Been awhile...
Christmas is in the air: Christmas carols are all over the radio; holiday promos are spamming social media accounts; and, the decorations in and outside of the malls show it clearly. Filipinos have been know to celebrate the longest Christmas season in the world. I find that absolutely mind boggling because it was the way I was raised. It was how Filipino society, crass commercialism, and family traditions have shaped me and how I view the world.
It has been a long time since I've posted anything on the blockchain as I've been busy with a lot of things, such is life. And I don't have any complains. Life has been good, nay, wonderful to me and my family so I'm really thankful for the blessings, both good and bad.
As a #vegetarian, I am always on the lookout for plant-based options. It makes me happy to see that businesses are beginning to recognize that there is a market for what used to be a niche product category, which simply means that their market research is pushing for it to happen. At any rate, I'm hoping that this trend continues, and that more and more people get into this lifestyle. Realizing that I'm contributing to a better world just by how I consume food is a win-win-win for me, the planet, the cows? lol
So, moving on to my story. A few days ago, I saw this poster posted on the wall of a resto in the mall we recently visited and was happily surprised.
As it turned out, Kenny Rogers teamed up with plant-based meat manufacturer Beyond Meat to offer Kenny's Beyond Burger to it's customers for only Php295.00 (roughly US$5.92), which is not the cheapest one in the market, but it really got me excited because: (1) I have not tried Beyond Burger or any other Beyond Meat products, and (2) I want to show my support for the effort. I mean there isn't a lot of food companies that are serving up plant-based food on a large scale especially here in the Philippines.
And, as you can see in the photo below, it's a good-sized burger for Filipinos.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
It's a big burger
The average sized burger in the Philippines is smaller than this. Naturally, I thought that I would have problems finishing this off in one sitting.Ten minutes later...
And, it's gone.
In hindsight, the size was just right for me. My wife thought that she couldn't finish it, but she was also wrong about the assumption. It might be because we have not eaten out for a while and this is the first "date night" we've had for ages.
It looks delicious
I'm sure that I have been influenced many a times by my food's appearance when it comes to deciding what I will eat - this burger is not an exception. It looks really good. Add to that, the smell is nice, roasted, burgery (is there such a word. lol).I also like the fact that they thought about how to present it in a way that won't turn off meat-eaters since this will be the bulk of the market they will be serving.
- Price
The price point is higher than the others. Mcdo's medium-sized Big Mac is Php193.00 (US$3.87) but I'd argue that this is a superior product health-wise. While the plant-based Goood Burger from Shakey's costs only Php185.00 (US$3.71), I feel that this is still at the price-point of the target market they want to serve.
Verdict and Conclusion
The first time that we saw this a few days ago, the burger wasn't available so we got the mashed potatoes with the Beyond Meat Burger, which was amazing by the way. This time, we were able to try out Kenny's Beyond Burgers and we were not disappointed. It really tasted great. The texture was very nice. Not that I've been craving for the meat-like taste and appearance, but this burger really made me feel like I was eating meat of some sort. The grilled taste and appearance was appetizing as well, which made me eat faster than I usually do. The flavor and aroma was just right.
The only thing that I can say could have been better was if they added more lettuce and included the cheese in the cooking process earlier so that it melted into the burger patty itself.
We really enjoyed having Kenny's Beyond Burger. It was fresh. It was filling. And, it was delicious. It's not something that I would eat everyday because of the price, but it will be right up there at the top of my list whenever I feel the need to get good food into my system when I'm out of the house, or working somewhere. I will surely be back for more.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading. Stay safe, be blessed, and keep the fire of passion burning inside of you! Enjoy your day. :)
*all photos are mine