Carl’s Jr

My favorite fast food chain in Singapore!
Honestly, I am considering to give them 4 stars but it fails my 4-​star test: would I go out of my way to eat here? Not really but I love it! However, I feel that 4 stars for a cookie cutter fast food chain is over the top as they there is little real cooking involved, they just follow the corporate guidelines.
But in Carls Jr case these corporate guidelines result in something super yummy, this is definitely one of my guilty pleasures and whenever I am at Vivocity (or Jurong Point) I am tempted to get a Thickburger and fries.
What makes them better than Burger King or Mikey D’s? First of all: the size of the burger, it is not a tiny affair, a meal at Carl’s Jr always fills me up to the rim. Secondly: the quality of the burger, arguably there are better gourmet burgers available throughout Singapore but for fast food this is as good as it gets. I can really taste the grilled flavor. Thirdly and certainly in no means last: the condiment bar and soda fountain, they offer free flow salsa (both chunky and smooth), jalapeños and sauces. The only thing I am missing is ranch –but I eat ranch with everything so it might just be me who wants ranch*! The free flow soda fountain offers a wide selection of drinks way more than other chains.
I love the super messy burger and fries drenched with salsa and jalapeños so three stars and major thumbs up!
*DISCOVERY OF THE DAY: you can ask for ranch when ordering and they’ll hand you a tub of ranch for free!

Guilty pleasure but somehow I associate VivoCity with Carl’s Jr and end up grabbing a burger here more times than I care to admit.
I don’t remember them having fried zucchini in the past as I believe I’ve asked the cashiers before only to blank stares. They have them on the menu now and will even happily upgrade your fries to zucchinis as part of the combo meal for only $ 1.60 or something reasonable. It even comes with ranch dressing. Fried zucchini and ranch dressing go together like peanut butter and jelly, kaya and toast… who came up with this brilliant combination? Carl’s Jr? If so, I praise you sir Carl.

I ordered the portobello mushroom burger, and I shudder at the cost.
The burger was a lot worse than I remembered — I think the quality must have backtracked a fair bit. The patty was overly greasy, and there was a lot less mushroom than I remembered.
I don’t eat much fast food, and this burger reminded me why. ‘Nuff said.

amazingly, I found the quality similar but loses the star b/​c of the ultra-​expensiveness!
yes i get it, it’s not like beef grows on trees here… but boy, $ 15 for a combo for their special meat! i get this 33% cheaper lol.
but the spaceness really wows me here, plenty of seating, and feels hip to be here. even despite how expensive real estate it is in asia, these guys sure don’t miss a beat.