edge in that they at least have sauces to put on top of a sundae, or obviously mix-ins for McFlurries.  Burger King has none of that.  Just soft serve.

But the soft serve really is decent.  The most remarkable aspect to me is just how creamy it is, and how perfectly it melts.  Kinda exactly my mental model for how soft serve should melt, including the rate at which it should do so.  The flavor is sweet but not cloying.  Vaguely vanilla-ish maybe?  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this soft serve, but if I had a craving for a cone on a hot day, or wanted a soft serve pairing with a dessert, it would do just fine.  ***.

Hershey Sundae Pie.
$3.69 / 400 Crowns.

I've heard about this pie for years.  People on the internet rave about it.  Strangely, no one I've ever been around in person has ever mentioned it.  I certainly hadn't ever sought it out.  Until now.  

The pie comes packaged in a cardboard box, and in this case, even labelled with the date it had been pulled from the freezer.  They take no care to make this look homemade or special in any way.

But that's ok.  Because once you have this, you'll know it is special.

Hershey Sundae Pie. $3.69.

"Say hello to our HERSHEY’S®? Sundae Pie. One part crunchy chocolate crust and one part chocolate crème filling, garnished with a delicious topping of fudge drizzle and real HERSHEY’S® Chocolate Chips."

"A crunchy chocolate crust filled with chocolate crème filling and garnished with real HERSHEY’S® Chocolate Chips."

OMG, OMG, OMG.

One bite is all it took to break into extreme joy.  This this was good.  Really, really, really good.

I don't even know where to start.  Every element was glorious.  Amazingly sweet, crispy, chocolate crumble crust.  Definitely not a throwaway component, and I loved the texture it added.  Light as air milk chocolate mousse and sweetened whipped marshmallow-like fluff (er, "crème filling").  Although it looks like the marshmallowy one was only along the back crust, it actually was under the chocolate filling, and vice versa (under the marshmallow one was chocolate crème).  Then the decoration, a chocolate drizzle that hardened a bit like magic shell, and a few little chocolate chips, both added a stronger, darker chocolate component and more texture.  Did I wish there were more chips?  Well, sure, mine literally had just 5 (!), but still, a minor quibble. 

Glory.  I loved every bite of it.  Definitely not something you share, and the light nature of it makes it extremely easy to devour and not feel weighed down.  I can't wait to get another!  ****+.

Update Review, October 2023

It had been a while since I last had a burger from Burger King or McDonald's, but when I wound up with a free Whopper loaded on my account, I of course had to go claim my freebie.  I went with zero expectation of actually liking it, armed with my own drinks and side dishes (because, I was there for the free thing after all!), and ended up leaving very pleasingly satisfied.  I won't be rushing back to get a fast food burger anytime soon, but, I liked it considerably more than I expected.

Whopper (low carb). $7.69.

"America's Favorite Burger, The Whopper Sandwich is a ¼ lb of flame-grilled beef with juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a toasted sesame seed bun."

I never care for Burger King's buns, so I ordered mine bunless, or, "low carb" they call it.  Note that you cannot order online or in the app with no bun, it isn't in the customization options, but if you order in person, they don't blink an eye, and the receipt comes out saying "low carb", so, clearly this is an easy and moderately common thing.  I wish they'd add to the app.  

I did not ask for no ketchup/mustard/mayo, and those are generally slathered on in the regular sandwich version so I expected them too, but alas, mine came bare.  Luckily I realized it before I was out the door, and went back to ask for some, and was given packets of all three.

My low carb burger came in an amusingly large platter this time.  It was fairly attractively presented, with the pickles and onions atop the burger patty, and lettuce and tomato on the side.  5 pickles, 3 onion rings, 2 slices of tomato, plus a pile of shredded lettuce.  I wonder if these are the same standard portions used when constructing into a burger?  The toppings are not really enough to make a salad of it, so if you are intending to enjoy this as a burger atop a salad, bring more base mixed greens.

I actually brought my own large slices of green leaf lettuce to make lettuce wraps (and sauteed mushrooms and fresh heirloom tomato slices to put in with the burger, and a small salad and cole slaw to have as sides).  I assembled my wraps, added condiments, and dug in.  I was immediately pleased.  The burger patty wasn't anything special, certainly not a big fat juicy medium wagyu burger, but it wasn't too tough, and was reasonably well seasoned.  It went oh-so-well with the pickles, onions, and condiments.  Really, it is all the bits together that combine to give a very classic burger taste.  

