Vegeburgers

luka

Well-known member
I know me and Barty are the only vegetarians on here but a lot of you quite like the idea of being a vegetarian.
 

luka

Well-known member
I've been a Vegetarian all my life but here has been a small number of occasions on which I've accidentally tastes meat. Usually this is when 'bean burger' is misheard as 'beef burger' and what has always surprised me is how totally lacking in taste those things are. Your standard vege patty is much more delicious. This is why it seems crazy to spend so much time developing a vege burger which tastes and feels just like meat. It's a step backwards.
 

luka

Well-known member
The first major chain to develop a vegeburger, funnily enough, was the Wimpey, with their spicy beanburger, and I absolutely loved it. A real treat. Burger King, to their credit, followed suit shortly after, with a very similar burger, except it wasn't in a round bun it was in a torpedo shaped bun. Nevertheless I was very keen on it and I still sometimes buy them today if I am at a train station, Paddington for instance. It's a bit pappy and the cheese is weird, but it's not a bad product. Mcdonalds, strangely, have never developed a serious vege alternative.

As for the 'gourmet' options. GBK has always put in the most effort and thought. They always have at least three options. You can also choose any other burger and swap the meat patty for a bean patty which I think is a good common sense thing to do. The only slightly disappointing thing is they take things off the menu and replace them with new ones. The best one they ever did was called Billy the Kid and it featured aubergine and deep fried goats cheese. The latest one is a trendy jackfruit offering which I'm unconvinced by. I do appreciate and value their commitment to the vegetarian consumer however.

Byron is cancelled and has been for some time now but before that they were insulting anyway, providing vegetarians with a mushroom in a bread roll that could be eaten in two mouthfuls, absolute pisstake.

Bleeker Burger I first had many years ago when they just had market stalls. I was working on the same market doing coffee and the owner, an American woman, gave me one for free. I really rated it. It does something totally different from everyone else. Just a slab of tofu, a slice of American cheese, some hot sauce and a lettuce leaf. Sounds disappointing but actually is delicious. I like it a lot. Sometimes simplicity is best.

Five Guys don't have a serious vege offering. And their chips are shit. So over salted you feel you are guna die. Fuck them tbh.

Shake Shack on the other hand I like a lot. Their cheesy fries are a bit weird but the burger is great. It's a mushroom like the Byron one but it's been deep fried with gooey weird cheese encased in a breadcrumb shell. The bun is really artificial and weird in a good way. Nothing like actual bread. The lettuce leaf is always very handsome and you get a slice of tomato. I'm a real fan of this vegeburger.
 

sufi

lala
Would you mind sharing guidance/policy regarding veg sausage rolls, please?

Hot topic. Did we cover it already even?
 

luka

Well-known member
Yeah I know. There's a Greggs at cannon st station I pass several times a week. I will address this. But this is burger focussed
 

luka

Well-known member
GBK is a New Zealand company which I think is the reason they take vegetarians more seriously than the other chains. It's a good country, a very good country, to be vege in. When I lived there I used to get a vegeburger which actually had no patty. This was done at Al and Petes and at the White Lady food trucks.

These really were special. You got fried egg, sliced pineapple, sliced beetroot, sliced tomark and lovely melted cheese with a delicious tomato sauce, not just ordinary ketchup. Delicious in some magical way. Still to this day these things are among the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

GBK have this, they call it the kiwi burger, but it comes with a patty, which I find a bit over the top. I miss the ones from Auckland.
 

luka

Well-known member
I would say the absolute worst are the ones you still might get from a kebab shop or whatever or from Iceland where it is a light breadcrumb coating over a 'cheese' sauce and frozen mixed vegetable filling. That's completely unacceptable in this day and age.

As far as other supermarket offering I've never really found one I'm entirely happy with. Usually a bean burger style one is fine though. Never been a big fan of the Linda McCartney range tbh. It's not bad but it's a bit too meat substitute for my liking.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
You may be surprised to learn that I agree that a tasty beanburger is certainly preferable to a generic beefburger.
 

luka

Well-known member
In the every old days, when vegetarianism had only just been invented you used to get this powder in a sachet that you mixed with something or other and you could make it into pattys or sausages or whatever. Maybe you mixed it with egg, or maybe it was just water I can't really remember cos I was just a little boy.

I think they still make these products but the world has moved on. Like Tartex. I still see that when I go to Totnes.

Sosmix
https://www.sosmix.com

Tartex
https://www.tartex.com
 
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luka

Well-known member
You may be surprised to learn that I agree that a tasty beanburger is certainly preferable to a generic beefburger.

Well you're not HMG so not totally surprised. I think it's sort of objective fact. And you're into facts as we established in the fact thread.
 

Leo

Well-known member
yeah, most vegetarians I know have no interest in a beef-like veggie burger. I think the biggest market for those is carnivores who want to occasionally eat something moderately more healthy. Burger King even launched an impossible burger whopper recently, apparently sold out quickly.

btw, lots of the frozen vegetarian foods found in markets aren't necessarily very healthy, often heavily processed with high sodium content.
 

luka

Well-known member
None of these things are that healthy but I don't feel the need to eat healthily every single day. I don't get sick too often. My mind works ok. I'm slim. I'm alright.
 

Leo

Well-known member
a freshly made veggie burger is healthy, it's the factory-made ones that are problematic.

honestly can't wait until HMG chimes in here. I need to find that Michael-jackson-eating-popcorn gif.
 

droid

Well-known member
yeah, most vegetarians I know have no interest in a beef-like veggie burger. I think the biggest market for those is carnivores who want to occasionally eat something moderately more healthy. Burger King even launched an impossible burger whopper recently, apparently sold out quickly.

btw, lots of the frozen vegetarian foods found in markets aren't necessarily very healthy, often heavily processed with high sodium content.

Well yeah, the market for the impossible burger stuff is for meat eaters who want to have their cake and eat it. Its potentially one of many things that could help us stave off armageddon by reducing dependence on the toxic livestock and animal farming industries that are doing untold harm to climate, biodiversity and health (cue HMGovt with some dodgy study that shows that beef is better for the environment under very particular and specialised circumstances, and that bathing in pigs blood reduces cancer risk).
 
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