Category: International

77 Burger, Lower Manhattan, New York

Posted in Bacon, International, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Well done, in more ways than one

Burger source

I was on the way to the Staten Island Ferry with the family – the view of the Statue of Liberty and, apparently, a trip to the mall were on the agenda – and wanted lunch en route. The criteria were simple: good reviews, somewhere to sit, and no detour. 77 Burger on Pearl Street ticked all three. This was very much a neighbourhood burger place, so set your expectations accordingly, sort of the US equivalent of a pub burger, I guess.

The order

A bacon cheeseburger – as y’all know, this is my normal paradigm for a burger – with fries included. There’s a choice of cheese and I went for American – in keeping with the tradition, and enjoying, as I do, the gooey meltiness that only ultra processed cheese can deliver. Doneness is also offered, which is a rare (sic) thing, so I asked for medium. You order at the counter, the food was ready in about 15 minutes, and there was no queue to speak of at lunchtime. Sauces are self-serve – mustard, mayo, ketchup and chipotle – allowing maximum flex, and maximum homestyling with your burger or hot dog selection (that makes up the majority of the menu, though grilled chicken I think was also on offer).

The meat of it

Let’s take a look. The box arrived open and looked just as it does in the photo – decent. The top bun sits off to one side with its lettuce, a perfect round of red onion and a thick slice of a large tomato – not so much cheffy presentation as practicality, to allow for aforementioned self-saucing. The bottom half is heaped with thin, ruffled bacon on melted orange American cheese, and a modest pile of fries sits alongside.

Closed up, it’s a glossy, domed bun over lettuce, bacon and cheese, with the fries piled up in front.

In cross section there’s a thick 8oz patty, grey-brown all the way through – decidedly not the medium I asked for, and the kids – who asked for well done – got exactly the same. Homestyle, I guess.

First bite… let’s take it bit by bit. The meat – good quality, smoky, juicy, with a lovely grill sear, BUT slightly under-seasoned, dense and overcooked. I guess it needs to hold together for grill cooking but even so… The cheese and bacon – melty American, and crisp, thin American rashers – did the work of making up any missing umami. The bun – brioche with a light sweetness that would have been a good contrast to the umami elsewhere – was untoasted. Net result – it lent stodge and little else, just a slightly unnecessarily stiff, bready texture. The red onion and lettuce brought a bright freshness, but again as regular readers know – I don’t believe in tomato in a burger, particularly – so I ate it separately. The sauces – I helped myself to mustard, mayo, ketchup (leaving the chipotle on offer for another day) – and they all worked well together.

Now, onto the fries. These were medium-cut, skin on and golden, with a few darker edges – and they were amazing. They seemed at least double-fried, or from a part-fried frozen batch, and were crisp on the outside and squidgy in the middle, and perfectly seasoned. Could eat these all day.

Overall, the experience was a good one, despite the constraints of the subgenre. It’s a neighbourhood, homestyle burger (have I mentioned that?) rather than a gourmet one, and still a joy to share with the family. Toast the bun, cook it as asked and season the patty a bit more and it would be [chef’s kiss].

Monkey finger rating

  • Bun – 3/5. Untoasted, so more stodge than contrast.
  • Build – 4/5. Decent assembly.
  • Burger – 3.5/5. Smoky, juicy, lovely sear, but slightly too densely packed, under-seasoned and overcooked.
  • Taste – 4/5. Bacon, cheese and the self-applied sauces made up for the light seasoning.
  • Sides – 5/5. Crisp outside, squidgy inside and properly good.
  • Value – 4.5/5. Cheap for New York at US$16.99 with fries.
  • Burger rating – 4/5. A great neighbourhood burger, if not a notable gourmet one.

The deets

77 Burger – 77 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10004

A little over five minutes’ walk from the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Order at the counter.

Smashed NYC @ Time Out Market, Dumbo, New York

Posted in International, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Lacy-edged, lettuce-heavy Big Mac tribute

Burger source

Smashed NYC is the work of Mark Mendaros, who arrived in New York in 2017 and opened Oola’s Kitchen – an American bistro with a French twist, ribs and fried chicken – on the Lower East Side in 2020. When the pandemic shut the dining room he built a walk-up window and bet on his best-selling item, the smash burger, perfecting it with partner Fredy. By their own account, that made it the city’s first brick-and-mortar smash specialist. The pitch is chef-made burgers with everything, sauces included, made in-house, plus a vegan option and 20-odd burgers across the brand. Time Out reports The New Yorker was rating it among the city’s best by mid-2021. The Dumbo stall opened in Time Out Market – a converted warehouse food hall at 55 Water Street – at the end of August 2024, and the brand now also has a West Village shop and a Union Square outpost.

