As promised I got straight on the case to check out this BBQ favourite to see what the fuss was about.
En-route to Chester I stopped into BK at Frankly services to be greeted with new Maccie style self service tills, great, the less human interaction the better.
The price of the Halloumi burger was 5.75, which I feel is pretty steep for a single “pattie” burger from a BK but it’s a services and so the price hike is to be expected. I did check the app (a useful tool, you can always get some killer deals) but nothing for Halloumi.
First impression was that it looked fairly aesthetic, it was stacked nicely and had a nice shiny brioche bun. The smell was familiar, it smelled a lot like the BK Chicken Royal. There is a reason for that, like the Royale this thing has a lot of added mayo.
The Halloumi is deep fried, I saw this taking place and from the fryer it looked like the centre was actually a hole but somehow it is actually just a bit that isn’t crisp. This is weird because it’s just thrown into a frying basket, I couldn’t quite work out why the centre wasn’t as cooked as the outside. My only guess is it is cooked from frozen and that’s the last bit to thaw?
So it’s a difficult thing to eat. The lashings of mayo, the slippery tomato and lettuce and the slippery, greasy nature of the halloumi burger means that the thing slides around and becomes deconstructed very easily (which I’ll learn a little later).
My first bite was interesting. The familiar flavours of the chicken burger and then a hot, creamy cheese sauce. I was expecting the flavour of halloumi, with it’s squeaky texture but no, what it actually tasted like was some kind of giant melted block of kraft american cheese. What?
So I ate half of it and wrapped the rest, I wondered if when cold it would get some of the halloumi flavour that I actually like.
Around 30 mins later (while driving) I think it’s probably easy enough to eat half a burger (forgetting just how slippery this thing was). I took a few bites, horray, it tastes like halloumi and actually tasted pretty damn nice (especially for a sub 500 calorie burger). 2 bites in though and calamity strikes, the construction fails and halloumi, lettice and mayo spill all down my front, my car seat and into the foot well. Lesson learned. This is not driving food.
Would I buy another? Maybe, but not for almost 6 quid. Try it cold or at least let it cool if you actually like halloumi. Perhaps leaving out the mayo would reduce calories and make it easier to eat?
