Hamburger Review: The Goods Diner Jakarta

Coffee Rubbed Burger at The Goods Diner Jakarta

Honestly, a good and very tasty burger. And sadly very shitty rubber fries. But since I review burgers, this is a good one. Not sure about the coffee rub that gives it the name, since I did't taste much of it but it was rather satisfying to eat it.

The bun is an unconventional bun covered in oatmeal instead of sesame which didn't overwhelm the total taste with any "health/eco" flavour. The salad on the side was nicely done, as was the layering of the burger itself.
The beef paddy was truly fresh and well cooked. As I mentioned before, I couldn't taste much of the coffee rub, which is positive since it did not overpower the flavour of the meat.

Overall I recommend this burger to everyone who wants to have a try... but opt for another side dish option if you don't want to be disappointed in the fries as I was.

http://culinarybonanza.blogspot.com/2012/02/not-cafe-not-dept-its-goods-diner.html

Rating: 4 out of 6

Hamburger Review: Mother's Cook Cilandak Town Square

Mother's Cook at Ciladak Town Square

The restaurant has everything you would think a good burger place needs. It looks like a real American Diner, with a long counter, car seat booths, 1950's wall decor, and food in little baskets (although these days they tend to be made from plastic in the US) ...

So you would expect to get a juicy burger right?
Well, not here. The meat is a bit too plasticy and I suspect them to use convenience patties. Living in a muslim country there are only a view havens where one can indulge in sinful bacon hedonism, and this isn't one of them. If you have to eat here, avoid the facon (I don't know what it is made of, but it isn't a substitute that belongs on a burger). As you can see in the picture, the cheese isn't molten the way it should be. Five seconds under the salamander is enough to bring out all the flavors a cheeseburger should have. It is the mix of the cheesy fats and the meaty fats together that turns it into a magical symphony for the obese.

Probably the best thing about the place are the onion rings... Indonesians know how to fry things... call it prejudice but it's true. Enakan di goreng dong :)

Rating: 2 out of 6

Town Square Cilandak 1st Floor Unit 133
T. +62 21 759 20356 | F. +62 21 759 20305


Mother's Cook

Hamburger Review: Hotel Dharmawangsa

Wahyu Burger at the Jakarta Restaurant Dharmawangsa Hotel

One of the more expensive burgers, and often criticized due to the waste of high quality meat. I understand the argument that good piece of meat which is marbled and tender, should not be minced. And I agree that cutting a Wahyu steak, placing it in your mouth, and having it melt in your mouth while chewing on it is something completely different from digging into a minced burger patty.

So despite wasting perfectly good meat in a mincer, how did this one taste. I have to say just looking at the picture, it is very tasty. Especially the fried onions and the cheese make a difference together with the perfectly prepared bun. The fresh salad is also a treat and makes all the difference to this meal. I am hungry as I write this. very... I think I am going to Fatburger now.

http://www.the-dharmawangsa.com/jakarta.php

Rating: 5 out of 6

Hamburger Review: Sophie's Steakhouse London

Sophie's Steakhouse Angus Burger

OK, first of all, "I love Sophie's Steakhouse". Especially their Fulham Road outlet. They do good steaks, have a good atmosphere and I can not complain about anything,... anything but their burgers (well also their meat quality isn't as good as Goucho, but thats another story).
Most of the time I complain about restaurants which are trying to make a burger into more than it is or should be (fancy bread and cheese, garnishing etc). But this time it is a bit too basic. The bun was left under the salamander for a few minutes too long, and was almost brittle (will I ever use this word again?). Yummy bacon though.

'The meat patty':... OK, they are a steakhouse, hence they have good meat. I assume that if a burger order comes in, the chef grabs a steak and throws it into the grinder, forms a patty and onto the grill with it. A steak is not a burger, although both need to rest before preparation, there are different cooking processes taking place on the inside. Which is why a perfect burger consists of different types of meat, that have different properties. Fat content, muscle tissue, and water content need to be finely tuned to make a good burger patty. Lastly, like so many burgers there was a geometrical failure... the patty is too small. (maybe that's something only McDonalds can get right, because they "design" all their food)
Angus Steak yes - Angus burger NO!

