What fast-food joint comes out on top?
By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
As a treat for surviving my semester up until finals, I decided to indulge in a bit of fast-food—but finding that perfect burger and fries when you’re a vegetarian can be tough. Most veggie burgers are soggy afterthoughts put out by franchises to appease a demographic they don’t really want to market towards. But don’t be disheartened: I have scoured the food courts to bring you the best of the bunch!
Starting with White Spot. I thought this would be the best to begin with, because a Triple O’sis conveniently located right in the cafeteria of our own New Westminster campus. With a patty made out of a combination of brown rice, mushrooms, and onions, it certainly doesn’t lack in flavour. However, if you’re looking to indulge that fatty fast-food craving, this is definitely not the burger for you. Whether it is health food or not, it certainly tastes like it is, and to top it off it gets soggy really quickly. Certainly not my definition of appetizing and also a little pricey for your average college student.
Next up is an option that’s maybe a bit more affordable. When you think of great fast-food chains, the next restaurant may come to mind. A&W has attempted its own version of a veggie burger in their Veggie Deluxe, and it definitely wasn’t what I expected. With a patty that contains similar ingredients to the Triple O’s version, I can vouch for the flavour. What A&W does better, is they don’t assume that all vegetarians are health nuts. They load that burger up with the works! Cheese, mayo, pickles—all the good things about burgers that you can think of, and best of all, it’s not soggy! I think for the price, and for the quality of the burger, this one is probably my favourite option.
Lastly I decided to get over my revulsion of their name, and actually try Fatburger. Taste-wise, I loved their veggie burger. Like with A&W they don’t assume that your dietary preference has anything to do with your desire to be lean and fit, and construct their burgers accordingly. Everything that’s available on one of their standard fatburgers or baby fatburgers is also available on their veggie burger—even fried eggs and cheese if you still eat animal byproducts. Thought they’re a bit secretive about what’s actually in their veggie patty, from a taster’s perspective I can say it’s mostly mushrooms and soy. I can definitely say I did enjoy the burger, though the patty itself was a bit on the salty side, but I appreciated the fact that it was chargrilled. The biggest deterrent for me was the price. For a fast food joint, they’re a little big for their britches, and way too overpriced to guarantee a second visit from me anytime soon.
After trying all three I would probably most recommend the one from A&W,which conveniently also happens to be the cheapest. So next time you’re in the mood for something a little indulgent, why not head over there for a tasty veggie burger complete with onion rings and root beer.
