Saturday, 6 July 2013

Burger King's Syiok BBQ Rodeo Burger


This would be my third entry in a row where I talk about burgers. Yes, burgers. I've been on a burger-tastic marathon lately. Well, it wasn't really much of a planned thing and it was more coincidental. Right from the Burgerbyte to the McDonald's Samurai Burger comeback entry, this would be the third. I could imagine myself becoming one of those fat loser who sits in a lounge chair, playing console games, lazing about wearing a clearly tent-like white T-shirt with burger stains all over it. Eeewww....


But there is a slight difference in this burjerney (burger journey) actually. The motive wasn't really to try out the food, or to run after my desire for burgers like the previous two. The reason why I wanted to go to the Burger King (BK) was to whet my longing for heap of delicious Onion Rings. I've been a big fan of Onion Rings since I first tasted this 'Saturn-ring' snackish delight at the A&W franchise. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, I always thought that they were the only food chain restaurants that have 'em but through the years, I've found out that you could almost find this sweet crispy onion treats almost anywhere that provides western-inspired foods. From BK to Dominos, fancy diners, and even at some modest burger shack.

I know, it's actually not that hard to make it yourself but I already waved my white flag after a couple of time trying it out. And it came out, miserably. Trust me, I just really don't know how to make it. It looked simple enough, but mine keeps on falling apart. Besides, I could never reached the same level of tastiness that off BK's. Yup. I considered BK's Onion Rings to be the most tasteful Onion Rings that I've gobbled on. Despite my first love of it at the A&W, I recently find out that theirs is way too skinny and crispy to be able to snack on. Every time I take a bite at it, the crispy batter end up scratching the roof of mouth and it hurts when I chew them. And the onion gets too wimpy and thin that you're basically eating fried batter with a subtle taste of onion instead.


So, when we cramped ourselves at the BK outlet next to the Masjid Jamek LRT station, I was super excited to whet my palate with their sweet and tender Onion Rings. Despite the long queue (it was lunch hour) and the race to-grab-a-table-to-eat session going on (seriously a lot of office worker storm the place during lunch hour), I decided to stay calm and told Faiz to continue queuing while I searched for a table. Thanks, Faiz, you're such a dear.


However, to my disappointment, apparently their bun toasting machine suddenly went *boom* and most of the customer's burger buns were cold and not toasted at all. To add salt to the injury, they had to cease frying the Onion Rings for a while to make room for a new burger set which included Cheesy Wedges. Apparently, they had to use the same fryer for the Onion Rings to fry these wedges and the deep fryer was used all the time to cook it since everyone kept on ordering the same burger set.


Okay, so I was really heart-broken (drama much?!) that I wasn't able to taste my deliciously sweet and gooey Onion Rings. And the new Syiok BBQ Rodeo Burger set wasn't all that 'syiok' either. I guess by now every one of you can tell how a BBQ burger would taste like, no? So, there's not much point in explaining about the burger itself. As usual with all the burger expansion nowadays, you can opt to have it single or double. But for me, other than McDonald's Spicy Chicken McDeluxe, GCB, or Cheeseburgers, I don't see that much of a good thing to have it double on other type of burgers because I tend to take out one of the patty when I ordered double because I just can't fit a double patty burger into my (supposedly large) mouth and when you ate the second patty, it won't taste as good as it will be in the burger, with the exceptional of Spicy Chicken McDeluxe and the GCB. Which are still awesome without the buns, I tell you.

But I have to comment on the sides that come along with it. Each set comes with a medium sized Passion Blast and large Cheesy Wedges, also with the addition of Spicy Drummets, Fries, another Cheesy Wedges, and a Hershey Pie. Wear your goggles and  aprons, because it's about to get bloody (exaggerating, really). Where to start? Okay, the Passion Blast drink. As you all know, like the recent 'innovative' move by all fast food chain restaurants, they've been adding up flavours and different concentrated syrups into Sprites and call it a different name. The recent example of McDonald's Sakura McFizz (Sprite + Ribena), and KFC's Eastern Sunrise (Sprite + I'm not quite sure what was it actually, but something sweet with a drop of lemon). So, it comes to no surprise that this Passion Blast drink would be the same. A combination of Sprite and some kind of concentrated Passion fruit extract, I think so. I'm not saying that the drink isn't tasty, because it is actually quite good (although knowing myself, I hated it because it was carbonated. And a strong one too!) and not that bad. The taste fused well. 


Next up, the Cheesy Wedges. I guess by know everyone can tell, that a lot of people have been trying to make their own version of Cheesy Wedges, ripping off from KFC itself. You could even actually find these Cheesy Wedges at night bazaar too. It's far too common to find them anywhere now. And the taste is really not that good at all, considering that they are cheaper than more expensive original version of itself at KFC. Howbeit, BK's is uhhmmm... how can I say put this in a delicate way? I just can't. I simply detest it. Not only the wedges are puny and not satisfying at all for an entre-like side, it fails even more with just how much cheese sauce they 'generously' place on top. Seriously, it was just like someone squirted the cheese sauce in a couple of wiggly lines just to be done with. I'm not saying they should bathed the wedges with cheese and mayo like what KFC did (which I absolutely love!!!) but at least let it live up to it's name. You can't call it Cheesy Wedges when you only place a few small over-cooked wedges with squiggly cheese lines and hope to call it cheesy. Seriously?

For the rest of the side dishes with you can add on to; the Spicy Drummets, Fries, and Hershey Pie, I can only comment on the pie itself because Faiz ordered that one for him and myself. I don't know how good would the Spicy Drummets as for you can tell there are tons of spicy drummets you can find in a lot of other restaurant and I can tell that it might taste just like Domino's which is really mediocre in case of its taste. Ah Fries, what else can I say about the staple snack which is common to every human beings' tongue.


But the Hershey Pie, oh my god, the Hershey Pie. Now this one is a treat. In every sense of the word. Albeit it should be 'served' frozen, but I'm fine with just how it is in room temperature. Do you know how good Secret Recipe's Chocolate Indulgence cake is like? Then imagine the same taste with this Hershey Pie. It's deliciously sweet and creamy, soft and smooth, hidden chocolate buttons adding a 'crunch' factor, and the best part of all, it doesn't melt so easily despite being having an ice-cream like texture. For something that is like heaven in your mouth, orgasm-in-your-mouth sensation that make you go "uuummpphhhh aaaahhhhhh" in every swallow, this dessert is actually quite cheap. Having to know for a fact that Hershey's ice creams and their chocolate sauce aren't cheap to begin with.

I guess all in all, it's rally not such a bad deal though. Having to know that without the additional sides, the meal would cost you only around RM11-RM12 (I don't know the exact prize, I lost the receipt). It'll keep you full for lunch, just until you go for dinner. This is because I saw most of the customers that bought this set, are office workers (the same reason why it is the place is over-crowded during lunch hour). But I would really recommend you order that Hershey Pie, it really is awesome~!!!!