So... are they??
After the controversy that followed our McDonald's adventure a few weeks ago, we simply couldn't wait any longer, and we just HAD to throw another spanner in the works... Or shall I say, throw a Whopper in the works!!
So Hungry Jack's it is, in a nostalgic attempt to drown out the less-than-satisfactory experiences we've had these past few weeks. And guess what guys?? Chicken is back on board with the burgers this week!! YAY!!!! SHE'S BACK, BABY!!!!
The three of us order a Whopper with Cheese, mine minus onion (obviously), Chicken's minus onion but with extra pickles (good move, Chicken!) and Hungry Hungry Hippo orders his Whopper... with Cheese... and a Whopper Junior... WITH Cheese... AND a large fries on the side thank you very much. And all of that (including one voucher for a buy one get one free burger) came to $24. Including drinks. That's less than $8 a head.
The Whopper is what I consider to be the ideal burger composition - seeded bun, flame grilled patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo and ketchup. How can you go wrong?? It's a great formula and reminds me of cheeky Sunday night dinners with Dad when he thought Mum wasn't looking, or when Mum would get a hankering for an Aussie Burger and take us out when she thought Dad wasn't looking... Or that time my brother got two Double Whoppers and took the top off of one and the bottom off of the other and stuck them both together, polished that off, licked his fingers, and then proceeded to eat the half Whopper either Mum or I left behind from losing our appetites watching him eat so much.
Ahhhh... memories!!
But the question sits on our lips, how does this old favourite stand up against the scrupulous analysis of a Burger Quest review?
We open our burgers and - well - they're not the most impressive things to see. Hungry Hungry Hippo can't help but compare the presentation to good old Maccas. It's got that familiar packaging, it's not a PRETTY burger, but you know it's going to be tasty. I note that it's a bit... flat. Chicken interjects by saying she thinks it IS pretty. She agrees that it's flat, but she said that you know it's flat because inside, everything is evenly distributed and the burger "isn't going to topple over like an idiot!!" Hungry Hungry Hippo opens his burger up and confirms this, saying it was well put together and everything was "bang-on where it should be." I like the generosity of seeds across the top.
It's ugly, but we're all a bit excited.
So Hungry Jack's it is, in a nostalgic attempt to drown out the less-than-satisfactory experiences we've had these past few weeks. And guess what guys?? Chicken is back on board with the burgers this week!! YAY!!!! SHE'S BACK, BABY!!!!
The three of us order a Whopper with Cheese, mine minus onion (obviously), Chicken's minus onion but with extra pickles (good move, Chicken!) and Hungry Hungry Hippo orders his Whopper... with Cheese... and a Whopper Junior... WITH Cheese... AND a large fries on the side thank you very much. And all of that (including one voucher for a buy one get one free burger) came to $24. Including drinks. That's less than $8 a head.
The Whopper is what I consider to be the ideal burger composition - seeded bun, flame grilled patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo and ketchup. How can you go wrong?? It's a great formula and reminds me of cheeky Sunday night dinners with Dad when he thought Mum wasn't looking, or when Mum would get a hankering for an Aussie Burger and take us out when she thought Dad wasn't looking... Or that time my brother got two Double Whoppers and took the top off of one and the bottom off of the other and stuck them both together, polished that off, licked his fingers, and then proceeded to eat the half Whopper either Mum or I left behind from losing our appetites watching him eat so much.
Ahhhh... memories!!
But the question sits on our lips, how does this old favourite stand up against the scrupulous analysis of a Burger Quest review?
We open our burgers and - well - they're not the most impressive things to see. Hungry Hungry Hippo can't help but compare the presentation to good old Maccas. It's got that familiar packaging, it's not a PRETTY burger, but you know it's going to be tasty. I note that it's a bit... flat. Chicken interjects by saying she thinks it IS pretty. She agrees that it's flat, but she said that you know it's flat because inside, everything is evenly distributed and the burger "isn't going to topple over like an idiot!!" Hungry Hungry Hippo opens his burger up and confirms this, saying it was well put together and everything was "bang-on where it should be." I like the generosity of seeds across the top.
