Burger quality

Viscount Aggro

Anyone noticed this with restaurants / pubs?

Burger now costing 18 - 20 EUR.

OK, I am willing to accept and pay a premium for a good burger, served on a plate, not a wooden board.

Twice recently, I have had to complain and with-hold payment.

Burgers with all the trimmings, posh chips with skin-on.

However, the burgers have the consistency of a rubber gammon steak, and not real meat, like I would expect.

I will not accept this type of race to the bottom.

GoogleBot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058273855/burger-quality

Or as alternative go to just eat and order real beef steak with chips and drink for 15 euro.

awec

I just don't order burgers in restaurants or pubs because I'm pretty much always disappointed.

Maybe I'm in the minority but my ideal burger is something like five guys. Places that try to posh-up a burger are wide of the mark in my mind.

I don't want my burger to be a big 2cm thick piece of meat, nor do I want the entirety of the salad drawer put on top of it. Nor 3 different sauces, and 2 different cheeses, and whatever else.

Onion rings on a burger is a stupid idea. If you've to stick a stick through it, your burger is stupid. If I can't put it in my mouth without taking stuff out of it, your burger is stupid.

I could rant for so long about burgers...

GoogleBot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119942469#Comment_119942469

Would you fancy Triple Decker Club Sandwich? : ))

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119942609#Comment_119942609

Triple decker sandwiches make zero sense to me. Why would I want an extra slice of bread in the middle of my sandwich? Funnily enough, sandwiches are the other type of food I could rant about for ages. This modern massive-sandwich with stupid bread phenomenon infuriates me.

At least this looks like it's using a sandwich loaf and not some sourdough / ultra-crusty loaf that requires you to gnaw like a dog to get a bite out of it.

Also that chicken looks like it might have been cooked on the radiator.

I really don't mind paying 20 quid for a burger, but in a place renowned for its burgers. Like the aforementioned 5 guys. Somewhere that specializes in burgers.

There are a lot of "trendy" places that make all the trendy mistakes in burger making. As has already been said, 2 inches thick(with an additional 2 inches per bun), so you can't comfortably get your teeth around it. It happened to me recently the only way I could eat the burger comfortably, was with a knife and fork. Half the salad drawer on top of it. And yes, a massive onion ring on top is just the killer.

And chips in a miniature galvanised bucket is the clincher.

Also that chicken looks like it might have been cooked on the radiator.

Thats chicken?!? Looks like ham.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119942754#Comment_119942754

Have you sampled Burgerstory in Galway? Best of all the places in Ireland.

As far as I’m concerned this is the centre of excellence of the burger in Ireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119942764#Comment_119942764

Ive not been in Galway City for anything but medical appointments in... years. And even then burgers weren't at the forefront of my mind.

I know this is blasphemy to say as a Galwayman, but I don't really like Supermacs. In the cheap(ish) burger category, the XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger from Burger King is my favourite, but there's only one BK in Galway.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119942773#Comment_119942773

Superman’s is appalling. ButtersSuki is a Galway man by double heritage and upbringing but speaks with a middle class Doobalin accent, he loathes Supermacs too, but never heard of Burgerstory. Neither have my Galway relatives. Hiding in plain sight, very subtly near the teapot place, whatever they call it. Absolutely fab burgers and incredibly chicken breast burgers and chips, brioche buns. You’d so easily miss it, they have tables out during good weather, otherwise it’s minuscule indoors and I think a tiny bit of seating upstairs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119942779#Comment_119942779

I'll go looking for it next time im in town.

I have absolutely no commercial interest in the place but when an establishment gets it right they merit the credit

https://www.burgerstory.ie/?l=en

There are outstanding food establishments in Galway, Kirwan’s is my favourite seafood restaurant, really fab, down the magical Kirwan’s Lane. I don’t own a great bistro of my namesake, terrific other places too.

Viscount Aggro

Triple-decker or club sandwiches can be done well.

In USA there's a big problem with the cocktail sticks... People bite down on the sandwich without first removing the stick.

DublinWriter

Yeah Burgr are perhaps the best chain currently. They're only in Wexford, Drogheda, Maynooth and Navan.

The lunch special is only €10. FXB are their meat suppliers.

Eddie R's has gone to sh*te over the past year. Only in 5 Guys once, found it very greasy.

https://www.yeahburgr.com/#:~:text=Wexford%20%3A%20Now%20open%20Monday%20%2D%20Friday,Burgr%20app%20for%20delivery%20%26%20takeaway.

Black Sheep

From a Dublin perspective, the only burger restaurants I've bothered with in recent years are Bunsen and Dash Burger.

