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)