Rating: 3 out of 6

So I had to try their Hamburger as well. Just to make sure they are rated properly. The first thing to be noticed, the regular, cheaper burger has a better bread than the more expensive Angus burger; AND it comes with a leaf of lettuce. I like the garnish on the side.

The bread is very well caramelized, preventing it to  sucking up the moisture from the patty and making it soggy. Even without the lettuce as a moisture barrier the bread remains its texture (I begin to wonder if they have another chef working on the cheap burgers; who knows more than the head-chef doing the lux version).

And the patty itself, ...nice. Grilled flavors, moist on the inside. Juicy? Yes, but again a "geometrical failure". I ended up with too much bread.

Rating: 4 out of 6

Hamburger Review: Corgi's Deli Chelsea London

Corgi's Deli on 367 Fulham Road in Chelsea

Went here with my friend Samar, after looking for something to eat and a place that allowed dogs (had my puppies with me) on Fulham Road. So I have to get them some plus points for allowing dogs, but it didn't help much with my burger rating.

The first thing to notice is the bread. Sorry chef, this isn't it. Just looking at the picture again my mouth feels dry and full of flour. ...but lets have a look at the patty first. Fair enough, it was home made, formed from fresh minced meat and it tasted grilled and juicy, good job there. If only the bun wasn't 40% larger than the meat patty, and resulted in an overabundance of carbs on my plate after I finished the burger.  Tristan would say: "So bad,.... Sooooo baaad".

Although the toppings were all fresh, cucumber on the side, and it was served on a porcelain plate... this burger did not blow me away. The composition on the plate and that of the burger itself was not very aesthetic (see picture). As for the taste; the meat was good, the type of bun and its size need to be changed, and the plate would look much nicer if you had the fries on it and not in a separate bowl on the side.

Rating: 3 out of 6

Heston Blumenthal's 'Perfect burger' attempted by Larissa Röhmig

So here is a first one... A homemade burger review.


My friend Larissa had a go at her own burger. The inspiration was the Big Burger episode of "the fat duck" chef Heston Blumenthal's show "In Search of Perfection".
In the show Blumenthal makes the whole burger from scratch. Hold on, okay he made the bun from scratch, all other ingredients were just chosen very specifically.


This burger was made with conventional buns from the supermarket, which were totally acceptable (although I still wonder what they would have tasted like). The patties were however made according to the recipe and consisted of 625g beef chuck, 25g salt, 1.2kg short-rib meat, minimum 30-day dry-aged, as well as 625g beef brisket. Minced and mixed by the helpful butcher at the Selfridges food-court in Oxford street. 


The meat was first wrapped in cling film and chilled, then cut into two finger thick patties and pan fried in very little oil. Afterwards they were covered with cheese and grilled in oven until the cheese was molten. In the meantime the patties were caramelized in the remaining fat, until golden brown. Add lettuce, a slice of tomato and a blanched onion (very very good, I never had this, but it makes a huge difference), et voilà,.. a lovely burger. 
As a side dish we had potato wedges that were prepared in the style of Jamie Oliver (zest of lemon added to a herb mix). Very tasty.
As you might know, I like my smokey chary grilled flavor, which this burger didn't have. But neither did Heston Blumenthal's. So I really wonder why he prefers to make it in a pan. But I have to admit it was delicious. Mainly because of the fresh ingredients, the quality of the meat and the good company. :-)


Rating: 5 out of 6

Hamburger review: The Grand Union Bar London

The Grand Union Bar in Camden

The Grand Union Bar is a chain of eight bars/pubs throughout London. They have a menu of 18 different gourmet burgers, as well as a couple of vegetarian and bread-less alternatives for ... the strange people.