The onions were crisp and harsh, but, that works here.  The pickles lightly acidic and juicy.  The ketchup and mustard as generic as can be.  Put that together?  Such a familiar taste.  The lettuce was pretty boring pieces of iceberg, but they were fresh enough, and not browning.   The tomato was actually fine, not too mealy.

Overall, with my additions as burger lettuce wraps, I truly enjoyed this.  Would I pay $7.69 for it?  No.  But, it was satisfying and free, and totally worth the venture to BK.  ***.

Update Review, April 2022

A year ago, I became a fan of Burger King.  Yup, it took me 40 years to really truly love Burger King (besides the crowns, of course).  I genuinely enjoy their Impossible Whopper, which I've reviewed several times before (below).  Honestly, **** burger.

But this time, I headed to Burger King for something else.  Dessert.  Not just any dessert.  Ice cream.  Somehow, in all my soft serve eating, I had never had a cone from BK before.

Soft Serve Cone. $1.49 (or 250 crown points).

"We didn't invent soft serve, but with one taste of our cool, creamy, and velvety Vanilla Soft Serve, you'll think we perfected it. Served in a cone."

This was my first time having Burger King soft serve.  I didn't expect anything special, but, it was ridiculously warm out, totally ice cream weather, and I had some "crown points" burning a hole in my pocket.

So I splurged, redeeming 250 of them for a cone (a cup is also available), normally $1.49.  Only the one flavor is available, never actually listed as "vanilla" just as "soft serve".  No toppings are available.

It was, well, fast food soft serve?  About as I expected.  The consistency was good, in the fake ice cream kind of way, and it melted perfectly on the warm day.  It was not grainy nor icy. The flavor certainly wasn't vanilla, almost more like a white chocolate, just, sweet.  It didn't taste too artificial or plastic-like though.

The cone was the part that actually surprised me as it wasn't stale in any way.  Even decent ice cream shops can suffer from stale cones.

So overall, the consistency was good, the flavor was fine, and the cone not stale.  Would I pay $1.49 for it?  Well, given other options, probably not, but it wasn't bad, and once I added my own sprinkles it was much better.

***.

Update Review, February 2021

Well, I've become a Burger King fan.  I'm really, really into their Impossible Whopper, which I reviewed once before.  And now, I've hacked it even further.

Impossible Whopper. $7.29.
Extra Onion, Extra Cheese, Low Carb. ($0.50, $0.80).

"Features a flame-grilled patty made from plants topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, pickles, and onions."

I finally, finally, finally took my own advice.  I am not low carb, but I dislike Burger King buns.  I had started bringing my own iceberg wedge to do lettuce wraps, and always thought about asking for no bun.  

So, I did it.  "No bun," I said, and the cashier without hesitation said, "Ok, low carb."  They have a button on the register for it even.  I asked if that meant it would be a lettuce wrap or just no bun, but she didn't seem to know nor care.  The answer?  Basically just no bun.  Perhaps they threw a little extra lettuce in?  It also came packaged totally differently, in a square plastic container (what they use for side salads?).

I left in all the standard toppings (tomato, pickles, lettuce) but upgraded to extra onion ($0.50!) because I adore their onion.  As always, I adored the onion but its a bit hard to justify $0.50 for just 1 (maybe 2?) extra round of onion, as I think it usually comes with 3.  It is so harsh though and I just really like it with my burger.

The lettuce was standard shredded iceberg, which is not my lettuce of choice normally, but is entirely appropriate with a burger.

The pickles I don't normally care for, crinkle style, but I actually didn't mind them this time, the little bits of pickle really do complete the "burger" experience.  That said, these are certainly not pickles I like much at all.

The tomatoes I always plan to leave out, but I'm glad I left them in this time.  Yes, they were awful, two slices of not juicy, not even red, clearly out of season tomato, but again, its all about the burger "experience" and the juicy tomato is kinda key.

I also added cheese, because, well, cheeseburgers are delicious?  More on this soon.

I wondered what they'd do with the ketchup and mayo, which come standard on the burger, and are key elements for me.  I hoped that they'd just put them on the burger patty itself.  Looking in from the top gave no indicator though (where *was* that actual burger?).  Sadly, the answer was "leave out entirely", but I was able to ask for packets instead.

I actually really, really, really enjoyed my burger this way.  I brought additional large hunks of iceberg to make a wrap, and I'm glad I did, although really you could just make a pretty tasty cheeseburger salad bowl from this (and their base salad?).

It was crazy satisfying, gave me a legit burger experience, and was everything I wanted it to be.

****.

Impossible Whopper Patty & Cheese.

The Impossible Burger patty was hiding under the toppings in the bottom of the container.  It came with what my receipt said was "HEAVY CHEESE", 2 slices, but, when I asked, they told me this was the normal amount.  I would have thought 1 slice was normal?  And I asked for regular.

