I have been more than part of the Twitter hysteria surrounding the new burger venue opening in Glasgow. It was a boring afternoon and I received a message on Yelp giving me a ‘heads up’ about a new burger restaurant opening in Glasgow city centre. This wasnt just any burger restauant, THIS one is co-owned by Ben Dantzic and James Forrest who met while working in the Michelin Starred Peat Inn. Michelin calibre chefs making burgers? Oh my! I had the opening day, 5th of July at noon, in my diary so that House of Herby could ‘meat’ Burger Meats Bun.
Hello!
Given that it was opening day, I expected a few hiccups as they settled in. You could be easily fooled into thinking it was an established restaurant. The service was brilliant – and not in a ‘try hard’ way. The staff were lovely – and to that, may I also say they were relaxed and chilled. They worked quickly and knew the menu, even though they had to double check a few things.
I took many photos as my Twitter followers will have noticed. Unfortunately, the light that was above my head cause all my photos to come out pink! Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit A:
I’d like to credit Michelle and her fancy-pants camera for my photos!
We placed our orders, and then like Christmas we all got our gifts. It was literally like Christmas – everyone unwrapping, oooh-ing, aaahhh-ing and urging one another to look at their burgers!
I ordered the Fiery burger which had been taunting me on a daily basis as I looked at the menu. After our meal we had a chat with Ben who told us about their quest for ingredients – they looked high and they looked low and left no farm unturned! It paid off! The brioche bun from Big Bear Bakery contained a beast of a burger sourced locally from Aberfoyle Butchers. This was topped with Toma Raschiera (Raschera?) cheese from George Mewes, jalapeños, tomato, pickles and lettuce and a healthy dose of their homemade chipotle mayonnaise.
This burger was the best I’ve ever eaten. It was medium cooked and was SO juicy and moist. It was amazing – the definition of succulence. The meat just had so much flavour – like a good steak converted into a patty. My second favourite element was the home made chipotle mayonnaise – it was creamy but gave a fantastic kick. Then the cheese, oh the cheese. So much stringy, cheesey goodness.
Tip: use the wrapper to hold the burger to avoid drips going everywhere (kind of like how you’d eat a burrito). They don’t hand your table a full roll of kitchen roll for no good reason! You’re gonna get messy!
Then there was silence. Everyone descended into synchronised eating. It was glorious. I shared a couple of sides: Seoul chicken wings and the Thai chilli cheese fries.
The Seoul chicken wings were gorgeous. They weren’t as the waitress described – I had expected them to be spicy, so I was a little disappointed at first. Absolutely delicious and moreish despite the lack of spice. Chicken wings can be hit or miss with me, and these were a hit – not a piece of fat! Just meat and bone! They were so lovely that they became addictive!
Thai chilli fries – yum yum yum. When I ordered these I didn’t know what to expect, but what came out visually didn’t surprise me. Home cooked chips topped with melted cheese, hot sauce and sliced chillies. They were fiery but just beautiful. A mixture of crispy chips, soft potatoey (I know that not a word), gooey cheese and crunchy chilli.
I topped my meal off (nearly topped myself off) with some dessert. These are the fresh made donuts with dipping sauce. I didn’t order them but had a try. To describe them I’m going to both quote and paraphrase a hilarious comment: “One of these is enough to feed a small village!” They’re very heavy, so if you ate as much as I did then I’d share them! The dipping sauce was very strange but beautiful – like a spicy butterscotch.
And my dessert: the Burger & Shake! This is a macaron (NOT MACAROON) style burger – it’s genius! The macaron makes the bap, a chocolate ganache is the burger, a passionfruit gel makes the cheese and a raspberry coulis makes the ketchup. The shake was gorgeous – creamy milk with an almond taste. Our waitress brought over the bouquet garni that they used to flavour the supremely creamy milk – it smelled really beautiful and it had a mild but definite almond aroma. It turns out that the flavoring is actually tonka bean and woodruff! A new one for me!
The main thing that the owners want from this restaurant is to produce a simple menu, buy locally sourced produce to create top quality food and serve it in a trendy, relaxed environment. They’ve achieved this without a doubt. I’m no expert, but I knew today I was eating a pretty special burger. What’s even better is that they offer free WiFi as well as Gluten Free options, hooray!
Now, my final words on the matter: Go now. I’ll come with you.
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Burger Meats Bun
48a West Regent Sreet
Glasgow
G2 2RA
(0141) 353 6712
http://www.burger-meats-bun.co.uk
@BurgerMeatsBun
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