My order consisted of a cheese and bacon burger, with chunky chips (which are the best in London according to Time Out magazine) and a portion of onion rings.

When the burger arrived it looked very good, although it's architecture was a bit uninviting due to its height. The bun was a sesame bun that had a sort of glazing on top. I should ask a baker what this glazing is, as most buns do not have it (probably egg-yolk and water just saw a recipe on the A bountiful kitchen blog). The size of the bun was small on first sight but turned out to be ideally proportioned to the size of the patty. The ingredients of the burger were very fresh. The lettuce and the tomato looked as crisp, as if they had just been picked from a field down the street.

The meat patty on the other hand had a strange smell to it, which I found a bit chemical. This can however be due to the cheese or my malfunctioning nose due to party favors I had the night before. As you can see in the picture, the meat has a very dark almost black look to it. I am sure that it hadn't been the worst meat quality I have ever had, but this chemical flavor somehow turned me off. On the upside, the burger had been grilled and not fried. Although probably on a gas or electric grill, as it didn't have any charcoal flavor.

The side dishes were both very good. Understandably the chips are award-winning, as the are made from a special potato (Fresh Maris Piper potatoes cooked in salted water, fried once only). But even more surprising were the onion rings. They were made from a fresh onion that was fried in a batter, that would normally be found on fried fish.

Rating 5 out of 6

http://www.gugroup.co.uk/bar-grill/ourbars/

Hamburger review: VingtQuatre London

VQ VingtQuatre

VQ is a restaurant on London's Fulham Road. As the name suggests, the restaurant is open for 24 hours. They have a very diversified menu, and are not a specialized burger restaurant.

The burger looks very good, and comes with two patties, two slices of cheese, a strip of bacon, and fresh lettuce, tomato and pickles. The bun is made from the right flour and has sesame on top, it is however a bit too big, which makes the burger too dry and disqualify it as finger food.

The beef patties are not made of the best meat quality, and they are not grilled but fried (in my opinion, although I have to admit that I am not 100% sure, but I couldn't taste any charcoal flavor).

The fries and coleslaw sides were both very good.

Rating 3 out of 6

http://www.vingtquatre.co.uk/vqlocation.htm

Hamburger review: The Bountiful Cow London

The Bountiful Cow at 51 Eagle street central London (close to Holborn tube station),

This place was recommended to us by a friend ...claiming it was the best. Well, it wasn't.

(and Cécile, this time I wasn't alone in my criticism, but five other people had the burger).

First of all lets start with the bun. It was a Ciabata bread which I am not a big fan of, since they are too big most of the time and don't lead to an adequate bread/meat ratio making the whole burger too dry ( although I just learned that people like to adjust this by leaving the top bun, which kinda defeats the purpose of a "finger/fast-food food" -burger, but whatever...do whatever you want, it would just be nice if it was ideally balanced in the first place).

As you can see from the picture, the salad was a bit withered, the cheese wasn't properly melted and the patty... (taking a deep breath).

It, the patty, was very hard, not juicy, nor fluffy (remember to add a table spoon of water to the meat), and just disappointing.

There was something good about it,... like so often the fries were very good.

One thing is for sure though, it is a large burger. Portion sizes are big in this place, but the produce quality just lacks a bit.

Rating 2 out of 6

http://www.thebountifulcow.co.uk/

Hamburger review: Shoreditch House London

Shoreditch House London

The Shoreditch House is one of many private member clubs in London. So if you aren't a member and manage to eat here, you might want to order something more .... sophisticated. Just to make a statement that you do not belong to the creative bunch of directors, writers, actors, and other artists that make up the average guests.

Although this is once again not a specialized Burger place, I must write about it as it is one of the better burgers, one should have had in one's life. Especially if you are a bit hungover. Trust me you will appreciate it.

This burger is a feast of sinful indulgence. As it comes fresh from the kitchen, sizzling, smelling of grilled meat, molten cheese, and toasted bread. Remember to work of those calories the next day, or preferably the same evening.

