A&W Mushroom Mozza Burger

One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blog was to encourage myself to try new things. So far, I’ve tried tomatoes and blue cheese. Neither has been very successful. I guess there’s been some new sauces I’ve tried, so at least there’s that. But I think it’s time I give something else new a chance. This time, I’m going with mushrooms.

Mushrooms are one of those things I see everyone else love, but I always choke up when it’s time for me to give them a try. I once left mushrooms on a slice of pizza I got and it was rather non-present. I couldn’t taste the mushrooms at all. I probably need better mushrooms to try.

It just so happens that A&W has a new burger out right now, the Mushroom Mozza Burger. Instead of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and Mozza sauce, the Mushroom Mozza has grilled onions, Dijon aioli, and obviously, cremini mushrooms. The grilled onions were a concern, but A&W was the one place where the grilled onions were okay. Their delicious Smokey BBQ Teen Burger had that and Dijon aioli, so if the mushrooms are good, this burger should be great.

Wow, they kinda made this one a bit messy. And where were the mushrooms?

…Not looking appetizing to be honest…

Oh, they were just piled them up there. Okay sure. I took a fork and spread them across more evenly and then took a bite. Nope. I couldn’t get into. The mushrooms had a really “earthy” taste. Or maybe it was the Dijon Aioli? I doubt it though since I had it once before and didn’t notice that taste. Still, I powered through.

Well, I did for a bit. Halfway through the mushrooms were getting to me. I had to stop and take off the mushrooms. I still tasted that earthiness though. It didn’t stop me from eating the entire thing, but I did feel a bit queasy after. Not blaming A&W for that, but that’s just me having trouble with new foods.

It might be a bit unfair, but this one is being brought down a lot by the fact that I just can’t handle mushrooms. Maybe someday I’ll get better, but for now, I’m not touching this one again. I’d be interested in hearing a review of this burger from someone who likes mushrooms.

3.5/10

 

A&W Maple Chipotle Burger

I went to A&W the other day to get another Smokey Teen BBQ Burger. To my dismay, it turned out the special wasn’t all summer long. It was replaced by the Maple Chipotle Burger.

I was disappointed, but now I was given something new to review, so there was a silver lining. It was a fine silver lining, because the burger didn’t sound all that appealing. Most maple & meat combos I’ve had in the past haven’t gone well. But I was intrigued enough to give it a shot.

I was hungry, so I got the Papa Burger variant with the full combo. The fries needed more salt, but that’s beside the point. That’s not what you’re here for. After finishing my fries, I took the burger out of the wrapping to see what I was getting into.

Nice looking piece of bacon peeking out there. Given the bacon was a disappointment last time, it’s nice to see they have actual good bacon. The besides the bacon, the burger is topped with maple BBQ sauce, chipotle mayo, crispy onion straws, onion slices, cheddar cheese, and pickles. I was worried about the amount of onions. I was getting flashbacks of that overly onion-y Western BBQ Burger at McDonald’s.

My worries were unfounded, mainly because the onion straws had barely any presence. If I hadn’t known beforehand they were there, I wouldn’t have ever noticed. The sauces were front and present in this sandwich, as they should be. The only problem was that they weren’t very good. The first couple bites were okay, but it didn’t wow me.

The more I ate, the more that maple BBQ sauce was disagreeing with me. It was too sweet, and I didn’t like how it tasted with the burger. The chipotle mayo wasn’t spicy. I wasn’t expecting it to be crazy hot, but it was mild. No burn at all.

Now I’m really disappointed I missed getting another Smokey BBQ Teen Burger. This is a mediocre replacement. It was edible, but I won’t be ordering this again. At least the bacon was good this time.

6/10

A&W Smoky BBQ Teen Burger

Summer’s already halfway over, so I did a check to see if there were any summer only promotions I needed to try. With a quick search, I found the Smoky BBQ Teen Burger at A&W. It’s the Teen burger patty with seasoned bacon, jalapeno cheese, smoky BBQ sauce, Dijon aioli, lettuce, tomatoes and…grilled onions. Why does that keep coming back? And the Dijon could also be bad for me. I decided to give it a chance, although I wasn’t looking forward to it. At least it didn’t have blue cheese.

I ordered it without the combo. Not that I don’t like their fries, I just didn’t feel hungry enough for a combo.

You can see the bacon if you look carefully

No tomato as usual. I’m still not ready for a big slice of it on my burgers just yet. I kept the grilled onions though, not that you can really see it on the picture. I feel the grilled onions are a unique topping to the burger, whereas a lot of standard burgers will have tomato on it. At least that’s how I’m going to justify it for now. And if Daym Drops can skip out on tomatoes and lettuce, I can too.

It looked pretty good and smelled pretty good, but did it taste pretty good? Only one way to find out!

And it was actually pretty damn good. The sauces worked well together. I didn’t really get a mustard taste from the Dijon aioli. The grilled onions were sparingly used, and they didn’t bog down the burger. The only bad part, surprisingly, was the bacon. I haven’t had bacon at A&W before, and if this is the best they offer, I don’t think I’ll get it again. The bacon strips are hard and overcooked to hell. I hope this is an exception and the bacon here is usually better. But I’m rating it as I get it.

Overall, it was a rather nice burger. If you’re at A&W anytime during the summer, I’d recommend trying it out. I’ll probably get it at least one more time before the summer’s done. Maybe I’ll get better bacon next time.

8/10

 

A&W Spicy Habanero Chicken Burger

One type of food I like is spicy food, as long as the it’s a flavour I like and it’s not overbearing (I will try crazy over-the-top spicy challenges every so often though). I’ve been interested in A&W’s Spicy Habanero Chicken Burger for a while now. Quite frankly, I’m surprised it took me this long, especially since of my favourite fast food items is the Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s. Let’s see how this one stacks up.

I used to eat A&W’s a lot. There was one on campus back in my university days. I pretty much stuck to either plain Mama burgers or chubby chicken strips. I never got sick of it, but I also don’t find myself craving A&W like I do with some other burger places. Who knows, maybe this sandwich will get me going out to their establishment more frequently again.

I ordered it without the tomato again. I know I kept it on for the Quesalupa, but I’m not ready for a full ring. That left me with just the lettuce and red pepper aioli. I also forwent the combo this time. I had a coupon that was the for the burger only. The lack of a drink might have been a bad idea though.

…That’s it? That sauce better be damn spicy…

They didn’t really put on a lot of sauce, did they? I know I said I prefer sauces being light, but this seems a bit too light. Not only that, but I was a bit skeptical of the sauce. It looked like just mayo with chunks of red pepper in it. Not impressive. My expectations were low.

The first bite breaks those expectations. I felt heat right away. It wasn’t scorching hot, but it was noticeable. Apparently the chicken patty was also spicy, a good move on A&W’s part. Relying on the sauce would have been a mistake.

Honestly, I couldn’t tell if the sauce added much to the heat, if at all, but it didn’t hinder the sandwich at least. Regardless, this was tasty and hit the right spice zone for me, albeit on the lower end of that zone. It wasn’t quite as good as the Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich, but I’d consider ordering this one again next time I go to A&W.

8/10