Patty Melt Obession Part 3: Hardee's Southwest Patty Melt Review

Over the last several weeks I've expressed on this blog my recent obsession with the patty melt sandwich.  Truthfully it's probably only slightly more healthy than the obsession some of my more romantically challenged male readers (sorry mom's basement dwellers) might have with Kate Upton, a Southwest Patty Melt "enthusiast in her own right.  On a more serious note I wanted to try the Hardee's Southwest Patty Melt because it not only fits my patty melt meme as of late, but it's also 1. a new-ish fast food offering 2. a Hardee's offering of which I'm mostly a fan and 3. the combo came with a free Oreo icecream sandwich.  How would this stack up compared to other melts I've had as of late?

The Hardee's Southwest Patty Melt might be a new sandwich to the Hardee's lineup, but there are definitely some derivative elements here beyond what constitutes the normal patty melt toppings.  The bread is Hardee's famous toasted sourdough that has accompanied their Frisco Burger for so many years.  The additions that make it different than the standard patty melt are the pepper-jack cheese substituting for swiss, jalapeno slices, and "Southwest sauce".  I've seen all those elements on other burgers and sandwiches before with mixed results so I was a little worried how they would work here.  Surprisingly, I think the answer is those elements work quite well.  The jalapenos, sauce, and cheese definitely added some kick, but I was a little amazed at how mild the flavor actually was.  Granted, I'm not someone who is that sensitive to heat but I definitely expected more heat from a sandwich with sliced jalapenos.  The 1/4 lb patty size was adequate and juicy compared to other "large chain" fast food burgers.  I think the sourdough "bun" with it's toasted yet soft texture made this better than if it was just served on a regular bun.  However, I think there were some drawbacks here as well.  Between the cheese and sauce I found the overall texture far too creamy. With the jalapeno slices it almost tasted like bland ballpark nachos.  Also, the Hardee's website makes no mention of it, but I could have swore my patty melt had mayo on it which I found to be serious overkill.  Also there were supposed to be grilled onions here, but they were somewhat hard to find.

Taste 6.5/10 I'm giving this an above average score because even when Hardee's has somewhat of a miss their burgers are still better than what BK, Mickey D's and Wendy's are putting out.  Real solution though is just to go to Culver's if one is nearby.
Value 6.5/10 I'm giving a similar slightly above average score here because I did get a free icecream sandwich with my combo, and it was quite a filling meal.

Additional Note: While I appreciate Hardee's offering free icecream with this combo it's pretty hard to get it back to your house or office without it turning into something messier than Curtis Painter's future career prospects.  Hardee's at least tried by putting it in a separate bag from my hot food, but in the end it was a ride on the failboat.

Fast Food Review: Hardee's Steak and Egg Burrito

If you have read this blog for awhile you probably know that I make no secret of the fact that Hardee's is one of it not my favorite fast food restaurant.  They were a company that used to be an absolute loser of a chain with bad service, bad food, pretty much bad everything.  But here's the interesting thing.  They recognized that they sucked and totally turned the corner.  They downsized and focused their remaining stores on doing more food fresh and from scratch than any other fast food chain in the business.  The results are pretty tasty.  If you don't believe me go out for lunch today and get their chicken tenders.  However, even before their revamp Hardee's was known for their breakfast menu.  They're still putting out favorites like from scratch biscuits, but when I saw they were promoting a steak and egg burrito I figured, in the interest of science, it was worth a try.

As you can see from the picture (I used the pen to give perspective) that the burrito is a nice size.  It's bigger than the dollar menu sausage burrito from McDonald's, but smaller than a Qdoba monstrosity.  Certainly nothing to be disappointed about.  However, when I cut it open I was at first a little bit alarmed at the lack of steak I saw in relation to the amount of scrambled egg, but when I took a bite I discovered that there was actually more steak in the burrito than I really even expected.  It just seemed to be hiding out in the back and in the folds of fluffy egg.  The steak, while a little on the chewy side, also had a nice flavor.  It was as though it had actually been seasoned!  Also present were a melted cheddar cheese and a queso cheese that was a nice surprise.  In the words of Anthony Bourdain I'm a total egg slut so I was also happy with the warm fluffy folded eggs inside that were present in a generous portion.  However, you might notice that one or two things are missing that would make this a really great breakfast burrito.  I think some salsa (which is only available if you ask I found out later) and maybe an extra element of potatoes or hashbrowns inside would have made it a little bit better.