Anyway.  The cheese was ... um, entirely not melted.  Oh, I'll also note that my burger was ready before I even reached the pick up area, so, clearly it was already cooked and the cheese just set up on top.  I guess that is normal?  I generally forget to order the cheese, and generally go to McDonald's, where they do usually melt it on ...

The cheese was fine, artificially bright orange "American" cheese, which, you guessed it, I liked to help complete "the burger experience".  But ... I really wanted it melty, so I'd probably leave off in the future.

Impossible Burger Patty: Grill Marks.

At some point, the burger patty I guess was actually grilled, and you could see the grill marks clearly on it.

The patty however, yeah, lukewarm at best.

This didn't detract me from enjoying it, but clearly it would be better actually warm, and actually freshly cooked.

Impossible Burger Patty: Inside.

And here you can see what the inside of that patty looks like.  It really, really did look like beef.  It tasted like beef.  Honestly, more than the last one I ordered.  I ... can't say that I'd be surprised to learn that they just didn't care and gave me a real patty.

It wasn't thick, it wasn't juicy, but ... it tasted like beef, and it was exactly what I wanted at the time.  Slathered with way too much mayo, ketchup, and mustard (from packets since they didn't add on), with all the other "essential" toppings, I really loved it.

****.

Update Review, November 2020

Oh T-Mobile Tuesday.  How I love you so.  I love random freebies. Particularly, it turns out, while living in a more rural area, staying with my parents in New Hampshire for a while during COVID for fresh air, summer, and greatly reduced COVID rates, and, it turns out, a way higher number of places that actually show up as T-Mobile freebies.  Maybe I'm biased because I was just soo happy to see Dunkin' Donuts on there regularly (where I discovered a great new favorite donut, actually, review coming soon - but previous reviews of baked goods here, drinks here), and I usually miss out when it is the weekly feature, as alas, no Dunks in San Francisco.

Anyway, T-Mobile Tuesday featured a free Whopper from Burger King, and I could pick regular or Impossible.  I've had my share of free Whoppers from Burger King, always mostly out of amusement/getting my free things, but I really do love their lettuce/onion/mayo mix (I know, I know), and I was eager to try out this Impossible burger.  

Yes, I actually ... was excited to visit Burger King.  My mother warned me as I left the house that I was likely to be disappointed.  Thanks, Mom!

Impossible Whopper Experience.

My visit was via the drive-thru, as it was in the depth of COVID, and the dining room was closed, even for takeout.

My burger was hot, seemed freshly made, was ready as I approached window, toppings were applied well, and the patty? Definitely better than I expected.

I was actually very pleased with the experience.  I wouldn't seek out a Whopper ever in general anyway, but if I found myself wanting one for some reason, I'd certainly get this again.

Impossible Whopper. $6.39.  (Packaging)

"Features a flame-grilled patty made from plants topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, pickles, and onions. *For guests looking for a meat-free option, a non-broiler method of preparation is available upon request."

The Impossible Whopper comes in a standard wrapper, branded with the IMPOSSIBLE name.  The standard prep actually makes it not technically entirely meat-free, as they cook it on the same broilers are the beef burgers, which, outrages real vegetarians, I know.  No dedicated Impossible burger grills at BK.  You *can* ask to have it prepared fully meat-free, and I think they microwave it that way ... Since I am not a vegetarian, I didn't care, and wanted the better, broiler experience anyway.

The same toppings as regular Whoppers are applied unless you ask for changes: lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, pickles, onions.  You can add cheese or bacon, or add extra of anything normally included (most for a fee), and remove anything, obviously.

I left everything as-is, except I added extra onions (because I love them!) and extra pickles (because free!).

Bun.

The bun is the same standard Whopper bun.  Quite large, soft and fluffy on top, grilled on the inside top bun, slathered with the mayo mix on top, nothing on the bottom, thinner bun.

I never care for these buns, they are fine, but very generic, and I'm not much of a bun girl in general, if not a brioche or something special, so I never use them.  I actually went prepared this time with an entire half of an iceberg lettuce, and used the outer leaves to make a lettuce wrap, which worked remarkably well.  So juicy, fresh, and helped cut all the heaviness of the burger, and, um, my favorite part, the mayo.

But yeah, standard Whopper bun.

Toppings: Regular tomato (2 slices), lettuce, mayo, ketchup
Extra: onion, pickles (5 slices).

