Freshly-launched pretzel burger a tough sell

Time magazine dubbed it 2013's burger of the year, and yesterday it was launched across New Zealand in Wendy's outlets including Gate Pa shopping centre.

The Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger is made up of an artisan pretzel bun, beef pattie, bacon, cheese, cheese sauce, honey dijon mustard, spring salad mix, tomato and red onion.

Three Bay of Plenty Times Weekend reporters tried the burger and have shared their thoughts:

Kiri Gillespie:
"It has been more than two hours and I can still taste the Pretzel Burger in my mouth. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. On the first bite, you could safely say I wasn't a fan of the new 'it' burger from Wendy's. But the more I ate, the nicer it became. The fancy pretzel bread (which is nothing like the salty, crunchy bar snacks I'm used to) was particularly good. And the meat pattie and salad were fine. But drowning it all in a
strange cheese or mustard sauce was probably a little over-zealous. All in all, the burger was tasty but the sauce meant it was way too greasy for me to enjoy having again."

Sonya Bateson:
"I was not impressed when I opened the box and saw the dark, glazed bun and the sauce spilling everywhere. The burger smelled great though, so I dived in and was pleasantly surprised. The bun had a slightly sweet taste and was enjoyable, although really greasy. I'm not a huge fan of mince patties and usually avoid Wendy's for this reason so this is a burger I won't be in a hurry to buy again."

Rebecca Savory:
"Once I managed to navigate my fingers through the excessive sauce and grease and locate the edge of the burger, it was a mixed experience. As a big pretzel fan I was quite excited to try the new bun but was quite overwhelmed by the multiple flavours inside that I didn't really notice it. For Wendy's burger fans I think it will be very popular as the pattie and salad were nice, however, I was hoping its point of difference bun would've featured on my taste buds a bit more. I think I will stick to regular pretzels in future and save myself the heart attack and $8.90 set-back."

Street View: What are your thoughts on the new pretzel burger? Have you, or would you try it?

"I haven't tried it. I reckon their Kiwiburger is the best of the lot. Would take a lot to beat it.''

- Marcus Unsworth, 52, Gate Pa

"I got an email saying it was voted the best burger. I came to try it but I assumed they didn't have it because there was no sign.''

- Zoe Knapp, 21, Greerton

"I saw it on Facebook that the burger was coming today and I wanted to try it but didn't get it because there wasn't a sign.''

- Indya Wilson, 20, Greerton

"I wouldn't eat that. Pretzels are German and burgers are American. It doesn't sound right.''

- Siobhan Place, 17, Omokoroa

"I would definitely try it because it's different. I like both pretzels and burgers so I'd like to try them together.''

- Becky Tarr, 16, Oropi