It's ugly, but we're all a bit excited.
So, how does the Whopper measure up??
Bun 4/10
Hungry Hungry Hippo thinks the bun is pretty.
I am again excited with the seeds. It's soft and warm, not toasty, but SO MANY SEEDS!!
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "there's a generous supply of sesame seeds; it's not glazed, but what I like about a Hungry Jack's bun is that the BOTTOM half is just the right thickness."
Similarly to the McDonald's bun, I think that this could have easily been sitting there for days; it's a bit of fluff and nothing, but in saying that it is still soft and doesn't SEEM stale or too dry, and it holds everything together perfectly.
Chicken says, "It's really big. Every time I see a Whopper I'm surprised by how big it is. I'm glad I have two hands!!"
Patty 6/10
This is my kinda thing. Even though the patty is thin and dry and not really of the highest quality and overcooked, if I'm being honest with you, that smoky, flame-grilled taste is pretty damn good.
Chicken said that when eating the burger, the patty doesn't stand out and she had to have a taste of it on its own to really focus on it. It is thin, it is a little dry, but it's yum. If there were two patties she wouldn't consider that to be too much.
Hungry Hungry Hippo said he took a bit off to taste alone, he could eat it, it tasted decent.
Value 9/10
It's really hard to fault this on value. Yes, we had a buy one get one free voucher, but in all fairness had Hungry Hungry Hippo opted for only one burger instead of two, it still would have come to less than $8 a head for a couple of large fries and drinks thrown into the mix too. It's a bargain.
Hungry Hungry Hippo says that there's a lot to be said for international buying power, which is where McDonald's and Hungry Jack's have the upper hand. We cannot ignore this bonus, because their ability to buy ingredients so cheaply gets passed on to us, which is an undeniable advantage.
Chicken: "It's a big burger. It's a delicious burger... with fries AND a drink all for under 8 bucks?! It's so cheap it's a joke. In fact, it's so cheap you really wouldn't want to take it home to meet your mother."
Balance & Composition 8/10
Chicken: "If it was a high school kid who put that burger together, I can guarantee you they're an A+ student. That kid proofread their work before sending it out."
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that it had all its bits in all the right places. They know the formula and they got it right.
Chicken said she appreciates that they use "proper" burger lettuce, cut "proper" burger style - that shredded iceberg gives a perfect crispy crunch and freshness that a stinkin' single leaf or mesclun mix doesn't give.
I think it was a very well put together burger. There was a bit of everything in every bite, right down to having a bit of pickle in the last mouthful. A perfect bite, every time.
Flavour 8/10
Chicken says that this burger had the perfect combination of salty and sweet. It makes you feel like you've had a treat, yet the veggies are fresh enough to not feel too guilty about it.
I really love the flame grilled taste. Real mayo, good old-fashioned ketchup, the perfect pickles... it really is my kinda burger.
Hungry Hungry Hippo says it goes to show that Hungry Jack's proves that you can make a really tasty burger with simple sauces and the right ingredients.
Overall 7/10
Let's face it, the quality of Hungry Jack's cannot match the quality of some of the boutique burger places we've been to, and that is where it is let down. With a better bun and a better quality patty (think Street ADL patty with that Hungry Jack's flame grilled taste... *DROOL*) they'd have it in the bag, but then that's where the price tag comes along. It's cheap because it IS cheap. The ingredients are inexpensive and the quality suffers, but there is no denying that a Whopper is a bloody good burger. Hungry Hungry Hippo made a comment to the effect that we're judging these burgers all on the same scale with the same criteria; we aren't just hipsters trying to be cool and liking things because they're secret and as-yet undiscovered, nor will we talk badly about a place just because it IS popular. There's a reason this is one of the biggest burger chains in the world. Hungry Hungry Hippo's last words?? "Yes, they are."