The order

The Big Schmacc: double patty, double cheese, sesame bun, and a not-so-subtle nod to a certain McDonald’s classic. The Classic sounded too basic, and the bacon variety was an unusual one (jalapeño and all), so this was the sensible middle. It’s also one of the two burgers Time Out says have been best sellers from day one. Sweet potato fries on the side, the only side on offer.

You order by QR code at your table and the food is brought out to you, with a tip prompt at the end that nudges the bill up. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for us. It was quietish at noon and heaving by 1pm on a Sunday in October, so aim to go earlier if you don’t fancy a long wait.

The meat of it

First, the look of it: wrapped in white paper on a plate, a flattened sesame lid, a slab of orange American cheese and a top patty that overhangs the bun in a dark, glossy, ragged skirt. I’ve never seen this level of laciness on a patty before, and I was quite excited about it.

In cross-section we get a better view of the architecture of this burger. Two thin patties, each with its own slice of cheese, sitting on a pile of shredded iceberg with a smear of pink sauce on a toasted bottom bun. Sesame bun, two patties, cheese, shredded lettuce, pink sauce: the Big Mac homage is not subtle, but it’s a fresh take rather than a copy.

First bite… it’s well seasoned, tasty and moderately crispy – not as crispy as you’d expect given the amount of Maillard reaction on show. The melty cheese is a good complement, and the burger as a whole is a little oily but not excessively greasy. Structural integrity is good, and the bun holds up. It cools down quickly, though.

Then the lettuce. Fresh, and of course bland by design, and there’s an avalanche of it. The Big Mac-style sauce is a faithful tribute, but there’s so little of it that it’s invisible next to a drift of pale green iceberg. The burger can’t decide whether it wants to be a healthy burger or an indulgent sandwich. The pickle gave a good sweet and sour contrast – needed, given the paucity of sauce – but it wasn’t anything special bar its crinkle-cut texture.

Now, onto the fries. The sweet potato fries came in a kraft box: deep orange, thin-cut, with a dusted, crisp-looking coating. Rich sweet potato flavour, though under-seasoned. A lovely crunch, possibly enhanced by a cornstarch coating before frying. It was so close to being excellent (for what it was) – but the tightfisted seasoning really put a dampener on it.

Overall, the experience was good. Fast service, a decent burger and crispy fries. It would be improved by being served hotter, with more sauce, more seasoning on the fries and possibly a sliver or two less shredded iceberg.

Monkey finger rating

  • Bun – 4/5. Held up throughout.
  • Build – 3.5/5. Sound structure, too much lettuce and too little sauce.
  • Burger – 3.5/5. Very lacy, well seasoned patty, but it cooled quickly.
  • Taste – 3.5/5. Good seasoning and cheese, and the sauce was too scarce.
  • Sides – 3.5/5. Rich flavour and a great crunch, but under-seasoned.
  • Value – 3.5/5. About what you’d expect for New York at US$17 for the burger, but at a higher quality.
  • Burger rating – 3.5/5. Good concept, better execution is clearly possible.

The deets

Smashed NYC – Time Out Market New York, 55 Water Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Order by QR code at your table. Also in West Village and at Time Out Market Union Square.

My Burger Lab, Sea Park, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Posted in International, Outside London, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

A tasty mess

Burger source 

MyBurgerLab is Malaysia’s answer to the world’s gourmet / elite fast food burger renaissance. Their inspiration is an eclectic mix of the fast food elite (Shake Shack, In & Out) and high street gourmet (GBK), but their mission is to make the world a happier place, one burger at a time – which is a purpose that is both honest and commercial in a way I can respect.

They say this about their priorities:

We don’t spend our money on décor or on advertisements. But we’ll splurge on food. Our charcoal buns are baked from scratch in our own bakery daily. It’s the only way to get that perfect combination of crisp crust and melt-in-your-mouth, fresh-from-the-oven taste. We grind our own beef patties daily and hand-pack them just so they retain their freshness and juiciness. In fact, our patties are still beautifully pink right before they hit the griddle.

I think they mean – after they come off the griddle. As I’m not sure what colour they’re meant to be when they hit it if not reddy-pink!

The order 

The elder kids had the Purist (Pure beefy, cheesy goodness. Angus Cheeseburger, Signature Ketchup, Grilled Onions, Pickled Cucumber) – of course, being kids, they opted out of onion, cheese and pickles. Sigh – am I failing as a parent? Zoe’s ‘Kiddy Beef’ featured beef, ketchup… and she opted out of the lettuce (on the side) and mayo.

