The Beyond Burger
€7 for two burgers
Before we talk about anything else we have to talk about the vegan elephant in the room. That's the price. These burgers cost €3.50 a pop which seems wildly expensive to us no matter what class of alchemy has gone into the making of the product. If we are going to pay more than three quid for a burger we want it to have stood on four legs and have been fed a diet of beer and organic corn while being gently massaged daily by Japanese farmers. Price aside, we were surprised by how good this tasted. Generally speaking we don't like products that try and replicate meat because invariably the end result disappoints. This burger looks a lot like a real burger, it has the texture of meat and it even tastes meaty. We're not sure we'd go back for seconds but the makers deserve credit for their invention.
Verdict: Peculiar but not terrible
Star rating: * * *
Birds Eye Veggie Quarter Pounders
€2 for four burgers
This is a very old-school veggie burger that makes absolutely no attempt to look like an actual burger and we think that is very much to its credit. It is, basically, just some mashed up vegetables – including potato, carrot, peas and sweetcorn, which are coated in a breadcrumby mix and moulded into a burger shape. It is salty comfort food and very processed but, while we are not entirely convinced that it should form a regular part of a wholesome diet, it was pretty pleasant and we'd be happy enough to eat it again. At 50 cent a patty, these burgers are also pleasingly cheap.
Verdict: Pleasingly old school
Star rating: * * *
Lord of Tofu's Tofu Burger Star
€2.30 for one burger
The thing we liked most about this tofu burger – apart from the name – was the instructions encouraging us to "heat the burger shortly". We did heat the burger shortly. And then we ate it quickly. Or at least we at some of it. We stopped after a couple of bites because we weren't mad about its texture or flavour. It was too light and too airy and ever so slightly spongy. It tasted nothing like the real thing although it did look quite like a burger. When sitting in a burger bun with all the trimmings and slathered with ketchup it would probably be grand but it is not something we'd be overly excited to eat again. At €2.30 for a single burger, it seemed pricey to us.
Verdict: Disappointing
Star rating: * *
Marks and Spencer Plant Kitchen
€3.70 for two burgers
These chickpea and sweetcorn burgers are excellent and a whole lot more wholesome than than many of the veggie burgers we have eaten in the past. They have a nice spicy kick to them and a pleasingly dense texture. Many veggie burgers are unsubstantial and leave you wanting more but these are fairly filling and the only reason you might find yourself wanting more is because they taste so good.
Verdict: Veggie nice
Star rating: * * * *
