Hanks Dirty – Vegan Big Mac Alternative in Colchester

Sadly, Hanks Dirty is no longer in Colchester.

Hanks Dirty still lives on though, now under new owners in Ipswich, so it’s still worth checking them out. Hopefully I’ll get over there at some point.

This post is from when I was craving that Big Mac flavour, so I went to Hanks Dirty in Colchester city centre — still not used to calling Colchester a city — to try their vegan Big Mac alternative, The Big Hanks.

Hanks Dirty was a vegan fast food restaurant, but they also offered some healthier options like a Buddha bowl, falafel, and a range of salads.

I personally loved their falafel, and I do miss that option on the delivery apps. They used to do more of a deli range, which sadly wasn’t on there anymore, but you could still order the falafel in-store.

The Big Hanks cost £8.50, which is pricier than a real Big Mac, but McDonald’s can obviously afford to make theirs cheaper. That’s probably why people end up going there as well.

Taste-wise, it was very close to a Big Mac. I actually think it may have had more sauce than the real one, which isn’t exactly a complaint. It was tasty, and I really enjoyed it.

It definitely sorted my Big Mac fix.

I also added £4 for the meal, because I enjoy having chips, salad, and coleslaw with it. I added the bacon salt to my chips too, which made them very nice.

I’d been to Hanks Dirty before and usually ordered from them on the delivery apps. I’d been a customer since 2020, back in the pandemic days. Even when I was still eating meat, I liked having a vegan day or two each week.

I knew the menu quite well and had tried a number of things from it, but there were still plenty more options to get through. It was a big menu, which is not ideal for people like me who are already bad at deciding.

My personal favourites

Rodeo Burger
Doner Kebab — to be honest, all the kebabs were good
Chick’n & Ribz Combo
Chilli Cheese Dog

They also had a good range of drinks, including milkshakes, smoothies, coffees, soft drinks, non-alcoholic beer, and alcoholic beer.

I never had an order go wrong from Hanks Dirty, and the food always tasted good, which is probably why I kept going back.

If you were nearby at the time, it was definitely worth checking out.