Amanda went for the ‘Macik can’ (“Aunty can”, featuring Fried Chicken Thigh, Shredded Lettuce, Tangy Mayo, Spiced Lime on the side), and I had the ‘Lab burger’ – Angus Cheeseburger, Smoky Tomato Sauce, Shredded Lettuce, Pickles, Grilled Onions, Signature Burger Sauce. I was sold this as one of their most representative baseline burgers and I was excited.

After all, both Gemini (thx, AI) and Dad’s cousin Rohan had recommended this place. It was going to be good if both algorithms and Rohan’s impeccable judgement were aligned.

The meat of it 

It looks alright, you know. The charcoal bun is a mystery to me but it looks both soft and well made. The cheese crisp from where the overmelt has fried up on the griddle looks extremely inviting. The melt elsewhere is good. The fries look golden brown and creatively seasoned. There’s a tub of something that looks like firecracker sauce on the side. The bottomless soft drink is my trademark mixture of orange juice (well, Minute Maid) and lemonade (well, Sprite). There’s even a side of chicken nuggets that my eyes made me order.

In cross section?

The cross section is promising. The bun yields pleasingly to the floppy plastic knife; showing off a perfect even grain in the charcoal bun. The pink of the home-ground patty reveals itself, perfectly cooked – there’s an excellent sear to cut through to get to the tender middle. The superb melt on the cheese is complimented by the pickles, the grilled onions, and the copious burger sauce. Let’s gooooo…

First bite… does not disappoint. The bun is soft and gives way pleasingly; though the underside is sodden in burger juice and sauce and slips away. I’m largely uncomplaining, however, as my taste buds make contact… the beef has fabulous Maillard induced crunch; supplemented with the umami-crisp of the cheese and the sweet sour tang of the burger sauce and the pickle. The onions are sublimed, their caramelised texture melting into a flavour melange, which is both lovely – the flavours complement beautifully – and a shame, as they could have added a crunchy contrast. The sweetness of the sauce, the unguence of the cheese – add to a fairly excellent overall package.

However, to add to my – minor – critiques, a layer of lettuce would have protected the bottom half of the bun from collapse – a shame it vanished so completely under the onslaught of burger grease and burger sauce alike. So; better stack, better bun protection, better texture contrast – are my three minor notes.

On the sides… the fries are excellent; crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Brilliant dunked in both ketchup and the firecracker sauce. The paprika and assorted herbs add more aesthetic than they do substance, but they put the kids off – so that’s worth being aware of.

The nugs? Largely inoffensive. Real chicken, well seasoned, and crisp, but the soft pliant sloppy chicken of McD’s nugs, not the textured pull of a tender, and nothing unusual or creative in its delivery.

On the others; Amanda’s burger was too soggy. The kids had a layer of mayo unnecessarily smeared on them, side on, which caused brief dismay. Zoe’s had both mayo and onions, one we requested not to have, the other not even part of the billing. And 2/3 kids were unimpressed by the generous seasoning on the fries. So slightly disappointing elsewhere.

The bottomless soft drinks are a nice touch, though.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  4/5 
Build – 4/5
Burger – 4.5/5 – one of the best I’ve ever had in Malaysia 
Taste –  4/5  
Sides – 4/5 – fries – fab. Nugs – meh.   
Value – 5/5 – RM30 for a quality burger, fries and bottomless soft drink may seem punchy, unless you reflect that a Big Mac Meal goes for about RM20. So actually –  this isn’t just good value for a tourist, it’s a good deal by local standards too. IMHO and limited experience.

Burger rating – 4.5/5 – I think this is my best Malaysian burger so far.

The deets 

We went to the one Sea Park, but there are other branches in Bangsar, Sunway etc. Check the website for more.

Chapman’s Bar, Pangkor Laut Resort, Malaysia

Posted in International, Outside London, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Very well balanced 

Burger source 

Pangkor Laut Resort is the only resort on the tiny island of Pangkor Laut – a small island somewhat to the South of Pangkor proper. It has about five restaraunts and this was from one of them – Chapman’s Bar, named for a British colonel who escaped the war in a submarine from Emerald Bay – the secluded spot where the bar is situated.

