I will throw myself in front of a lightsaber to save adorable little Baby Yoda, aka Grogu, the super-cute little Star Wars baby. (Yes, I know he’s actually in his 50s, but to his alien race, that’s toddler age.) So when Burger King unveiled menu items and meals promoting the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu movie on Monday, Star Wars Day, I was thrilled. Until I tasted them.
Read more: ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Sneak Peeks Hit Theaters and Disney Plus on Star Wars Day
King Jr. Kids’ Meals: Toy time
Burger King’s kids’ meal is called a King Jr. Meal, but if you want a Mandalorian and Grogu toy of any kind, this is The Way. You won’t get one by ordering the themed items separately or in an adult meal.
The kids’ meal includes a standard hamburger, cheeseburger or 4- or 6-chicken nugget entree, small fries, applesauce and apple juice, plus one of eight themed toys.
Here’s what was in my King Jr. Meal.
The toy variations (you get one at random) include two versions of Grogu, two of The Mandalorian himself, a Stormtrooper, an AT-RT driver, the Razor Crest spaceship and the Lasat rebel Zeb Orrelios. I was hoping for Grogu or Mando, but ended up with the Razor Crest, kind of a meh offering.
The toy itself is a plastic miniature mounted on a base with a blue plastic shell halfway around it. There’s no movement, or light-up feature, or anything special, so dare I say the toys are not worth it? Plus, didn’t everyone really want Mando or Grogu anyway? Was anyone out there clamoring for an AT-RT driver, or Zeb Orrelios?
The meal itself was awfully meh. Do kids really want both applesauce and apple juice? You can select a different drink if you don’t mind paying more.
The Mandalorian’s ship, the Razor Crest, is one of the toys available in the kids’ meals.
I saw some people on social media with Mandalorian-themed paper crowns. Paper crowns have been a Burger King standby for a long time. I wasn’t offered a crown with my meal, but if you ask, you might score yourself one.
The King Jr. Meal comes in a Mandalorian and Grogu-themed box. An apple juice is included, or you can pay extra to substitute a different drink.
Adult menu items: Blue cookie shake and more
If you don’t want to order a kids’ meal, there are several themed Mando and Grogu items for adults. They don’t come with toys (excuse me — “collectibles”), which seems like a missed opportunity.
Place your order via the Burger King phone app, and there’s a whole section of meals in every combination. I ordered the Bounty Bundle in order to try everything, but be warned: It cost more than $28 at my local Seattle BK.
The Bounty Bundle included a BBQ Bounty Whopper (burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and barbecue sauce), Grogu’s Garlic Chicken Fries with garlic dipping sauce, Imperial Cheddar Ranch Tots and Grogu’s Blue Cookie Shake, which blends soft-serve with blue sugar cookie syrup and tops it off with blue cookies. The cookie crumbs did not look blue, but I’m just gonna go with it.
BBQ Bounty Whopper: Pickle chips rule
The best thing about the BBQ Bounty Whopper is the ranch-seasoned pickle chips, which they sprinkle on there pretty generously. They’re crunchy and a bit spicy, with a pickle tang. The very mild, creamy BBQ sauce is pretty forgettable, and the rest of the burger is just standard.
The BBQ Bounty Whopper is topped with Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, crispy pickle chips and a creamy BBQ sauce.
Grogu’s blue cookie shake: Want to drink frosting?
In a classic scene from The Mandalorian, Grogu steals a kid’s blue cookies and eats them up. There’s a famous meme of him snacking on them. (He later barfs them back up on the Razor Crest, urp!)
Try not to think about the urp-ing when you try Grogu’s blue cookie shake, which blends soft-serve with blue sugar cookie syrup and tops it off with cookie crumbs.
Grogu’s blue cookie shake comes with cookie crumbs sprinkled on top.
Grogu’s blue cookie shake is a lovely sky blue in color and tastes exactly like how I think a melted tub of vanilla frosting would taste. Only you know whether that is something you want to drink or not. I’m a frosting fan, but even I could only drink maybe a quarter of it.
Grogu’s blue cookie shake is a lovely sky blue in color.
Imperial Cheddar Ranch Tots: Flat and dry
There are two side dishes that come with the Bounty Bundle. Imperial Cheddar Ranch Tots are flat tater tots with a minuscule amount of cheese inside and ranch-seasoned batter.
I did not love either of these side dishes. It bugged me that the tots were round and flat, not barrel-shaped like tater tots. They were also dry and not very cheesy.
The Imperial Cheddar Ranch Tots aren’t especially cheesy.
Grogu garlic chicken fries: The sauce is the best part
I didn’t dig the Grogu garlic chicken fries, either. They’re supposedly crispy white meat chicken fries seasoned with parmesan and garlic, but if you had told me they were just breading shaped into fries, I would have believed you. They were tough and chewy, and it was difficult to tell that they even had chicken in them.
They did come with garlic dipping sauce, which was mild and helped cover up the toughness of the fries. Also, I noticed that the drive-thru customer in front of me ordered a 12-piece, so people must like them.
Grogu’s Garlic Chicken Fries were pretty dry and unexciting.
Collectible cups: Hey! I didn’t get one!
Supposedly, you can nab one of four collectible cups by ordering one of three combos. The cups come in maroon, black, green and navy.
But I went through the drive-thru, and even though I ordered one of the related combos, my BK employee must’ve forgotten to hand me the collectible cup that came with my meal. Since the shake comes in a clear plastic cup with Grogu on it, I didn’t notice that I wasn’t handed an extra, empty drinking vessel.
So if a collectible cup is part of the fun for you, don’t leave the drive-thru until you get yours.
Overall, I was really disappointed in the Burger King Mandalorian promotion. Get the blue cookie shake, and if your kid likes BK’s food, they can try for one of the better included toys. But Burger King had much better entertainment-related items in its SpongeBob SquarePants meal.