I feel like Bunsen, as it has grown, has dipped slightly in quality, but Dash Burger are still delivering a very good smash burger experience that's hard to replicate at home even if you know your technique (And I think I do).

Even the triple smash cheeseburger at Dash is under 10 euro.

I agree with Awec's point in general that the thick puck-style burger that you find in many gastropubs and restaurants do nothing for me. The taller that pile gets, with various toppings, the more necessary is the wooden needle they stick through it to hold the whole thing together. You end up with something that looks like a burger but in practical terms can't be eaten like a thinner smash burger can. GBK are a huge offender here, and they compound things by using very dry, mealy buns. Always remember the cardinal rule that the bun should be softer than its contents, for the most part.

odyssey06

There was an AH thread recently trashing 'tower' burgers:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058269854/tower-burgers-and-how-they-are-crap

awec

This is a good burger (though personally tomato on a burger is a no for me, it just gets too messy). The size is right, the meat is right, the proportions are right.

This is a stupid burger, cause there's way too much bun and the burger itself is a puck rather than a patty:

This is also a stupid burger, cause a pelican would struggle to eat it:

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119943482#Comment_119943482

Wouldn't listen to that fecker.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119943545#Comment_119943545

Outstanding. 1 billion percent agree.

Wouldn't be getting that muck at the RDS.

Black Sheep

Dash Burger today, inspired by this thread. This was 14 euro or so.

igCorcaigh

Yeah, that looks like a proper burger @Black Sheep. Although I do like pickles in a burger (at least there are onions ;) @the beer revolu).

No Dash here in Cork. Would Bunsen be the closest? I've yet to try Bunsen, but very few of my friends like burgers :/

Might do it solo...

------------------------------------

I have a problem with the brioche buns though; they are too sweet, and so soft that the burger falls apart and you end up eating chunks of mush🤢

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119946050#Comment_119946050

I thought this was a burger thread?

A slow pulled burger is bollix.

Hand span is good, but it doesn't seem right about the burger. Consistency by looks.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119946092#Comment_119946092

Concur with brioche. Too sweet and too doughy.

Cheap seasamed bun from lidl is grand. I like honest burger buns who don't mind being toasted. They're just for gripping.

Brioche buns are the kardashians of the burger world.

RainInSummer

Was in Bunsen pre pandemic and it was desperate. It's like they salted the meat and then processed it. Resulting in a horrid bouncy rubber puck of a patty.

The fries and other stuff were ok, but I was left bewildered as to their reputation.

Best recent burger was oddly Brasserie 66. They had the cop on to leave the sauce as a side dish so you could decide whether it went in the burger or on the fries.

It was a bit on the tall side but kept it's shape from start to finish.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119946509#Comment_119946509

Sauce on the side is a good one.

Been there and ligament damage trying to encompass the burger. Jealous of your big grapples.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119943002#Comment_119943002

Huge problem with that I hear as well.

They're called eejits.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119946143#Comment_119946143

Hah, no, no "slow pulled" (slow cooked?) technique going on in Dash burger.

Google smash burger and you'll get a sense of the method involved. Pretty nippy way of cooking burger patties actually.

The bun in Dash is actually what yanks call a potato bun, don't know anywhere else doing them.

I get my buns from Lidl or Aldi and although I don't mind the cheapest of the cheap I do like the premium brioche buns they do. They aren't overly sweet, not like a breakfast brioche or anything.

Black Sheep

As far as Bunsen goes- if it suits I would try them but I probably wouldn't go out of my way either. I've had good burgers there early on but now it feels like they're phoning it in.

Not smash burger style, more conventional but still aiming for a soft bun and a moist patty.

Haven't had Five Guys in years, not sure how I would rate them compared to Bunsen.

Wow Burger is a step down but it's not "bad", it's still better than the 20 quid restaurant burgers.

Most of the burgers served up in pubs, hotels and cheap restaurants these days are coming in ready to be cooked from a Musgraves, Corrib Catering, Pallas Food truck. That fairly generic menu you see in a lot of places - burger, chicken burger, chowder, wings, goats cheese starter, roast of the day - is always a sign.

Can't necessarily blame places with the shortage of chefs etc, but it is just a reheat and serve operation for the most part.

The best burger I've had in a long time is from a place called Wingman Van. They do either a smash or regular style using a mince mix from Higgins Butchers in Sutton. Went to the one in Kilbarrack, but I think they've expanded to a few other places since.

satguy

€16.95 for a burger in my local,, O'Gormans of Kilminchy ...

Some are way too tall, you end up eating them with a knife & fork .. But if you order well,, some are OK for hand eating..

And yes, the 10 chips are in a miniature galvanised bucket, for your annoyance.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119946728#Comment_119946728

I've no idea what you're talking about.