It’s visually stunning as a place to eat – but HOW, I hear you ask, was the burger? Surely the most important criteria for planning beach holidays and family escapes…

The order 

The burger – served with onion rings and medium cut fries – was served on a toasted, seeded bun with onion chutney, fresh tomato and lettuce, I think melted cheese, and a hand made burger patty. It was – surprisingly – offered to me medium or well done. Having not lived in Malaysia since 1993, and not having had great experiences of the burger scene here since the burger renaissance started in the 2000s, my expectations were for a slightly charred puck of beef regardless…

[Sidebar – I really hope that the burger renaissance achieves some form of prominence in the years to come, as a formal period in culinary history. I suspect not, but if it does – I will be proud if I make up part of the historical record with this humble offering]

The meat of it 

OK on the aesthetic – first impressions are good. The fries are golden, as advertised. The onion rings – only 2 were provided, the rest were gifted by my kids who don’t like onion – well, they were dry despite the golden batter, speaking of a good deep-frying process that doesn’t leave pooled grease in every crevice in the batter.

The burger itself is well stacked, salad underpinning the beef, itself topped with cheese and chutney – and there is a good char on both the inside of the buns and the meat. The salad itself looks bright and fresh, with condensation beading on the fridge fresh tomato (a think at equatorial climes). As to what happens in cross section…

 

I’m blown away. Whilst the meat is quite densely packed and quite finely ground, it is cooked, as promised, to a perfect medium. The bun, disappointingly, whilst beautifully charred on the inside, is cold to touch and just slightly the wrong ratio for what felt like a 5oz patty – too much bread to burger. This wasn’t disastrous but diluted the flavour with each bite somewhat.

Speaking of which… first bite… brilliant, crunchy char on the meat, which is well seasoned. The burger is juicy and tender; the onion chutney adding sweetness and a nice bit of textural contrast. The tomato is sweet too, not just watering things down as tomato slices can do but actually adding complementary favour – very unexpected. The cheese – is a non entity – a thin slice of processed cheese is lost, in every sense of the word – you can neither see, nor feel, nor taste it. The bread is fresh enough but just too bready. So whilst it is in many ways a very well balanced burger, it is the bread that throws it off somewhat. Still – really good by every objective measure. The kids – the two of them that also had the burger – also loved it (in their salad-free, well done incarnations – heathens, and something I will work through with them in the fullness of time).

As to the sides?

The fries were more or less as you’d hope – crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, lovely on their own or dunked in ketchup or mayo. Very slightly light on the salt, perhaps, but very much in judgement call territory.

The onion rings were a bit odd – the onions were neither crisp and fresh nor squidgy and over fried, nor any texture in between. I suspect they were slightly old onions which didn’t cope well with the process. They were OK though, other than the slightly odd texture of the onions – the batter was crisp and light – if again, slightly underseasoned. Decent dunked.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  3/5  
Build – 5/5 
Burger – 4.5/5 
Taste –  4/5  
Sides – 4/5  

Value – n/a. Everything here is expensive but also part of the inclusive ‘residents’ packages if you book semi-all inclusive so… it’s part of the experience  

Burger rating – 4/5 – would recommend to any visitors to the island. 

The deets 

Pangkor Laut is a 15 minute boat ride from Marina Island Jetty, a 3 hour drive from KL. Chapman’s Bar is a pleasant <10 minute golf buggy ride from the main resort, facing into the beautiful swimming beach that is Emerald Bay.

Street Burger Bistro, Prague, Czech Republic

Posted in Bacon, Gourmety, International, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hefty, tasty, soggy Czech burger

Burger source

When in London, I struggle to find a burger place I haven’t reviewed. On this, my first visit to the Czech Republic, needless to say I didn’t have the same issue. In fact, by crazy random happenstance, our hotel was next to a burger restaurant called simply ‘Fat f**k smashburger’ – where we had intended to have supper. Unfortunately – and perhaps unsurprisingly given both its reputation and its name – it was completely booked out. So we went in search of another highly reviewed burger, not too far from our hotel – and found it, on the edge of the Old Town, in the Street Burger Bistro.

The order

My kids, predictably, proceeded to order the well constructed burgers and remove stuff from them. I did not; ordering the cheeseburger (burger, bacon, cheddar, red onion, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise) as it was designed to be. We had fries and some onion rings on the side (ok; we had fries, I had the onion rings) and an alcohol free Czech beer to drink.

The meat of it

Let’s take a look.

Ok, it’s not evenly stacked but it is pretty – a good melt on the cheese, a hefty piece of well cooked back bacon, bright fresh lettuce, a golden seeded bun, and a decent amount of mayo. Let’s look in cross section…

The lower bun is already collapsing under the heft of the burger, and the (two) tomato slices are causing the patty to slide. There’s perhaps a smidge too much mayo. The burger… delighted as I was to have it pink, there’s something about the severe stripes of brown and pink that concerns me.