Taste 7/10 Definitely an above average breakfast burrito that you can get quickly on your way to work in the morning.  It might be missing some elements, but let's be honest it's not trying to be the giant Qdoba breakfast burrito here.  It's trying to be Hardee's, and in that regard I think it does it's job quite well.  If you're someone who likes a good breakfast burrito give this a shot. Maybe pick one up in the morning on your way to a holiday celebraish, you guys.

Value 8/10 At $3.63 with tax it is not the cheapest thing on the Hardee's breakfast menu.  In fact depending on if the special is running you might be able to get 2 bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits for less. How is it a good value then? Well #1 it's steak, and it's not a total ripoff like Taco Bell's steak items, #2 it was pretty tasty and a lot cheaper and quicker than going to Qdoba, #3 I'm not a big eater in the morning, but I would venture to guess that people would think this filling enough.

Fast Food Review: Hardee's Turkey Burger

Okay, I want to start off by saying that I know I've been slacking a bit on blogging lately.  I apologize, but some extraneous factors have gotten in the way.  No matter because the Random Dude is back with more vengeance than Maria Shriver. 

As you all know I've been trying to cut a few calories here and there and with Hardee's constantly touting their new under 500 calorie turkey burgers I figured it was a really good opportunity for a fast food review.  These burgers were designed with the assistance of Men's Health magazine and consist of a ground turkey patty, toppings and a whole wheat bun.  I decided to go with the Mushroom Swiss Turkey Burger because that was my favorite variety of Hardee's hamburger growing up and I want to see how it translated. 

When I have had turkey burgers in the past I found them to be rather dry so I have to say going in I didn't really have high expectations.  However, expectations aside this turkey burger was just plain delicious.  The patty was of a good size, the 2 pieces of Swiss were nicely melted, it had a fair amount of mushrooms and the wheat bun was soft and pillowy.  I found the burger to be adequately juicy with plenty of flavor.  The mushroom sauce and cheese really helped in that regard.  I got the burger only and skipped the fries.  This kept my lunch at a reasonable 480 calories, and to be honest with you I found it perfectly filling.  I would have no trouble ordering the turkey burger again over the regular burger even if I wasn't considering calories at all.

Taste 8/10  Not just above my expectations, but above average taste overall.
Value 5/10  I at first experienced a bit of sticker shock paying 4 dollars for just a burger, but I quickly  realized it's just a normal price for a specialty fast food burger.  I'm just not used to going the non-combo route.

Fast Food Memoriam: The Hardee's Big Cookie

Some of my fondest childhood memories stem from the days when my mother would take me over to my grandma's so she could babysit me while mom my worked.  Often times either on our way to my grandparents house or on the way home in the afternoon my mom would stop and get me a special treat.  That treat was the Big Cookie from Hardee's.  That oversized, soft, warm chocolate chip cookie never ceased to bring a smile to my face.  It is with great sadness that I lament its passing.  I hadn't thought much about it in years until it came in conversation today, and I was incredibly disappointed that you can no longer stop into your local Hardee's and pick one up.  All of the Hardee's locations in Muncie where I grew up are closed and gone and have been for years.  You can't even get a Hardee's burger where I grew up let alone my favorite childhood treat.  When Hardee's did their menu overhaul several years ago some things were bound to get lost in the shuffle for the sake of making an overall better menu.  It's just unfortunate that the Big Cookie had to be one of those casualties of the corporate battlefield.  What are some of your favorite no longer in existence fast food menu items?  I have a feeling there are several out there that might be worth blogging about.  Also, I wasn't able to find any pictures of the Big Cookie and the Big Cookie pouch that it came in so if anybody can find one on the googles or somewhere else let me know.

The Hardee Breakfast Platter and Caramel Crumb Biscuit

If you've read this blog from the beginning you probably know that I'm generally a fan of Hardee's.  Since the chain began it's revamping in the mid 2000s I think they put out pretty quality/tasty food for a reasonable price compared to other fast food chains.  It has been awhile since I had tried any of their breakfast items, and they are running some new promotions so I thought it might be time to see how they stack up.

Hardee's, in the past, had been known as having a good breakfast menu.  Their "made-from-scratch" biscuits are a cornerstone of that and still are to this day.  However, while trying to rebuild the brand it seems they had been focusing on improving their burger and chicken items without really marketing breakfast that heavily.  Their focus has apparently switched.  They are now enthusiastically promoting the Hardee(intentional named without the 's) Breakfast Platter, and caramel crumb biscuit.  Those just happen to be the two items I ordered. 