For toppings, I left the regular ketchup and mayo, as I adore the mayo at Burger King (just something about it!) and they apply it quite generously.  And ketchup really does go great with beefy taste, so I left that, and did not add mustard (free to add, but, not standard).  I was quite pleased with the sauces, again, that mayo is just ... awesome, I really think it tastes soooo very good with their lettuce and onions.  And they really do smother it in it, literally, 160 calories of the burger is *just the mayo*, even with the standard order.

For once, I left the tomato, finally willing to at least try it.  The regular amount is two slices.  They actually weren't that scary, looked decent, and were a solid "fine", what you might expect from a fairly generic tomato.  Not pale, not mealy, so, at least not that.  But I wouldn't get them again.

I also left the lettuce at regular, although I do like their lettuce, just shredded iceberg, but adding more is an additional charge, and I brought an entire half an iceberg head with me anyway.  I did like it as always though.

I added extra pickles, which meant 5 slices, crinkle cut, because it was free, and I could give to someone at home (along with bun), to use for their own purposes.  I did try one, and can confirm, that yup, I just don't care for BK pickles.  Something about the taste.  I like McDonald's pickles though!

And lastly, the onion, extra, which meant quite a bit, all different sized rings.  I really like their onion, again, I know, nothing special, just white onion, but I love the crispness, harshness, and way it combines with lettuce and mayo.

So, pickles and tomatoes given away, but everything else, exactly as I was hoping, and I truly enjoyed the lettuce/onions/mayo in my burger-wrap.

***** onions/lettuce/mayo, **+ tomato, *pickles.

Impossible Burger Patty.

The Impossible Whopper is assembled just like a regular Whopper, the patty under all the veggies, ketchup squirted on top, nothing under it besides the bottom bun, which had no sauces.  It had classic, visible grill marks, and looked like any standard beef patty from a fast food restaurant - fairly thin, cooked well done, no pink really inside.

I tasted a bit of the patty, sans anything else, and was reasonably impressed.  It wasn't nearly as good as other Impossible Burgers I've had, thicker, juicer ones, but it wasn't dry, it didn't taste funky, and certainly didn't taste like a veggie burger.  The texture was pretty close to that of a standard *fast food* beef patty.

Once I combined it into my lettuce wrap with all the other traditional burger toppings, it worked very well.  I certainly liked it more than the Burger King regular beef patties.  It really did have the beefy taste, as much as any fast food burger, perhaps even slightly more.

I brought a chunk for my mom to try, and made her a perfect bite with all the toppings, and she was actually really impressed, and said she'd never know the difference.

Overall, I was impressed with what BK has pulled off.  I won't seek it out, but if I was getting a Whopper again, I'd certainly get the Impossible one.

The patty is 240 calories, 29 fewer than the beef burger, still has 14 grams of fat, and does pack in 19g protein.

*** (**** for fast food burger I guess?)

Update Review, June 2020

Yup, National Burger Day, 2020.  Burger King gave out free Whoppers.  Of course I stopped by.

I wanted to do my "salad sandwich" that I proposed to myself last time, with extra lettuce, extra onion, etc, but adding extra anything comes with a fee, and I didn't want that for freebie day! 

Whopper. Add mustard.
Free for National Burger Day.

So, regular Whopper it was, only mod was adding mustard, which I learned I *can* do, and had lamented not having last time.

My review is largely unchanged.  These things are pretty consistent.  Burger King does have that going for htem.

Bun nicely toasted inside, soft, but, just a really boring bun.  Its also huge!  My partner also commented "wow, a Whopper is way bigger than I remember!"  Beef patty was thin, cooked all the way, and tasted like ... processed beef, and wasn't great.  Ketchup and mustard just in the center, not tons, and not spread around.  I didn't have the horrible looking tomatoes, and gave him the pickles as he likes them more.

I did like the onion, crisp and harsh, and the iceberg (no brown in sight), and I do love their mayo.  It was extremely generously slathered with mayo, all along the top bun.

It was what it was.  No more, no less, a Whopper.  Nice for free, but I mostly just gave it away.

**+.

Update Review, January 2020

When I was growing up, McDonald's was always my fast food of choice, and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or sometimes Big Mac, was my burger.  I always felt sad when the field hockey bus pulled into a Burger King instead, as I just never liked it nearly as much.  I settled for a Whopper Jr. with Cheese, but always wished we had picked McDonald's (and McDonald's had better fries, and McFlurries ...).

As an adult, I have not sought out fast food burgers all that often, although I did go through some years of excessive burger eating, running a dining club that got burgers every single Monday night.  I started my blog after those years, but you can read about some of my burger adventures here.  Let's just say I ate a lot of burgers, and plenty of them were fast casual style.