And it reveals itself in bite one; the sear is so heavy that there’s quite a rubbery first mouthfeel before you get to the soft, medium centre. The burger is otherwise juicy and delightfully seasoned; the companion cheese and bacon adds further umami… which is not quite balanced with the salad; the tomato isn’t ripe or seasoned, I think, causing it to be a bland rather than a sweet counterpoint. The mayo adds more moisture and depth and the bottom bun all but collapses as you eat it, though the bun otherwise lends a pleasing starchy blandness as a counterpoint to the taste fest that is the rest of the burger. The whole is good – it’s a tasty patty, and the design that’s gone into shaping this is excellent. But the execution wasn’t quite there tonight, and what could have been a 5/5 is shooting just a smidge under tonight.

On the sides and the drink:

The fries were lovely. Perfectly, albeit lightly seasoned (too many places in the UK overdo the salt), they have a crisp exterior, a fluffy interior and are consistent the whole way through. As good on their own as they are dunked in a very aesthetic little tub of ketchup they brought us for them on request.

The onion rings… are surprising. They are the minced onion kind; not whole slices of fresh onion, and breaded rather than battered. To me this normally spells ‘frozen’ and therefore immediately consigns them to the mediocre pile. However these were hot, crisp and well seasoned, and the onion retained flavour and sweetness. A joyous surprise; as I’m sure is the experience of learning I put this much thought into the experience of eating onion rings.

Izzy had a hot dog, removing all the toppings that were designed for it but ketchup, and I had a taste at the end when she reached her limit… and it was excellent. Well spiced, rich with paprika, salt, pepper and other flavourings I couldn’t identify – and with actual texture – none of that soggy synthetic flavour you get with frankfurters.

The beer was a slightly dark lager, crisp and clear with a bitter edge. I prefer a bit more of a pilsener, so it wasn’t quite what I imagined when I ordered but it was good for what it was.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  4/5 – good texture and flavour but didn’t hold up to the burger
Build – 3/5 – uneven stack, unripe tomatoes
Burger – 4/5 – over hard sear makes an otherwise excellent burger slightly rubbery
Taste –  4/5 – really good but clearly not as good as it could have been
Sides – 4.5/5 – small knock for minced onion rings 
Value – 4/5 – a meal for five with two beers came to about £80 including service – which seemed quite a lot by our limited experience of Prague, and we were hit by the tax of a restaurant that doesn’t have a children’s menu. Still inexpensive relative to London, but our priciest meal in the Czech Republic to date

Burger rating – 4/5 – good, bordering on excellent.

The deets

It’s a short skip from the Charles Bridge, opposite the river from the bulk of the old town. There’s a lovely walk in to it from Malostranske tram stop, going past some lovely riverside view and the most delightful gingerbread shop you’ve ever seen. Highly recommend all of it.

Jensens Bøfhus, Holstebro, Jutland

Posted in Bacon, Chain, Gourmety, International, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Very credible burger, but room for polish

Burger source 

Again, family holiday and needs must led us to Jensens after a morning’s shopping and exploring the local park in Holstebro, a town that my wife’s family have spent a lot of time in over the years. A bit of research tells me of its origins in the 80s, initially in Aarhus, then moving over to Holstebro and beyond. First as a restaurant, then a Scandinavian chain of restaurants and a butcher/kitchen producing meat-based ready meals for these here parts. Part of me was fearful we’d walked into the Danish equivalent of Aberdeen Angus Steakhouses (the prices certainly would reflect that), but it felt more Miller & Carter in the end, which is for the best. Anyway, broader translated backstory here if you want it!

The order 

I had a ‘beast burger’ – beef patty on a brioche bun with bacon, chipotle mayo, cheddar, BBQ sauce, salad, onion chutney and crispy onion rings. It was served with crispy fries and pot of mayo, and a good amount of lettuce too. The ‘special’ priced it at 149DKK (normally 199DK). In pounds, that’s £17 (down from about £22), so it’s pricey but not absurd, even by the standards of expensive Denmark.

The meat of it 

Presentation, uneven stack and absurd height of onion ring tower notwithstanding, is not bad. The fries look crisp and fresh (as advertised), the cheese has a brilliant melt on it, there’s generous amounts of crisp streaky bacon protruding, the salad is bright and fresh, the bun is toasted (on both sides – bit much), and the burger looks like it had a good sear.

