Quorn Vegan Burger

The nice people at Quorn recently contacted me and asked if they could send me a sample of their Vegan Burgers. Well, of course I said yes please!



Have you ever gotten veggie burgers delivered to you by FedEx before? It’s quite exciting. They came in this big box – and inside the box was a styrofoam cooler, and inside the cooler, surrounded by ice packs, was the box of veggie burgers.


Lynx was very excited by this delivery, too.



This was my first time trying any Quorn products – although I’ve heard people recommending them before. These patties at first looked more chicken-like than burger-like (they were a lighter coloring than I had expected), but once I actually tasted them, I decided they were definitely more burger-like. They are both soy-free and vegan, made with "mycoprotein" (which is fungi - but don't worry, even an avid mushroom-hater like me can enjoy these!)





I fried them in a pan, with a little olive oil. They fried up to a nice crisp on the outside, but were still deliciously moist on the inside. If you are not a fan of faux-meat textures, these may not be for you – although I think they are one of the best faux-meat products I have tried. There was a unique flavor to them that I could not quite place, but it said “protein” to me, haha. It was a nice flavor – you could easily enjoy these on their own without the bun, if you desired (I later tried one on its own for comparison, and quite enjoyed it).



But for this first tasting, I went with the classic toppings: mayo, fresh spinach, and tomato (on a multigrain bun, of course). Yummy.



The next week, I finally fired up my barbecue grill (I am so happy it finally feels like Summer here in New York!) and tried one of the patties on the grill. Delicious! The smokey grilled flavor really enhanced the taste. And I didn’t have any trouble with the patty sticking to the grill either (that’s a common problem with veggie burgers, but not this one!). I just took it out of the freezer and put it on the hot grill. No oil or anything. Don’t leave it on for too long, because it does get a little drier inside after being grilled, but it got nice grill marks on the outside and heated through very quickly.



Thanks, Quorn!

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Quorn Vegan Burgers

Price: As previously stated, I received a complimentary sample of these from Quorn, who contacted me through this blog. I checked my local natural foods store, and saw that they sell them at $5.79 for a box of 4 patties.

YumVeggieBurger review #99

Veggie Burgers in the news: Chickpea & Olive

Congrats to Chickpea & Olive for the mention their phatty beet sliders got in this week's Time Out New York.

I reviewed these tasty vegan sliders last Fall, and apparently they will be available at Williamsburg's Smorgasburg again this summer, so go try them if you didn't get a chance to last year!

Open City

Last month I took a bus down to Washington D.C. to visit my friend Michael, and meet his lovely wife and baby. It was a great weekend – adorable baby, trip to the zoo… and they were so kind that they even picked out a restaurant with veggie burgers to take me to for dinner!



Open City was pretty busy at dinnertime on a Saturday night, and we had to wait a few minutes for a table to be available. Once we were seated, I was pleased to see that the menu had all the vegetarian, vegan, and even gluten-free items clearly labeled. Of course, I already knew I was ordering the vegan veggie burger.



The homemade patty consisted of lentils, barley, oats, and a mix of vegetables. It was nice and hearty – I liked the blend of lentils and grains. Sometimes a burger patty that is too heavy on one ingredient is a little boring. The best burgers are usually a winning combination of many different textures and flavors.



The toppings were fresh and crisp – pickle slices, lettuce, tomato, and red onion (far too much red onion for my taste, I only put a few slices on the burger – does anyone actually like eating huge chunks of raw red onion?). I wished there was some kind of sauce included in the toppings though – that extra bit of moisture would have helped (the whole grain bun was rather dense, although tasty), and a bit more spice or sweetness would have been a nice addition to the flavors. I substituted chips for the fries that came with my burger, because Michael’s wife Steph told me that the chips were made in house – and they were quite tasty indeed! So I’d recommend getting those as well.



Cost: $8.49
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Burger patty: 4       Bun: 4      Toppings: 3

Open City
2331 Calvert Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
202.332.2331

The rest of my visit in D.C. was equally enjoyable. When I wasn’t stuffing myself with veggie burgers, I modeled for some of Michael’s photos:

© Michael Shevitz

You should check out Michael’s photography website here: MichaelShevitz.com
He is quite talented. And if you live in DC and want to hire a professional photographer, I would definitely recommend him!

YumVeggieBurger review #98