The burger consists a freshly ground meat patty which has been flame grilled, resulting in some charring and smokey flavours. The lettuce comes in a single leaf as opposed to the cut up slices other restaurants are putting on their burgers (hello BigMac). Very important: it is underneath the meat where it can act as a moisture barrier to the bottom bun. The homemade bun, although a bit too fancy for a true sin-burger, has the right appeal as it matches the environment. Nothing wrong with it, just because it matches the rustic feeling of the unshaped charred meatloaf, strong cheese, and the fresh greens it is served with.
The side fries are well fried. Golden, yellow-brown, crispy, not fatty, just right. Just like the burger

Overall rating 6 out of 6

www.shoreditchhouse.com

Hamburger Review: Iroquois Zürich

Iroquois Zürich

I went to Iroquois for a quick lunch with my friend Fabian and did not expect much from it, since it is one of the few Hamburger restaurants in Zürich. Unlike London, there is not a lot of competition; ergo a direct correlation between supply and burger quality becomes clearly visible.

The burger looked very good when it was served which was mainly due to the abundance of sesame on the bun. I have to admit, that this was looking tasty. Unfortunately this impression faded after looking at the insides of the creation.

The meat patty wasn't the best quality as it looked grey and a bit old, the toppings were a bit lifeless. The taste was overwhelmed by the thick thousand island sauce that the salad was drenched in, masking the meat flavor.

Finally the fries were a bit to dry.

Rating: 2 out of 6

http://www.iroquois.ch/

Hamburger Review: La Salle à Manger Geneva

La Salle à Manger Geneva

La Salle à Manger is a cozy little restaurant located in the steep alleys of Geneva. Their menu consists offers several kinds of burgers, that are all served with fries. As you can see from the picture I went for the double burger, since this was both breakfast and lunch in one for me on that day. Let me tell you I was struggling... although I am known for my healthy appetite.

So let's start with the analysis; the sesame bun is my favorite bun and it was fairly good, but could have been toasted a bit more. When biting into a burger, a very essential taste experience is the smell of the toasted bread aroma.

Something I didn't like at all, was the swiss cheese on the burger. I think that it is not the right ingredient for a burger as it has a very strong flavor and its saltiness overpowers the meat flavor. The meat itself was very good, which is why I am giving a 5 rating instead of a 4, as I find it to be the most important aspect of the burger. And Swiss meat is definitely very high up in the meat quality scale (although Argentinean and Japanese Kobe are far ahead). THe patties were handmade and had a fresh and juicy texture.

Now there was no milkshake and the fries weren't outstanding either, but not bad either.

Rating: 5 out of 6

http://www.salleamanger.ch/

Hamburger Review: Scotch Steak House London

Scotch Steak House London

Maybe i should introduce a negative scale? Because this was once more a burger from the very low end.

Since Scotch Steak House do not have their own website, all I could do was publish the post another blogger has written about them, and which was the number one search result on Google. Read it and you will get an idea about how bad it was.

I don't even want to write about it, the only reason why I went there is that it was around the corner and I was really hungry. So I keep it short. Another burger with a salad mix instead of lettuce (no salad dressing though), the patty tasted surprisingly fresh, but had diced onions in it, and thereby disqualifies as a Hamburger. The fries were not crisp; they were limp hanging potato cuts. This is a point where it isn't even fun to write about burgers anymore. Bad food can really ruin your day.

Rating: 1- out of 6

http://www.planetbods.org

Hamburger Review: Neo Hamburg

Foreword (just to set the tone):

"I shouldn't have ordered the burger in the first place."

Neo Hamburg

.... let me think how to start this. As I have said before, you have to try in order to make a (fair) judgment. On the other hand, to make it "fair" you should only compare apples and oranges. For the same reason that I do not include B.K. and Maky D. in this blog, I should not include restaurants that cook food and also offer a hamburger. Because all you end up with is disappointment. On the other hand it makes you appreciate those real hamburgers made by certified burger connoisseurs.