Cross section…

There’s a coarse grind, and the lightest shade of pink (promised in the menu – Izzy’s kids burger is a more promising pink). The chipotle mayo oozes out, as does the generous onion relish and BBQ sauce. The bun is overtoasted – it crunches as I half the burger for the picture – and it’s hard, due to the uneven stack, to get a clean 50/50 split. I do the best I can and make a bit of a mess of it.

First taste… discounting for the slight crunch on the brioche (which you want to be soft!), the stack is surprisingly well balanced on first bite. There’s salty crunch from the bacon and light heat from the chipotle mayo. There’s tender bite from the meat which is still juicy and melt-in-your-mouth more-ish (although better if pinker). The sweet relish counters the salt – perhaps too much, if I’m being critical. Textures are spot on, flavours are – almost – in balance – there’s a lot to like. But – again – with the eye of a critic – the patty itself is under seasoned and the bun is too large for the meat, leaving to bready mouthfuls on your way through the burger. It’s good, but small corrections – bit more salt on the meat, bit less toast on the bun, bit more width to the patty, bit more even in the stacking – would have made this really excellent.

Which the fries were. Generous both in portion and in seasoning, a dusting of salt and paprika infused every bite with smoky, salty crunch. They were perfectly cooked with a soft centre despite the French fry cut. Dipped in ketchup or mayo – utter perfection. Although I couldn’t finish them – no cheffy portions in an artisan tin cup here, just as many as would fit on the plate – which is more than would fit in my belly!

I’d go back. It was a good experience. Service was excellent and kids’ portions were generous, food quality was high. Recommend!

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  4/5  – overtoasted and oversized but good integrity
Build – 2/5 – not evenly assembled at all 
Burger – 4/5 – tasty but underseasoned and marginally overcooked
Taste –  4/5 – over  
Sides – 5/5 – the fries were amazing
Value – 4/5 – £17 for burger and side, ish, seems decent for restaraunt food in DK  

Burger rating – 4/5 – really good experience 

The deets 

Find your local branch – if you’re visiting Scandinavia – here!

Sunset Boulevard, Viborg, Denmark

Posted in Bacon, Chain, Fast food, InternationalTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

A higher grade of fast food burger

Burger source 

Honestly, we got to Viborg late after a busy day at Legoland, it’s ‘low’ season so most things were closed, I needed to get the kids fed and it was open and didn’t tax my very limited Danish too much. However… Wikipedia Denmark tells me that it was founded in 1996, is owned by the same people who own the Pizza Hut franchise here… and they its outcompeted Subway to have 40 branches across Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. So it is at least somewhat authentically Danish… in tribute to American burgers.

The order 

I had the ‘brioche bacon burn’ meal, which came with fries, limitless soft drink and the burger itself – featuring chipotle mayo, a beef patty and ‘pepper bacon’ along with the eponymous brioche bun. It featured a ‘one pepper’ rating, in the style of these things.

The meat of it 

Let’s take a look. No cross section, it’s a fast food burger.

You know, it looked OK? Brioche bun shiny, streaky crispy bacon crispy, lettuce bright and fresh, a good amount of the chipotle mayo, hot and fresh to the table.

First taste… the bun is soft but sturdy, indiscernible sweetness. Good. The burger is probably more reminiscent of a BK patty than a McD’s, in that it is more convincingly beef; it’s well seasoned and the creamy chipotle mayo adds the necessary moisture given the burger’s quality (good for fast food, not good by the standards I typically review). The lettuce is fresh and bright but the pickles are disappointing – especially in a country that is famed for them. Just slightly insipid and bland. There’s a peppery kick (black pepper, not hot pepper), but it’s mild – not unpleasant. The bacon adds bright, salty crunch to every mouthful – textural contrast plus umami, I’m delighted with this, at least! The balance is good – and it’s filling for fast food fayre. All in all, a good burger, up there with the best fast food has to offer, if a little heavy perhaps on the seasoning.

The fries are also heavily seasoned. Salt, pepper and rosemary. The are crisp on the outside, skin on fries, and unlike McD’s varietals, actually have the soft, fluffy warmth of real potato in the centre. They are lush although overpowering after a while – not even roast lamb wants that much rosemary.

Monkey finger rating   – modified to suit fast food

Bun –  4/5/5  
Build – 4/5 
Burger – 3.5/5 
Taste –  4/5  
Sides – 4/5 – deducation for just too much rosemary   
Value – 4/5 – I honestly have no idea though. £53 for four people would be dollar as hell in a fast food joint in the UK. But everything in Denmark costs a million, so…  

Burger rating – 4/5 – I’d have this over any UK fast food chain on offer. Especially given the puns.

