Bottom Line: The Spicy Crispy Chicken Royale is not high on the heat level, but it delivers a tasty sandwich that is worth trying (if you can find one).
The Chicken Sandwich Wars are getting series because we have already had a casualty among the permanent menu items. Burger King’s Ch’King sandwich is off the board as apparently it wasn’t bringing in enough people to the drive thru. But the King had its replacement already ready and the Spicy Crispy Chicken Royal is now on the marque. I have to say that I am getting a bit tired of chicken sandwiches, but that’s not slowing me down as I continue to hit the trenches and sample all these poultry products that the fast food industry keeps putting out there. (It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.)
Here is the description of the new spicy sandwich from the BK website:
Crispy white meat breast fillet coated with our triple pepper spicy glaze, topped with savory sauce, lettuce and juicy tomatoes on a toasted potato bun.
Whereas before the King was apparently trying to compete with Popeyes with a thick filet sandwich, now it is going back to the standard meat, lettuce, and tomato format. But despite that, the piece of chicken is still pretty hefty and fills out the bun.
They refer to the seasoning as a “peppery glaze”, but it seemed more like a heavy coating of spices than a glaze to me. That drives the flavor, though, with a strong peppery bite (more black pepper than chili pepper) and notes of Cajun spice. While the crust is not super crispy, it still has some crunch and good texture. The lettuce and tomato add some freshness but dilute the spices a bit. Still, I am okay with those additions so that I can assure my mom that I am eating my vegetables. As a change of pace are no pickles on this sandwich, but that is not missed here. The “savory sauce” adds some creaminess, but it is not much different from mayonnaise and I am not sure it is worth the calories. The bun is pretty standard fast food fare but holds everything together well enough.
The heat is maybe just a little beyond the Mild level. But the peppery spices boost up the flavor and make this worth getting again. Next time I will get it with mustard instead of the sauce which should work well with the spices to enhance the heat level. I will also ask for jalapenos which should get this to at least Medium level heat.
But will this one make up for the loss of the Ch’King?
Well, it’s fine with me. I only got the prior sandwich a couple of times (in fact, when I did my review they had not even dubbed it “Ch’King” yet), and I enjoyed it but didn’t count it as one of my favorite spicy chicken sammies. Given a choice between the Ch’King and Popeyes, I would go with the latter. The newer sandwich does not bring as much heat, but taste-wise I would say it is better. And I like the lettuce and tomato added as a change of pace. The Spicy Chicken Royale will actually be moving BK up in the chicken sammie rankings that I am going to be getting to at some point.
Calorie-wise, the Ch’King previously topped that category among the spicy chicken sandwiches which is not necessarily a good thing. It stretched the belt with 950 cals whereas the newer sammie is notably lower at 605.2. (They are getting pretty precise with the 0.2 added!) Note that at one point on their website it shows the calories as 784, but when you go to the detail info it shows the 605 number. I’m going with the lower of two and not asking too many questions!
Allegedly, The Chicken Royale sandwiches are replacing the Ch’King on the permanent menu. But “permanent” is a very non-permanent status with fast food establishments. In fact, it does not look like they are available to order online in my area, so BK may have pulled a Taco Bell and run out of ingredients to make them. If they are available near you, get one while you still can. I wish they would just do a spicy version of their original chicken sandwich and be done with it. Sure, that is a ground chicken patty, but it is a fast food classic and still quite good. And I’m not pulling into the BK drive thru looking for gourmet food.
Tale of the Tape:
Calories: 605.2
Fat: 33.1g (5g Sat/0.1g Trans)
Protein: 30.1g
Carbs: 54.4g
Sodium: 1331.2mg