So, what I got here was ... I think if I mention that I only ate half of it, this will best describe the quality of IT. And IT was just as scary as Pennywise the clown in that 80's Steven King movie. As always my standard order consisted of a regular cheeseburger and a milkshake. The milkshake was already wrong for my taste, as it was just vanilla flavored milk, without any ice-cream texture or the proper temperature for that matter. Then the burger came; a standard burger bun, which was a tad too dry, but acceptable. But there were other problems, that were sheer blasphemy against the burger god (who probably looks like an obese Fucker with all sorts of condiments in his beard - and not like Ronald McDonald). The salad was a salad mix, like the one you get in a bag at your local supermarket, which was then drowned in a heavy thousand island salad dressing. On top of this, some bonehead in the kitchen placed a piece of beef, which he had probably found on the bottom of the freezer, heated it in the microwave, for about 10 minutes and had then placed underneath his car to give it a dark color.

Yes, I do enjoy to be cynical, ... well I did, until I remembered: 'That they used mozzarella cheese'. On a cheeseburger, mozzarella? That's just as bad as putting stilton on a pizza margarita, and will probably send you directly to food hell, where they serve you recipes from the Gracie Field cookbook for the next hundred years.

The side-dishes were a shot glass with coleslaw, and bad fries.

Note: How to cook french fries: Soak the fries in ice water to remove excess starch, heat vegetable oil and blanche the fries at 160°C for about 5 minutes until the color changes. Let them cool down for about 10 minutes, and then fry them again at 185°C for about 1-2 minutes until they are golden brown.

My resume about the Neo burger. The best part of this burger were the three slices of onion.

Rating: 1 out of 6

http://www.neogastro.de/

Hamburger Review: Locks Hamburg

Locks Hamburg

Locks is a restaurant located in Hamburgs Poppenbüttel district, just a few minutes from the AEZ shopping mall. In their defense I have to mention that Locks is a proper restaurant with a sophisticated menu, and not a specialized burger-only place.

So, let's dissect the beauty: My order consisted of a cheeseburger, that comes with curly fries (they call them twisters), and a coke.

The bread they used was a standard burger bun, which was slightly over toasted. I presume that they caramelize it in the salamander; where leaving it for just a few seconds to long evaporates all the moisture out of the bread. All the ingredients were very fresh and I really liked the red onions they used, as well as the cheddar cheese (Frittier Salon look at the picture! That's what molten cheese has to look like!). What I found a bit strange was the fact that the burger had cucumbers instead of pickles on it. As someone who doesn't like pickles anyways, it didn't bother me too much though. The fries however were a bit too done, and some tasted like frying fat and cancer dust.

But now for the main discipline - the patty, the burger, the core, that juicy piece of meat. .... FAILED. Well, not majorly failed, to the extend where I wouldn't go there again. But I can say that the chef has no real idea about how to grill a proper burger. It was just too flat, too hard, and basically just a lump of dead, heated protein. Come on,... Burger one-0-one: fresh meat, seasoning, tablespoon of water, form with hands so it is slightly fluffy, barbeque on high heat, let the juices rise and then flip it once and once only, and please DO NOT PRESS DOWN ON THE BURGER, voila - success.

Also, this was the first time that I saw a tomato placed under the meat. ??? Don't do that! Basic composition order goes as follows: caramelized bottom bun, salad as a moisture barrier, meat, toppings + sauce, top bun - Done.

Overall I can say, or rather hope that they will improve on the meat, and with all the fresh ingredients this could be(-come) a decent burger.

Rating: 3 out of 6

http://www.the-locks.de/

Hamburger Review: Frittiersalon Berlin

Frittiersalon Berlin

Frittiersalon is a small burger shack and I didn't expect to be blown away. You still have to eat a burger, to rate a burger; but first impressions usually do not lie.