The deets 

Find one of your nearest in DK (or Greenland, or the Faroe Islands) here…

Hidden Langkawi, Pantai Tengah, Langkawi

Posted in International, RestaurantTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Savoury pepper-bomb, not for the faint of heart

Burger source 

I didn’t intend to have three burgers in a row, but I got slightly egged into it by the cousins I was holidaying with and it did, indeed, look awesome when I saw it on someone else’s plate so… 

The order 

Well, I did decide to embrace some variety so – alongside the burger, which was:

I mean who can argue with any of that, really? The eponymous beef burger featured double 3.5oz patties, crispy turkey ham, American cheese, cheese sauce and skin-on fries.

I split the burger with my cousin-in-law… and we also had…

That’s right, no less than the house favourite, the snowy popcorn chicken pizza, replete with pizza sauce, mozzarella, garlic, cabbage, popcorn chicken and spicy sauce. Not going to review this in any detail, but I’ll give you a sense of it, I promise.

The meat of it 

The fries look astounding. The burger, unnecessarily staked with a serrated steak knife, has a coating of the cheese sauce, the melty slice of American cheese protecting the salad, in turn protecting the lower bun. The turkey ham, controversially, sits between the patties. The layering is comically random, but… Let’s see the cross section.

The burger is well done – not in a good way. Some significant resistance to cutting through it. The bun is soft but holds its structural integrity.

First bite… brilliant , good seasoning on the patty, a wall of umami from the cheese/burger sauce… initial thought is YES, this is good. This is rapidly followed by a WALL of black pepper, which I think probably made up 5% of the mass of the burger. Ludicrously peppery – so much so that the kids (who had ordered a ‘plain’ version of the burger, because, y’know, kids) couldn’t eat it. Pepper notwithstanding, the burger was too well done, the sweet of the salad wasn’t sufficient for the savoury kick in the head, the balance of the whole thing was off. The initial positive reaction to the umami, to the texture, fell apart a bit on persistent eating and I’m really glad I only had half a burger to get through. The turkey ham – wasn’t crisp. But added even more salt.

The strongest redeeming feature? The superb skin on fries. Crisp on the outside, squidgy in the middle, perfectly seasoned – just a joy. Wonderful dipped in the (slightly sweet) local mayo or the ketchup.

pizza

This was such a shame. The concept is STRONG – crispy, spicy popcorn chicken bites, with a hint of sweetness. Crunchy – but not chewy – cabbage worked surprisingly well as a compliment. But a hopelessly soggy base, a massively overgenerous helping of mozzarella, left to something of a mess. Half the pizza went uneaten (though we did polish off all the popcorn chicken).

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  3/5  
Build – 2/5 
Burger – 25/5 
Taste –  2.5/5  
Sides – 4/5 – really excellent fries   
Value – 4/5 – RM38 is reasonable, in the area and in general for this amount of food.  

Burger rating – 2.5/5 – the pepper means I cannot recommend this. They need to rebalance the seasoning, modify the cook so it’s not so crunchy, and think about pickles or a sweeter burger sauce to event it all out. 

The deets 

Just up the beach from the Parkroyal on Pantai Tengah, the sunsets at this restaraunt really are the main event. Absolutely beautiful.

sunset at pantai tengah

The Cliff, Cenang Beach, Langkawi

Posted in Bacon, International, RestaurantTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Underwhelming pricey wagyu burger, beautiful sunset

Burger source 

I hadn’t intended to order the burger. We were at a the Cliff (as in next to a cliff, not actually on a cliff), chasing sunsets on a family vacation in Langkawi, an idyllic Island near Thailand, off the coast of Malaysia. Absolutely beautiful place and we descended on the Cliff, interrogated its menu, and when a Wagyu burger appeared for RM65 (approx £11) – I thought it was worth trying. 

The order 

The wagyu burger – I presume named as such as they used high grade, fatty beef from Japanese (or Japanese descent) cattle – was fairly unadorned. I had it with a Lychee / Mango virgin mojito on the side, because – beach holiday!

The meat of it 

Let’s take a look.

Other than the suspect dressing on the salad and the slightly pale fries, this presents well. Beautiful soft shiny bun, thick patty resting on a protective bed of lettuce, good char on the meat… promising.