The breakfast platter is one of their biscuits with a cup of their sausage gravy, 1 folded/scrambled egg, 2 pieces of bacon and hash browns all for $2.49.  My first impression was that it was quite a bit of food.  The biscuit was fresh and hot just as I remembered when I would get them when I was a kid.  The gravy was not exceptional, but it was still better than other fast food white gravies I have had.  The egg was nice and soft and didn't taste like it was frozen or made well in advance.  The hash browns were the round version of tater tots that you are probably already familiar with.  They had a nice crunch and I love them with ketchup.  The bacon (2 strips) was a let down.  It was no worse than any other fast food bacon you get on a sandwich, but if you're going to serve it by itself as part of a meal I at least want some crispness.  This bacon was thin and rubbery.  The real kicker here is the price.  At $2.49 cents you don't need to add any thing else to your order to get full, and considering how tasty it was I was very impressed. 

The caramel crumb biscuit is also something that has peaked my interest since its debut last October.  Even though adding it to my already sizable meal was pushing the limits of the amount of food I was able to consume I forged ahead.  It consists of one of Hardee's trademark "made-from-scratch" biscuits covered in both a light caramel sauce and a glaze similar to what might be on a yeast donut or one of Hardee's cinnamon-raisin biscuits.  Sprinkled on top are crumbs that if I had to guess are a mixture of crushed graham cracker and brown sugar.  You might at first think this item sounds cloyingly sweet, but you would be wrong.  The sweetness of the toppings is balanced well by the savory biscuit.  I will say the "crumb" topping didn't add a lot of flavor or texture, but overall this was delicious.  I think I could probably eat one of these every day and not get tired of them for some time.  At 99 cents for 1 or $1.69 for 2 I think they are reasonably priced. 

Hardee Breakfast Platter

Taste:  7.5/10  The items included didn't blow me away, but they were just a shade better than other fast food breakfast fare.  I deducted half a point for the bacon.

Value:  10/10  $2.49 for basically an entire breakfast that was filling and pretty darn good is an incredible deal in my opinion.  Including the biscuit I bought and a small coffee my total bill was still under 5 bucks.

Caramel Crumb Biscuit

Taste:  9/10   I think Hardee's biscuits are some of the best around, and if you like sweet treats for breakfast I think it would be hard to find one better than this.

Value:  8/10    No problem with the price point, and I liked what I got.

(biscuit pic courtesy of restaurant news.com)

Hardee's Hand-breaded Chicken Tenders or How I stopped worrying about bringing my lunch to work and started eating awesomeness

So a couple of days ago I found myself in a predicament that thrusts itself upon me from time to time.  I had brought my lunch, Thai peanut noodles(perhaps to be covered in a future blog), but I wasn't terribly interested in eating them when lunch time rolled around.  In the past in an effort to save money I have swallowed my pride in these matters and choked down whatever mediocre food item I had packed in my lunchbox plastic Wal-Mart bag of awesomeness.  However, on this particular day due to working some substantial overtime I had a little change in my pocket and I decided to go out for lunch.  Man am I glad I did.

I was in the mood for some tasty fried chicken.  KFC was out due to my personal vendetta against them(definitely to be covered on another day) and trying to access the McDonald's on  the other side of 82nd St at lunch time is more effort than I wanted to put in.  That left Hardee's and their new hand-breaded chicken tenders.  Much has been written about these on various other food blogs around the interwebs with mixed reviews, but my opinion being that Hardee's generally puts out a fairly high quality product I decided to try them out for myself.

The first thing I noticed was the cost.  The combo with 5 tenders, fries and a drink was around 7 bucks.  Even before tasting the food I thought this was more than reasonable and comparable to almost any other fast food restaurant's chicken tenders.  However, the thing that I simply could not believe was the quality of the product.  I decided to start this blog after having ate the meal so I apologize for not having a picture, but the tenders were quite sizable, juicy, and fresh in both taste and the amount of time they spent out of the fryer before being served.  The color was a nice golden brown and the breading was light and crispy being more similar to KFC's Original Recipe than the frozen strips that you would get at someplace like DQ or Arby's.  This allowed for the juiciness of the chicken to come through more.  I chose to dip these in their honey mustard sauce, but even if they had forgot to put the sauce in the bag it still would have been a tasty meal.  The bottom line...Hardee's promises in their commercials that their chicken tenders will taste better than their fast food competitors' because Hardee's are fresh and not frozen.  I wholeheartedly agree.

Taste:  If I'm comparing with other fast food joints these are a 9 or 10 on scale of 10.  If I compare them to most fast causual places they probably still rate an 8  or 9 only losing points because of the smaller portion size.
Value:  10/10.  I was fuller, more satisfied and no lighter in the wallet if I had bought a comparable product.
Randomness:  7/10 It wasn't exactly fried chicken bought out of some guys trunk in a gas station parking lot, but come on it's Hardee's.  Most people probably don't even know they still exist as a chain.