Lent is officially here, which means it is too fast food fish sandwich season. It’s time to celebrate the return of Popeyes fried flounder and Culver’s walleye, but with the reigning champions, someone has to introduce something new. In this case, it’s Burger King, which recently released a spicy offering: the Fiery Big Fish Sandwich.
The new menu item features a panko-breaded square of Alaskan pollock doused in Burger King’s triple-pepper spicy glaze, served on a brioche bun with tartar sauce, pickles and lettuce. While I am not a practitioner of Lent myself, I am do love me fried fish, so I visited my nearby Burger King location to see if this new sandwich was worthy of any spring praise.
What does Burger King’s new Fiery Big Fish Sandwich taste like?
First, I have to hand it to whoever made my sandwich, because it looks so well made. It’s well assembled, nothing falls out, and it doesn’t look like an elephant is sitting on it. Gotta give credit where it’s due!
I have one initial gripe with the Fiery Big Fish sandwich, which Burger King claims is panko-breaded pollock. If it is, it certainly doesn’t look like it. Anything fried with panko usually has a variegated, mottled outer texture that looks almost fluffy (think of what Japanese tonkatsu), while this square fish looks batter-dipped. I think the word “panko” is mostly marketed here to make Burger King sound more interesting than it is.
Second of all, the fish filet itself was very thin. We had this complaint about its sister sandwich, the Big Fish, in our previous fish sandwich rankings, where it sank almost at the bottom of the list. If it’s called Big Fish, it’s setting a high bar for itself. My first bite confirmed that there was almost no fish in this thing, and it made it feel like Burger King was pandering to a Lenten audience it didn’t really care for.
Finally, while the pepper glaze on the fish filet adds great flavor, it is primarily oil-based (eg crispy chilies), which makes the sandwich heavy and extra greasy for something that big. The sweet tartar sauce manages to cut through all that salt, and the pickles add some bite, but the need for multiple napkins to clean up afterwards isn’t very appealing—at least not if you’re a car eaterbecause your steering wheel is so greasy.
Should you buy the Fiery Big Fish Sandwich from Burger King?
There is one upside to this thing, and that is its price. I’m happy to say that Fiery Big Fish is an affordable $3.99 at my location. To put this into perspective, a standalone Whopper is $5.69, and Burger King’s limited-time sandwich, the Candied Bacon Whopper, is an eye-watering $6.99. (The Filet-O-Fish at McDonald’s down the street is $4.79.)
So the price is good, although the small portion of fish is a bit disappointing. If you’re a price shopper looking for a fish sandwich, this can be done in a pinch. But in terms of its execution, I find myself thinking I’d be happier with almost anything off the Burger King menu—which is why I can’t recommend you go out of your way to get the Fiery Big Fish.
Fish sandwich lovers, you’re better off heading to Popeyes or Culver’s and shelling out the extra cash (if you’re willing to spend it) for their excellent Lenten menu offerings. As they say, there are more fish in the sea.
