Thursday 17 March 2022

Plant-based Fast Food

As the title says, this page is for fast food and on-the-go foods.

A note regarding Greggs. The sausage roll is always available, but they rotate their other hot vegan offerings, so only one of the bakes/slices is available at any one time. Hopefully this will change one day.


Greggs: Vegan Sausage Roll - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When this was introduced it was quite a big moment for vegan on-the-go foods and it became an instant hit. It proved that there is a need and market for everyday vegan alternatives. The sausage roll itself is very nice - It has a nice flaky pastry, but I do sometimes wonder if the filling is a little too mushy. That's probably me being picky. It's a great option to have out there and I do find myself popping in to buy one if I'm in need of a quick lunch while out and about.


Greggs: Vegan Steak Bake - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love the vegan steak bake. Everything is just right. The thick, deep gravy and the tender steak-style pieces are a great combo. Sadly I haven't seen this option available for a long time.

 

Greggs: Vegan Sausage, Bean and CheeZe Melt - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Another option from Greggs which I quite like. I've never really liked many of the vegan cheese options and this is no different. However it does work. I've always found it to be slightly stingy on the sausage part, but maybe that's just me wanting more.


Greggs: Vegan Festive Bake - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

As the name suggests, this is a seasonal line. I had a couple during it's first festive season. It's probably my least favourite of their offerings, but that's down to the creamy-ish filling which is not really my thing. Still, if I was hungry and they had this, I'd definitely have it again.


McDonalds: The McPlant Burger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finally released nationwide in January 2022, the McPlant packs all the elements of a regular McDonalds burger into a vegan offering. The burger itself was nice, it did lack a little in the meaty department but I can overlook that. The vegan cheese slice was there but it's not a particularly strong flavour. That classic flavour of the ketchup and gherkin was there in the mix. Overall it is great and I'd have it again. Since giving up meat, I never really missed McDonalds (I had stopped eating there years before) but it is brilliant to see this kind of offering in a place like this.


Pizza Hut: Vegan Pizza - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

I tried one of their vegan pizzas a few years ago. It had jackfruit on it and I remember it being nice enough. The main problem I found is that the cheese (ch**se) is like runny plastic and stuck to the roof of my mouth in a really unpleasant way. I know they now have a few more options, but in general vegan cheese really needs to improve. As it stands I would prefer to have pizza minus the cheese (or just a very small amount of vegan cheese). For the record, the pizza was really nice - it's only the cheese that brings down the rating.


Burger King: Plant-based Whopper - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

The plant-based Whopper should be available in most branches of Burger King but please be aware that due to the pattie being cooked on the same broiler as meat, it is not technically vegan or vegetarian by the time it makes it into your hands. I was fortunate enough to be able to try this during the 1 month vegan-only trial in Leicester Square, London in March/April 2022 so didn't have to worry about that detail. This one cost £5.49 which I thought was fairly pricey, but I don't really eat or very often so I may be behind the times a little! You'll be pleased to know that it is a great burger - pretty similar to the original Whopper (from what I remember at least). It even has that char-grilled flavour. All Burger King really need to do is sort out the cooking method and I may even pop back for another!


Burger King: Bakon Double Cheezburger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

I tried this at the temporary vegan Burger King in Leicester Square, London. The texture and flavour of the two patties/burgers was good. However I was surprised to see how thin each one was. The were a few rashers of bakon on top of the burgers and this was nice, but the flavour could have been stronger. The cheez was there but there wasn't really much flavour. The price was £4.49 and this was obviously a but cheaper than the Whopper (above). Overall it was a nice burger.


Burger King: Vegan Nuggets - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

I bought the 6pc vegan nugget option which cost £4.29. That works out at 71.5p per nugget and it seemed quite expensive to me. Anyway, they were nice. I must admit, I didn't eat these until a few hours after I bought them so they may not have been at their best, but they were perfectly good nuggets which I would buy again,


KFC: Vegan Burger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The original KFC Zinger Tower burger was my favourite fast-food burger until I gave up eating meat, so I was pleased to see that KFC had made the effort to put a vegan option on their menu. The burger itself is not a zinger or a tower, but for now it'll do. It consists of a Quorn fillet which is coated in KFC's original 11 herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce and vegan mayonnaise. All in a bun. I really enjoyed it and can't really find any fault at all. I really hope they can one day expand this into a proper vegan zinger tower burger. The main thing to bear in mind when ordering this is that KFC's chips are not technically vegan or vegetarian as they are cooked in the same oil as their popcorn chicken, so don't order them if you want to maintain the a strict meat-free diet. Also the vegan option may not be available at all branches, so have a check on their website before visiting. I got mine in the Bluewater shopping centre branch.


Costa Coffee: Vegan Bac'n Breakfast Bap - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

This consists of a soft white bap with a vegan spread. The 'bacon' is Naked without the Oink which you can buy from some supermarkets. Overall it was really nice - the bun can be picked up from the chiller cabinet and the staff warm it up for you and I added some ketchup afterwards.


Notes:

Burger King:  The vegan Whopper (and I'm guessing all their beef-style burgers) in their regular stores are cooked on the same broiler as the meat options which effectively cancels out their vegetarian/vegan status. I don't fully understand why they would go to the effort of developing a vegan version only to ruin all of those efforts at the final stage (actually, I do get that this isn't intended to lure in vegans, but to give meat-eaters the option of trying a meat-free version. Still it seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do). The trial Vegan-only branch in London's Leicester Square should remove this issue, but that's not much use to people that are nowhere near it.



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