If I was paid for my reviews, I might have even told the owners what was wrong with their burgers. ... OK, it's the grill. Some kitchen utensil salesman must have talked them into buying one of those top-bottom grills. While this time-efficiently heats the patties from the top and the bottom at the same time, it also squeezes all the juices out of it as. What they are left with is a flat piece of ... yeah, okay it is not as bad as shoe-sole, but close. The meat was probably very good before it was press-grilled, but I honestly can't tell you.

And then there was the bread,... I suspect it to be made by a bio baker or something alike. Don't get me wrong there is almost nothing wrong with the bread except that there wasn't enough sesame. But the way it was served was below standard. It was oily and greasy; and didn't look very yummy. As for the toppings, they were okay, except for the cheese. It was just placed on the patty (which wasn't warm enough to melt it), and just rested there like in a cheese sandwich.

The best part of the menu were probably the potatoes and the fries I had on the side.

P.S.: This place needs a man in the kitchen, and a proper grill.

Rating: 2 out of 6

http://www.frittiersalon.de/

Hamburger Review: White Trash Fast Food Berlin

White Trash Fast Food Berlin

Bravo, ..., the Burger I ate at White Trash Fast Food has honestly surprised me. It was much better than I had expected, and although I would not necessary classify them as a gourmet burger restaurant, they did a better job than many who claim to be one.

WTFF as the restaurant is abbreviated is located at Rosa Luxemburg Platz, in an old chinese restaurant, which during GDR times was frequented by communist party officials. Since WTFF has moved from its former location in a panel flat, several rumors and myths were spread about the place. Frequented by celebrities like Quentin Tarantino or Lemmy Kilmister (frontman of heavy metal band Motörhead), the place has become a regular hang out for Berlin's creative cool crowd and artists.

The Hamburger WTFF offer is a basic hamburger without any fancy ingredients, but with all the luxury a homemade burger needs. The buns, which are made by a local bio baker, are regular sesame bun, that come in perfect proportion to the meat patty. The meat patties are hand formed and taste just like they are supposed to taste; smokey grill-, and caramelized meat flavors, etc...

The toppings are standard lettuce, tomato and pickles. The reason why I gave WTFF a 6 minus is that the lettuce was already withered and slightly brown on the edges. As GBK is my standard to which everything else is compared, I have to say that the two burgers are on par. What WTFF got absolutely right was the bun though, which had the perfect consistency. While GBK's bun was a bit burned and dry, WTFF's bun was soft on the outside but crunchy and caramelized on the inside to prevent it from becoming soggy from the meat.

The fries were also very good, just as they are supposed to be.

If you are looking for a genuine, homemade burger, this place is definitely worth a visit.

Rating: 6- out of 6

http://new.whitetrashfastfood.com/

Hamburger Review: Cosmo Grill Munich

Cosmo Grill Munich

So Cosmo Grill is located on Munich's "supposedly-posh" Maximilian Strasse, which might explain their slightly higher prices. And I know I don't usually do include price since most gourmet burgers are around the same price. The problem I have with Cosmo grills burger is the size of their burger. It is just way too small. Being 50% more expensive and 30% smaller than the other burgers I have tried. The problem was... in the end I was still hungry.

So, what about the burger itself (besides the size). I had a standard burger, with their chili potatoes, and a coke (another burger place that doesn't have milk shakes). The bread was just mediocre, as it was very soggy and not properly caramelized I have to deduct a couple of points. The meat for the patties comes from a local bio-farmer, who's brochures are on display in the shop. But this doesn't help the burger if it is not properly grilled. This place is called Cosmo GRILL; then why are they using a teppanyaki grill to prepare the burger? They are not hot enough, miss the grill flavors which would otherwise settle in the meat, and the coloring is also not right.

The other ingredients were alright. Fresh and all, but the side dish was ... not my taste. If you like little potatoes in oil and a bit of chili or rosemary and sea-salt, you might like it.