In cross section – perfect pink centre of coarse ground meat contained within the beautifully charred exterior. It looks like one of the best cooked burgers I’ve ever seen. The salad is bright and fresh, there’s a melty cheese and a plant slice of beef bacon. Whilst the bread is – perhaps excessively – abundant, I have hopes…

First bite… the meat practically melts in your mouth. It’s mildly flavoured – this doesn’t carry the funkyness of a dry-aged bit of chuck – and indeed is also slightly underseasoned. The mouthfeel is good but lacks the textural contrast a strong sear offers on a different type of meat – suspect there’s just too much fat to allow for it. The vegetables add fresh crunch but lack sweetness – a fresh gherkin or two would not have gone amiss. Nor would some richer burger sauce, but on balance you can’t help but be left thinking it’s a bit of a waste of such a high grade of beef, to be used and abused in this way. I abandoned some of the bun to finish it – just too much bread unfortunately. The bun’s flavour – starchy counterbalance, solid but unexceptional. The beef bacon added salt but no texture, as is the way with beef bacon, a necessary thing in a predominantly muslim country.

The fries? Crisper and tastier than you’d expect from the pale finish, but nothing [sic] to write home about. The salad? The dressing was saccharine and sickly. Do not recommend, left it unfinished.

The unphotographed Virgin Mango and Lychee mojito? Perfectly suited to those of us with a sweet tongue. But warmed too quickly in the tropical warmth.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  3/5 – too much bread
Build – 4/5 – reasonably well constructed 
Burger – 3.5/5 – perfectly cooked, slightly underseasoned, poorly suited to the task 
Taste –  3/5  
Sides – 3/5 – unexceptional   
Value – 3/5 – by UK standards it was cheap – by local standards, approx 2X the price of other main courses.  

Burger rating – 3/5 – enjoyable to try. Would not order again. 

The deets 

Find the Cliff on the border between Pantai Tengah and Pantai Cenang on the SW tip of Langkawi. More at the website here. The food was just OK all around, but the sunset was glorious.

Seven Seeds Williamsburg, Wythe Street, Brooklyn

Posted in Gourmety, International, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Finely cooked (underseasoned) burger, eccentrically topped

Burger source

Our final meal on this visit to the US was a brunch with cousins from Singapore in a Eastern Mediterranean style restaurant in the most modern style of hotel you can imagine in North Brooklyn. Totally normal.

The burger had no grand billing but it was ground and cooked on site, and sounded interesting, so I thought I’d risk the eccentricity of the Mediterranean stylings and see where it landed.

The order

I had the Seven Seeds Burger – Angus beef, goat cheese, shaved cucumber, pickled red onion, toum.

The meat of it

Let’s look again.

There are some very interesting elements to this burger. There’s a good crust; the pickled onion looks fresh, bright and inviting, offering sharpness and sweetness in one. The bun looks soft and has a welcome light toasting. The cucumber – no. That’s not ‘shaved’ cucumber, that’s not even a ‘sliced’ cucumber. That’s a full on wedge of cucumber. Too much, picked out and eaten on its own. It was fine. You can see a small pot of toum hiding between the burger and the seasoned fries.

In cross section:

You can see how well balanced this burger is. Perfect coarse grind, bright pink meat, lovely juices held pub by a soft, airy, plain bun.

But… and it’s not an insubstantial but… the first bite unlocks very little flavour. The burger is hefty but underseasoned; the cuts of meat used were insipid – if I had to guess – I’d say it was heavy on chuck. The toppings aren’t evenly spread and it takes to bite two or three to get the feta and pickle properly involved… and they do help considerably, the savoury goo of the feta adds a much needed umami tang. But the flavour is just odd (for my palate) and the mouthfeel of the feta isn’t entirely pleasant, gumming up your mouth unexpectedly.

It’s such a shame as the burger/bun combination is in many ways glorious – good crust, melty meat, tender and juicy with every mouthful. It just doesn’t taste of very much.

As to the fries, they were lightly seasoned and (for me) slightly too lightly fried. Occasional crisp bites but some soft ones. The pot of toum was delicious, though and was better than any aioli as a dip for the fries. Perhaps I should have doused the burger in it…

Monkey finger rating

Bun – 4/5

Build – 4/5

Burger – 3/5

Taste – 3/5

Sides – 3.5/5 – bump for the toum

Value – 4/5 – $19 + service for the burger and fries seemed reasonable for this kind of place in this part of town

Burger rating – 3/5 – there really wasn’t enough flavour to score it higher

The deets

The Seven Seeds Restaurant is downstairs in the Williamsburg Hotel, on Wythe Street in Brooklyn. Find it and book here. Probably don’t have the burger, though, unless you’re a huge feta fan. The other food looked more interesting and was great, by all accounts.