VEGAN substitutes for fast-food favourites have become a booming market over the last decade.
Millions of hungry health and animal-conscious people around the globe have made the decision to do away with meat and eat ethically-sourced replacements.
As such, the market for vegan fast food alternatives has exploded over the last few years.
Several celebrities and athletes have embraced the plant-based lifestyle, including Formula One icon Lewis Hamilton – who stopped eating meat in 2017.
And the Stevenage speedster drove headfirst into the market at breakneck speed four years ago with a major investment in a meat-free burger chain – Neat Burger.
Hamilton – along with Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio – invested a huge amount of capital in the London-based chain to "make plant-based eating more accessible to everyone."
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And it's now valued at a whopping £80MILLION following investment from former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Neat Burger's alternatives to your regular burgers have received rave reviews.
So much so, that I – perhaps the biggest meat-lover on the planet – thought I'd see what all the hype was about.
So I popped along to the chain's Canary Wharf branch on my lunch break to broaden my horizons and my pallet.
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I was immediately impressed by the look of the restaurant, which had a colour scheme straight out of Miami Vice.
In keeping with the new age of fast food restuarant, Neat Burger has done away with traditional waiters in favour of electronic self-service menus.
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And it was there I was able to select what looked to be the closest thing to a double cheeseburger – my go-to when I want to indulge in a burger.
That came in the form of the 'Smash Daddy' burger, which is comprised of two 'Neat' patties, onions and is covered with melted cheese.
The burger – which I upgraded to a meal deal for a reasonably priced £11.99 – was topped off with a generous slathering of Neat, mustard and stack sauce.
The brightly-coloured dine-in area served as the perfect distraction from the questions swirling through my head as I patiently waited forthe arrival of my first-ever order of vegan food
Why am I trying this? What I ordered looks like a burger, but will it taste like one?
And, most importantly, will it live up to the hype?
It didn’t take long – less than ten minutes in fact – for my questions to be answered.
The presentation of the burger and chips were better than that of most fast-food chains.
And much to my surprise, the taste was exactly the same – if not better than most traditional burgers.
As a once regular frequenter of McDonald's to cure my hangovers of yesteryear, I know a thing or two about fast-food burgers.
So I'm very well placed to say it blows Maccies' iconic and beloved cheeseburger out of the water – and then some.
A tidal wave of flavours hit me seconds after my gnashers cut through the delectable brioche bun and pierced the soft and tender patty.
To get a true taste for the patty – the combination of mung beans, quinoa, and chickpeas – I broke off and nibbled on a small sauce-less morsel.
That small and soft bite accentuated the wave of flavours and amazing texture I experienced just a few moments earlier.
I went into my maiden indulgence of vegan food adamant that no plant-based alternative could ever replicate the taste of a 'real' burger or convince me to consume less meat.
But I’ll happily admit that I’ll no longer pigheadedly – pardon the pun – close myself off to vegan alternatives.
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My only complaint, however, was the amount of salt on the skinny fries which accompanied the delicious burger – although that's easily rectifiable.
For those of you who have dedicated yourself to the vegan lifestyle, or if you're a burger aficionado who wants to switch things up, I can safely say the Hamilton-backed burger joints are the ideal pit stop for some quick grub.
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