Hungry Jack's can be found just about everywhere.
Bun 4/10
Hungry Hungry Hippo thinks the bun is pretty.
I am again excited with the seeds. It's soft and warm, not toasty, but SO MANY SEEDS!!
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "there's a generous supply of sesame seeds; it's not glazed, but what I like about a Hungry Jack's bun is that the BOTTOM half is just the right thickness."
Similarly to the McDonald's bun, I think that this could have easily been sitting there for days; it's a bit of fluff and nothing, but in saying that it is still soft and doesn't SEEM stale or too dry, and it holds everything together perfectly.
Chicken says, "It's really big. Every time I see a Whopper I'm surprised by how big it is. I'm glad I have two hands!!"
Patty 6/10
This is my kinda thing. Even though the patty is thin and dry and not really of the highest quality and overcooked, if I'm being honest with you, that smoky, flame-grilled taste is pretty damn good.
Chicken said that when eating the burger, the patty doesn't stand out and she had to have a taste of it on its own to really focus on it. It is thin, it is a little dry, but it's yum. If there were two patties she wouldn't consider that to be too much.
Hungry Hungry Hippo said he took a bit off to taste alone, he could eat it, it tasted decent.
Value 9/10
It's really hard to fault this on value. Yes, we had a buy one get one free voucher, but in all fairness had Hungry Hungry Hippo opted for only one burger instead of two, it still would have come to less than $8 a head for a couple of large fries and drinks thrown into the mix too. It's a bargain.
Hungry Hungry Hippo says that there's a lot to be said for international buying power, which is where McDonald's and Hungry Jack's have the upper hand. We cannot ignore this bonus, because their ability to buy ingredients so cheaply gets passed on to us, which is an undeniable advantage.
Chicken: "It's a big burger. It's a delicious burger... with fries AND a drink all for under 8 bucks?! It's so cheap it's a joke. In fact, it's so cheap you really wouldn't want to take it home to meet your mother."
Balance & Composition 8/10
Chicken: "If it was a high school kid who put that burger together, I can guarantee you they're an A+ student. That kid proofread their work before sending it out."
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that it had all its bits in all the right places. They know the formula and they got it right.
Chicken said she appreciates that they use "proper" burger lettuce, cut "proper" burger style - that shredded iceberg gives a perfect crispy crunch and freshness that a stinkin' single leaf or mesclun mix doesn't give.
I think it was a very well put together burger. There was a bit of everything in every bite, right down to having a bit of pickle in the last mouthful. A perfect bite, every time.
Flavour 8/10
Chicken says that this burger had the perfect combination of salty and sweet. It makes you feel like you've had a treat, yet the veggies are fresh enough to not feel too guilty about it.
I really love the flame grilled taste. Real mayo, good old-fashioned ketchup, the perfect pickles... it really is my kinda burger.
Hungry Hungry Hippo says it goes to show that Hungry Jack's proves that you can make a really tasty burger with simple sauces and the right ingredients.
Overall 7/10
Let's face it, the quality of Hungry Jack's cannot match the quality of some of the boutique burger places we've been to, and that is where it is let down. With a better bun and a better quality patty (think Street ADL patty with that Hungry Jack's flame grilled taste... *DROOL*) they'd have it in the bag, but then that's where the price tag comes along. It's cheap because it IS cheap. The ingredients are inexpensive and the quality suffers, but there is no denying that a Whopper is a bloody good burger. Hungry Hungry Hippo made a comment to the effect that we're judging these burgers all on the same scale with the same criteria; we aren't just hipsters trying to be cool and liking things because they're secret and as-yet undiscovered, nor will we talk badly about a place just because it IS popular. There's a reason this is one of the biggest burger chains in the world. Hungry Hungry Hippo's last words?? "Yes, they are."
Hungry Jack's can be found just about everywhere.