Rating: 3 out of 6

http://www.cosmogrill.de/

Hamburger Review: Black & Blue London

Black & Blue Steakhouse London

Although Black & Blue is a steakhouse chain, I wanted to give them a try (mostly because the only real burger chain that I had not visited yet was Fine Burger, and they are on the verge of bankruptcy). In retrospect I should have gone there, since Black & Blue was rather disappointing.

The chain must be struggling in the steakhouse market, since Gaucho Grill, who offer the best steaks by far (outstanding products and service), are expanding all over key locations in London.

B&B's menu on their webpage is slightly different from the actual menu I saw at the Notting Hill Gate outlet.

But enough about this,... back to the important things in life. "The Hamburger"

My order consisted of the standard Hamburger (medium rare, bacon, and cheese), the house fries as a side, and the flowery fried onion (their version of the onion ring) for starters.

The Burger was mediocre, and there are a couple of things to criticize. While the salad and tomato topping were fresh, all the other ingredients were lacking quality. First and foremost the meat could not satisfy what I had expected. Though juicy and well cooked, neither the flavor, texture nor the smell could keep up with what specialized burger places offer.

The extra pound spend for the bacon and cheese, was not worth it. Since the bacon looked like it had been fried to charcoal on the outside, while on the inside it was still raw (neither taste was very appealing). The bun was a bit soggy, probably due to the juicy medium rare patty. This could have been minimized if the bun had been properly caramelized beforehand.

The flowery onion is probably the most unhealthy thing I have eaten in a long time. It is made from a large Spanish onion, that is then battered and fried. Due to its size, stay away from it unless you are more then four people.

Overall Black & Blues' Burger is not something I can recommend to eat there. I do not recall the quality of the steaks, but I sure hope they are better than the Burgers, because otherwise this chain is doomed with all the competition that is out there.

Rating: 3 out of 6

http://www.blackandbluerestaurants.com/

Hamburger Review: Haché London

Haché at 24 Inverness street in Camden.

I was really eager to go to this one. Since Haché have won the Time Out award for best burger, and have received great reviews overall it was on the top of my to-visit list and see for myself.

The place was very friendly and welcoming and the menu looked good (probably a bit abuzz for my taste). So I ordered my standard Burger or as they call it "steak au naturel" (medium rare), the chunky fries with chili sauce and onion rings as sides. Since they did not offer any milkshakes, I ordered a Coke.

Let me start with the Burger, because I am not sure if it should be called that. This is exactly what I had expected. Someone who is looking for a burger might find Haché a bit pretentious. It is fancy and extravagant, but to their defense not expensive. Something you will taste with your first bite is that their meat patty is a french steak Haché (if you want the definition look it up on their webpage). Although it was perfectly cooked, I would not call it a Hamburger, but a "french minced meat sandwich". Haché's burgers come in a bread that is too much bread roll and not enough burger bun. In fact it is ciabatta. They use rocket instead of lettuce, and the plates are garnished as you would expect it at a upscale restaurant, and not in a burger joint. Do not get me wrong here, the food was outstanding; but just not a real hamburger.

Now the side-dishes, were actually disappointing. The fries were mushy on the inside and the onion rings had hardly any onions in them, but consisted of pure batter (but they looked delicious).

My overall assessment is,.... well I can not give one, since this is not a burger place. But what they offered was delicious, well prepared and without a doubt tastier than most of the other "real" burger places I have visited. In their defense, I do not think that Haché tried to take a burger and turn it into something better. They simply took something else and called it a burger. Haché is for the french, for women, for anyone that likes style and does not mind pretentiousness, or thinks that this combination of protein, carbs and fibers will be much healthier than others. If you are looking for something new, want to impress a girl without spending over 40 pounds, or just want a "french minced meat sandwich"; Haché is your place. But if you are looking for a Hamburger that is nothing but that, you are better of with GBK. As for the onion rings,... Hamburger Union had better ones (which was about all they had).

Rating: 6 out of 6 (but on the "french minced meat sandwich" scale)

http://www.hacheburgers.com/