Burger King's Ch'King is just exhausting
Posted on Jun 19, 2021
More chicken sandwiches. This time it’s Burger King.
What else can we say? When’s the last time we reviewed a fast food item that wasn’t a chicken sandwich? We think we’re done and they pull us back in. We really, really are starting to hate this. We are tired of chicken. We are tired of sandwiches. We are tired of chicken sandwiches.
But Burger King did one and we have to review it, because literally nobody is doing anything else. This shit sucks and we hate it. But maybe Burger King did it pretty good this time, which is a moot point, because Popeyes already did it perfect. But what the hell, we might as well try it.
The Burger King Chicken Sandwich is called the “Ch’King”, which is stupid. It’s the same exact thing as every other chicken sandwich. Do we even need to explain it? Well, we will, because it’s a chicken patty with mayo and pickles on a bun. But they also have a Deluxe Ch’King, which has tomatoes and lettuce on it. Most other places don’t offer this. We didn’t get the Deluxe. What we got was the Spicy Ch’King, because why settle for plain? Life could be a dream if only we treated ourselves right.
It’s huge. The sandwich is massive. Easily the biggest fast food chicken sandwich we have ever seen. This is cartoonishly big. I guess this was the only way that they could’ve made an impression in the world of chicken sandwiches. Since the basic composition of The Sandwich is so plain, there’s no real way to innovate except make it way fucking bigger. And this is really big. It is uncomfortable to eat big. You have to take individual bites of bun and chicken because it’s so big. Unless you are a professional NBA player, there is probably no way you can comfortably fit the whole bite in your mouth.
The sandwich is spicy because it is slathered in a sauce, unlike other spicy chicken sandwiches where the spice is baked right into the breading. This is something consistent about Burger King. Have you ever ordered their Spicy Chicken Jr? It just has hot sauce squirted onto it, and it’s the same thing here. The sauce on the Ch’King is a clear imitation of the “Nashville Hot” style, tangy and spicy and a little sweet and a little bitter. It’s definitely very different from the other chicken sandwiches, but it’s not really that good. If this was the first chicken sandwich to hit the scene, we’d probably be raving about it. It’s huge, it’s different, and it’s at a reasonable price. Well, not too reasonable, but compared to other chicken sandwiches it’s a bargain for the amount of food you get.
Unfortunately, the amount of food you get is exactly the problem with the Ch’King. About halfway through the sandwich, you are tired of it. Your jaw is exhausted from chewing the dense, chewy meat. The crispy breading’s crunch is boring you, and the largeness of the patty is because most of it is breading. The sweetness of the sauce has become cloying and the bitterness has become intolerable. You want to stop. You can’t finish it. You want to put it away to finish later, but it will turn into an inedible hockey puck if it gets too cold. And you haven’t even touched your fries yet.
Is the Ch’King a flop? That’s a really hard question to answer. I mean, it’s not bad. It’s fine, even. But in a world where you can get a sandwich almost exactly like this one at any other restaurant, going out of your way for this seems like a waste of time. Go ahead and try it, if you’re already at a Burger King while you’re reading this and deciding what to order. Otherwise, don’t worry about it. You can get a chicken sandwich that isn’t so tedious to eat almost literally anywhere else.
But hey - it’s very probable that the non-spicy Ch’King is far more tolerable. If you’ve tried it, let us know what you think! If you haven’t tried it … don’t bother.
Categories: food
Tagged: burger king chicken sandwich