I never went to Burger King though, except when I went to try the new Satisfries (not tasty!), or, uh, when I went to Burger King in Munich explicitly seeking out the waffle ice cream sundae (ok, really good!).  Until now.  I think it had easily been 20 years since my last BK burger.  I won't mind if it is another 20.

Packaging.

My Whopper took a few minutes to assemble, and was handed over without a word: "A Whopper", is all she said, not even saying my number.

Signature Whopper paper, decently well wrapped.

Whopper.

"Our WHOPPER® Sandwich is a ¼ lb* of savory flame-grilled beef topped with juicy tomatoes, fresh lettuce, creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a soft sesame seed bun."

I opened it up to reveal the contents.  It looked pretty good, nothing falling out, nothing mushed ...

The bun was nicely toasted inside, soft, and seemed fresh enough.  A large, kinda oversized bun though, I realized that I always got a Whopper Jr. in the past, not a regular one.  It is, uh, kinda a Whopper?  Just comparing the buns, the Whopper bun is 230 calories, the Whopper Jr. is only 120, so it really is nearly half the size, at least, the bread component.  The regular burger uses the same bun as the Whopper Jr.

Whopper: Inside.

It is the insides I was interested in though of course.

The top bun was slathered in mayo, creamy, generic mayo, that I really did love.  It went great with the lettuce and onions.  The lettuce, torn shreds of iceberg, was ... moderately fresh.  Crisp, but I did see some brown bits.  The sliced white onions gave a hit of harshness and pop of flavor, and I appreciated them.

Pickles are always one of my favorite parts of a burger, but I wasn't really into the BK ones.  Wavy style, and fine, but, I really prefer McDonald's and Subway style.  I didn't try the pale looking tomato, two slices.

Ketchup was somewhere in the mix, it seemed to be between the pickles and tomatoes, and was not well distributed.  This was easy to fix with an additional ketchup packet.  I also forgot that a Whopper doesn't include any special sauce, nor any mustard, so the ketchup and mayo really is it.  I prefer a McDonald's Quarter Pounder for the mustard, but, I do love mayo ...

I also forgot that a Whopper doesn't come with cheese by default.  Oops.  I certainly would have wanted that.

And finally the patty.  "¼ lb* of savory flame-grilled beef " ... yeah, it was barely warm, it was not juicy in any way, but at least it wasn't tough, and did have lovely grill marks?  It was basically, as expected.  No worse, but certainly not a burger you get to taste and enjoy the beef.  Again, comparing to the Whopper Jr. what I always used to get, that patty is just 100 calories, vs the 240 calories here, so this patty is actually nearly 2.5 times bigger, and I could tell.  Although it was very thin, it was a large patty, in diameter.  I guess they named this thing for a reason!

Overall, it was exactly as I expected.  No better, no worse.  It has a place in the world, but it is certainly not anything I plan to seek out again ... at least for another 10-15 years when curiosity strikes?

**+.

Whopper #2.

I blame T-Mobile for this.  T-Mobile Tuesdays had free Whoppers.  How could I resist another freebie?

My review is largely the same.  Beef patty thin and not exactly a juicy quality burger, but it isn't *that* bad.  I still couldn't bring myself to try the tomatoes.  I really did love the generous mayo, the harsh onions, and the iceberg.  I can kinda imagine enjoying a "salad sandwich", a Whopper hold the patty, extra onions, extra lettuce, definitely add cheese ... uh ...  

**+.

Original Review, October 2013

Burger King has always had a larger selection of sides than McDonalds, but they've now taken another leap, and offer not one, not two, but THREE different types of fries: sweet potato, regular, and their latest offering, dubbed Satisfries ... the healthy, yet still satisfying, fries.  The marketing behind them is genius, boasting that they contain 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories.  I assumed that they were comparing against their own fries.  They aren't.  They are comparing against McDonalds!  The numbers aren't nearly as impressive when you compare against their own versions, but given that they use the same oil and fryers, I guess it is impressive.  They developed a coating that somehow magically absorbs less oil.  But, (spoiler alert!),  they didn't live up to their name.

Value Sized Satisfries.  $1.69.

My fries were hot and fresh.  I give them credit for that.

Unlike the standard fries, they are crinkle cut.  I've never really liked crinkle cut fries, and my family always ate tons of frozen crinkle cut fries when I was a kid.  These reminded me of those exactly, not just in look, but also in taste.  They tasted like cardboard.  The outside was crispy, but the inside was just mush.  It didn't resemble potato in any way.  Burger King claims the fries are cut from whole potatoes, but I'm pretty skeptical.  They weren't salted well either.

Definitely not a win.  *+.

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