Burger King: An average affair

The serpentine queue of people is clearly divided into two - the ‘haves' and the ‘have nots'. The former look delighted while balancing their trays full of burgers, starters and drinks, while the latter impatiently wait to reach the food counter. It takes us 10 minutes to join the ‘haves' - impressive, considering that we are at the outlet on a Sunday evening, just a day after the Burger King opened its first outlet in the city at Goregaon's Oberoi Mall. We are surrounded by excited kids and their equally excited parents, young couples, college students and families with grandparents in tow. To add to the excitement, everyone's offered paper crowns, which bear the name of the outlet, to wear.

The Chicken Tandoor Grill is juicy with a grilled chicken patty

The vegetarians will be delighted, as there are as many green options as there are for non-vegetarians. We start with the Fiery Rings (R39 for 4) - fried and crispy shredded onions. We enjoy the crunch of the rings, but they are not fiery enough. In fact, they border on bland. The Chicken Chilli Cheezos (R69 for 4), however, is another story altogether. Shaped like nuggets, the chicken filling inside is seasoned with red chilli flakes and cheese, a pleasant change from regular nuggets.

We move on to the burgers, because that's what we're here for. The Chicken Tandoor Grill (R129) comes with a piece of chargrilled chicken, sandwiched between soft, corn-dusted buns. Mint chutney, slices of onion and tomato complete the picture. This is one burger which agrees completely with our Indian palate. The Spicy Bean Royale (R89) has a crisp patty, filled with mashed beans, spices, tomato slices and tomato herb mayo. We keep reaching out for the soft drink as our mouths are on fire. If you're a fan of all things spicy, then this is what you should order at Burger King.

The Chicken Chilli Cheezos, shaped like nuggets, are a tasty affair

The Chicken Chilli Cheese Burger's (Rs 89) patty is a bigger version of the Chicken Chilli Cheezos. Oozing cheese and bursting with the flavours of spices, this is clearly our favourite of the lot.

We also order The Chicken Whopper (Rs 119), the burger chain's specialty. However, there is nothing special about it -- the burger, with its big patty and other usual suspects such as tomato, pickled cucumbers, onion and mayo, tastes like a regular chicken burger. It lacks seasoning and this prompts us to dip the burger in the ketchup which turns out to be difficult, given the its size. We are sorely disappointed with the burger and in hindsight, we wish we had ended the meal with the Chicken Chilli Cheese, instead of being swayed by the chain's
‘signature' burger.

The pricing will certainly appeal to people, but given the choice of outlets that are churning out different varieties of burgers in the city, we aren't sure whether non-residents of Goregaon will want to travel all the way to the mall, specially for the chain's burgers. And no, we won't crown them king, yet.