When Chick-fil-A announced that they were bringing the Cauliflower Sandwich to their menu at select locations, the first thing I did was look up to see if it was available in my area. Unfortunately, the closest Chick-fil-A location selling them was in North Carolina, and I couldn’t justify driving around four hours to just grab a sandwich.
Luckily for me, I did have another reason to head to North Carolina — my friend’s graduation. As I packed my bags to see my friend graduate from graduate school, I calculated how long a detour to get the Cauliflower Sandwich—just another hour to my drip, which was more than worth it. So, thank you to my friend for going to school in North Carolina. I’m sure I will swing by again (and hopefully there will be another limited-edition item that I can get on the trip).
In any case, I’m sure that these sandwiches are going to drop to all restaurants soon for a limited time. But here’s my unsolicited review of the sandwiches.
The Cauliflower Chick-fil-A Sandwich isn’t vegan
First things first. The Cauliflower Chick-fil-A sandwich isn’t vegan or vegetarian. According to the product information website, it can't be considered vegan because the sandwich is made with eggs and milk. It is also prepared on the same surface as the regular sandwich, which means cross-contamination makes it not safe for vegetarians.
From far away, I probably couldn't tell the difference between a regular or cauliflower sandwich. But maybe that's because my eyes are terrible.
This came as a massive shock to me since I thought the point of having these alternative “meat” sandwiches was to allow for more diversity in clientele. Why would Chick-fil-A create a seemingly vegetarian sandwich when vegetarians can’t even safely eat them? I honestly have no idea. It does have 90 fewer calories than its original counterpart, but the grilled chicken sandwich has even fewer calories than the cauliflower version. So, even if you were going for a healthier option, why would you go for cauliflower instead of grilled?
It honestly makes no sense to me. If someone could explain this to me other than it being a marketing play, I’d greatly appreciate it. This seriously just shouldn’t exist.
Cauliflower Chick-fil-A Sandwich: Mediocre at Best
Here’s the thing. I knew going into the sandwich that I would be disappointed by the flavors. Like most test items, they always seem to be a fad that tends to be great to try for one time and no more. This sandwich was no different.
On a superficial level, the sandwich looks exactly the same as a regular chicken sandwich.
I really wished that I enjoyed the experience of the Cauliflower Sandwich more, but the reality is that the sandwich crumbles in your mouth, and while the initial taste of the sandwich does mimic the original sandwich well, the aftertaste is completely cauliflower.
Is now a good time to mention that I abhor the taste of cauliflower?
I was glad that I ordered a drink and fries to mask the flavor of the cauliflower. And poured a lot of my favorite Honey Mustard sauce onto the sandwich. In the end, it did deliver on the promises that it gave in its press release. I was surprised that they mimicked the flavors so well, I just wished that it could have remained for longer.
Maybe one day, they’ll be able to master the flavors that they were going for, but I believe that they are going to release this version nationwide, much to my chagrin.
As a note, the consistency between the cauliflower patties was also pretty jarring. I bought two sandwiches because I thought I would have one on the road, but the second patty ended up being around half of the size.
Just a very upsetting to unveil the sandwich on the right.
I mean, I'm not sure what kind of quality control was implemented since these aren't available nationwide yet, but I was expecting the patties to have at least the same consistency in size. Hopefully, when it releases nationwide, we'll see that all the patties will come in the same size.
Wash It Down: Watermelon Mint Sunjoy — a Non-Alcoholic Mojito
Usually, I don’t get anything to drink at Chick-fil-A because everything is too expensive, and I prefer drinking water. But I made an exception for the Watermelon Mint Sunjoy because I had another five hour drive home, and I was going to make my visit worth it. And what better way to start off the drive than with a refreshing mint drink.
It did have a very pretty hue. Too bad that's all it had going for it.
And the one thing that I can say is that it tasted exactly like a non-alcoholic mojito. I’ve only had a few mojitos at home since my mom grows mint over the summer, and this drink reminded me a lot of the scuffed mojitos that we made with them. I was a bit upset that the watermelon taste didn’t come out as strong as I would have liked. I would have even settled for a hint of watermelon, but the majority of the drink felt like a really minty lemonade.
I’m wondering if I got a bad batch or something? But I will probably never get it again, so I guess I’ll never know.
Final Rating
Chick-fil-A Cauliflower Chicken Sandwich: 6/10
Watermelon Mint Sunjoy: 4/10