Hey Foodies! Some of you may have spotted that i am doing a Vegan restaurant tour of Phuket in Thailand. Before i came to Thailand I did a Google search and noticed that there were MANY vegan restaurants around, and i decided i wanted to try them ALL! Despite what you may think, I am not actually a vegan.. well not a strict one at least. I grew up eating meat of every kind, and barely touched a fruit or vegetable until i was 21 years old. I was visiting India and was told that eating meat was a good way to get ill, so i decided to eat only vegetarian food. That changed me, and i discovered how good vegetables can be if they are cooked nicely! Fast forward 25 years and today i eat mostly Vegan food except when i am travelling or when the feeling takes me.
So there are two foods i have a soft spot for, Pizza and Burgers.. and in particular the New York Style burger is something that I can travel a long way for! Two days ago I spotted a New York burger joint here in Thailand and so i had to try it.. It was cooked by a real New Yorker man who came out to thank me for trying his place. I was only too happy to oblige, and i must say that burger was not bad.. not bad at all.. If im honest i prefer a thicker patty so you get a bit more juice and oily fat dripping out.. you know what im talkin' about!
The thing is, i am REALLY TRYING to avoid fatty foods, and also really don't like eating meat because generally the animals live a tortured life and it is not healthy to eat food from animals that are full of antibiotics, chemicals and depressive hormones. So yesterday i went to the Vegan Table restaurant to try out their Beyond Meat BUrger! THis is a patty that has been developed in the USA, and they say that The Beyond Burger is a plant-based burger that looks, cooks, and satisfies like beef. It has all the juicy, meaty deliciousness of a traditional burger, but comes with the upsides of a plant-based meal. Sounds too good to be true!? Well lets find out!
First things first, when a burger is served to you looking like it has had an orgasm on your plate things are already looking promising! As a burger aficionado, and im sure you will agree.. a good burger is about more than just the patty! Lets be honest, meat does not taste that amazing on its own.. It needs sauces, relishes and many condomonets to really make it a feast. A good burger is I would say only 20% about the patty, with the bun and the sauce being of utmost importance. A fresh crisp piece of lettuce is also mandatory, as is a nice slice of tomato.. I can live without the pickle gherkin, but it does add a nice zesty flavour.
I had my burger served with sweet potato fries.. SO let me just get those out the way.. They werent that good.. a bit dry and lacking in texture.. The only time ive had good sweet potato fries was in the USA, end of story. So now lets get to the burger.
10 out of 10 for presentation.. IT had everything i want to see .. a super thick patty, a really great looking bun WITH sesame seeds, a nice chunk of tomato, and some super green fresh lettuce. It has some great looking sauce oozing onto the plate, and also had some onions and two nice looking mushrooms.
I godda be honest, im salivating just looking at that image.. I do my best to make you salivate too and even brought my own lighting with me to make the pics look super amazing.. Im too old to be embarrassed about these things!
I bit down on this delicious looking treat and was not disappointed at all! The bun was slightly firmer than i might like, but it held the contents well which is important! NOthing fell out the back which is also impressive. I have to say, this thing tasted damn fine. Yes the patty did lack that Certain something that a beef patty provides but it was barely noticeable with the rest of the burger more than making up for it.
Without a doubt i preferred it to the New York burger i had for a few reasons. The patty was so thick and juicy.. and the sauce and mushrooms gave it a really nice earthy taste. It also hits you differently.. its a hard one to explain.. Lets just say that when im finished eating a real beef burger i usually feel a little bit gross.. im not sure what it is.. maybe its just the effect of the fats and the meat.. One thing i know is that our bodies react to what we eat very profoundly.. our body KNOWS when we are eating something good, and we feel it! ANd i have to say i felt much less gross eating this than i did the NY burger.. i felt less stuffed, and very satisfied.
If i had to make one improvement i would make that bun bigger.. i always want to have every bite contain some bun, and with this burger it was a bit of a challenge! Nevertheless i managed pretty well, and once i had gotten half way through it I was able to easily get the perfect bite every time.
So i would give this burger a 9 out of 10.. If i include the fries i would have to say 7 out of 10 but lets just ignore them because its pretty hard to make a good sweet potato fry..
Once i had finished eating i was able to look up and check out the rest of the restaurant.
A couple to my left were sharing a vegan pizza.. I had a little bit of pizza envy, but not too bad .. although it looked pretty good to me also! Maybe i ll have to come back to try that out also!
A couple in front of me were totally absorbed in their meal.. i think they were chinese or thai, im not sure.. but its good to see some asian people getting into this also.. Looks like they had a wrap.. they both didn't look up the entire time they were eating! That is a good sign!
So AGAIN i did not have any dessert, even though the dessert menu looked amazing. I was feeling more than satisfied and did not feel like spoiling that feeling of content. Nevertheless you can check the dessert menu out below! IM guessing i would have gone for the Vegan Chocolate tart! What would you have chosen? That cheesecake was also calling my name.. again, maybe next time!
SO i hope you enjoyed this Vegan BLog! Tomorrow i go to a new restaurant, called Vegan Heaven! Im guessing it will be pretty darn good to!