An anaemic new mum and pregnant woman walk into a burger bar…Don’t fear, this isn’t some corny gag, this really is what happened earlier this week when I met my friend Rachel (she being the pregnant one, just to be clear) for a catch up and some much craved-for burger action at BURGER. This newbie is slap-bang in the heart of the west end on Shandwick Place, and it is a joy to see that the defibrillator of re-opening the traffic to the street up has really revived the area. A certain tax-dodging global coffee chain recently opened over the road, so you know the regeneration is pretty much complete.
The interior is along the lines of industrial-modern, with a lot of metals, a bit of graffiti and a feature neon sign at the back with the somewhat un-hip heralding of ‘toilets this way’. The standard drinks list of pedestrian choices is thankfully usurped in the cool stakes with a Specials Menu with beers from the likes of The Kernel, Brewdog and others. This is one of those order at the counter, return to table with buzzer thing and collect food again places, but as it was fairly quiet evening the nice folks brought our food to us.
With low iron levels in mind, Rachel and I were quickly decided on testing their beef burgers to the max. So a bacon double cheeseburger for her and the same minus the pork for me. I am pleased to report that BURGER really does do a mighty-good beef burger, with everything cooked to order. The patties were a decent thickness and had a pleasingly rough grind, cooked to perfection at medium point and flavoursome. Nicely seasoned, just a little bit of pink in the centre. We both agreed the dressings were of great quality. Proper thickly cut bacon, crispy as you’d make at home, and a decent cheese for melting. The pickles had a sweetness rather than slap-your-face vinegar hit, as did the slice of tomato. The (near-ubiquitous for a modern burger joint) brioche bun had a suitably shiny glaze and was soft without being claggy.
Their house slaw was fresh, just maybe lacking a zap of citrus. Crunchy red cabbage et al., not too much sloppy mayo and a nice bit of aromatic seasoning that might have been nutmeg, but that I couldn’t quite pin down. The fries here are worth just popping in for on a cold winter’s afternoon if you need a little unhealthy warmer! Properly cooked russet tatties, thin without being skinny-minnies and lots of ‘edge’ for crunch. So good that I instantly likened them to Ottawa chip wagon chips. Which led my greedy mind to another Canadian institution, poutine.
Now, as a girl born in Quebec, I have eaten a fair few of these snacks in my time. We seem to now be cottoning on to their tasty virtues here in the UK, so it’s great that BURGER gave it a bash as one of their featured specials. Unfortunately, a poutine (fries, squeaky cheese curds and gravy) is only as good as those 3 basic ingredients. In this case, there was a baffling smell of malt vinegar from the cheese blobs, which resolutely and irritatingly refused to melt on the fries. The gravy was fine. My heart was a little heavy. Until they can find the right kind of cheese, I’d suggest sticking to their Scottish chips ‘n’ good mature cheddar for now.
The poutine disappointment was nothing a (wait for it…) Robert Brownie Jr. and the Red Velvet Underground shake wasn’t going to fix. Hilarious moniker aside, this shake was a masterpiece. The smiley face drawn on the cup must have tried it earlier. The ‘drink’ featured brownies, red velvet cake, full-on vanilla cream deliciousness. It all went a little ‘When Harry Met Sally’ there for a minute, didn’t it?
The cinnamon doughnuts with chocolate sauce were okay, nice and light dough but I thought a little oily, maybe the oil should have been a little hotter to cook more quickly. You know what, we were probably just happily stuffed by this stage. The nice folks also brought along a wee selection of their ices to let us try, and not sure how this happened but the blood orange and apple variants of the sorbets were full of natural flavours and really zingy. Home-made ice cream and sorbets are quite an unusual speciality for a burger joint!
BURGER have two locations here in Edinburgh, the other is up at Fountainbridge and I say, if you’re hankering for a hamburger and fries in the West End, with their fresh food and good prices (you could eat well for less than £10) support an Edinburgh indie and pop in here. They’d be hard to beat!
BURGER
91/93 Shandwick Place, EH2 4SD
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