Have been almost completly vegetarian for the last 4 and a half years and was pretty much a carnivore before that, so I feel this is as unbiased of an opinion as is possible.
The Beyond, Gardien, Impossible, etc fake chicken have more flavor, nearly indistinguishable texture, are just as juicy, and aren’t greasy. At this point, I consider them better than regular chicken with the sole exception of fried chicken which was never my favorite but I can see the appeal of it.
I’ll concede that the beef substitutes have a ways to go (I like them and they’re not bad but they’re not fooling anyone, either) but they’re not the subject of this opinion.
They have more flavor but the flavor isn’t chicken… Despite being called chicken. My main issue with imitation meats is just that they won’t be honest about what they are… If it’s a flakey tofu or something of a certain style just name it that, why call it the thing people are trying to avoid?
firstly, culture, specifically cooking culture is very much based around 4 main protein types, beef chicken lamb and pork. when cooking you want something easy and obvious to substitute, so you pick the thing labeled the thing you want.
also, most people don’t stop eating meat because it tastes bad, they stop eating it because it’s inherently cruel and a huge burden on the world’s fragile ecosystem. of course i still want a juicy steak, but morality gets in the way and i compromise.