A ‘breakfast burger’ for the diet-weary

Pity the chefs at fast-food headquarters who must constantly expand their breakfast menus. On occasion they’ll create something alien and new (witness the bizarre maple pancake bun on the McGriddle), but more often, they’re just redecorating. Pick two from column A: sausage, bacon, cheese, egg; and one from B: English muffin, bagel, tortilla.

Carl’s Jr. has revamped its morning menu in recent months, adding a deluxe breakfast burrito and a low-carb breakfast bowl. Its newest entry is as edible as it is inspired. It’s not much of either.

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Carl’s Jr. Breakfast Burger

Taste

**

Just like a bacon cheeseburger, but here’s the twist: out with yucky lettuce and tomato; in with fried egg and fried potatoes! The good news is the fried egg is really yummy -- salty, slightly greasy and flat like a fried egg should be, not a white-and-yellow McPuck. The bad news is it’s also stuffed with those tiny tater tots they have the audacity to call “hash brown nuggets.”

Diet Watch

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Who says breakfast can’t be the only meal of the day. This 830-calorie bad boy has 46 grams of fat and 65 grams of carbohydrates all by itself. Order a combo (coffee and, yes, even more “hash brown nuggets”) and you’ll be at 1,162 calories, 67 grams of fat and 97 grams of carbs. Throw in a couple of packets of ketchup, and you’d better skip lunch.

Portability

****

This burger may not be easy to love, but it’s surprisingly easy to hold. Shake it and nothing comes loose, not even the potato nuggets, because their rough edges embed themselves into the bun.

Hype-o-meter

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The slogan -- “It’s a Coffee Shop Breakfast Plate on a Bun” -- is more unwieldy than the burger itself. Granted, it shouldn’t be taken literally, but don’t you picture an actual plate from a coffee shop jutting out of your burger? You will now.

* Ratings are on a scale of one (lowest) to four (best).