Most Reccomended Burger in Glasgow

 

 

The Winner

So the time has come, I've eaten my seven burgers and come to a very hard decision regarding my favourite. Obviously, as this is my first time doing it, I was unsure of how to decide on my top pick for a burger in Glasgow but I thought it was only fair to judge based on the actual burger, and not the overall dining experience as experiences can change dependant on the individual and is mostly based on the individuals mood, preferences etc... I mean, I didn't like the dude from BRGR right from the off but I'm pretty sure he's probably got at least a few mates that do. Catching my drift?

 

 

And the winner is... Drum roll please!!

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NICE 'N' SLEAZY!

From burger to bun, to haggis, to chorizo, to the weird sweet bacony jam sauce this burger was pretty much perfect. I think the MeatHammer chef just took all my favourite foods and flung them on a bun and of course I was going to love it. I'd like to think my conclusion is completely unbiased, I, in fact, wasn't even wanting a burger very much that day- I just thought 'awk, I'd better get started on that assignment,' I was also blown away by the top quality scran because I just wasn't expecting it. Anyway, give Nice 'n' Sleazy's a holla next time you're about, I doubt you'll regret it.

 

What's Next?

As I've come to the end of my mandatory 8 blog posts for my university assignment, I'll be giving it a rest with the burgers for a bit. It's going to feel so good to be able to dine out and not HAVE to get a burger but this is definitely not the end of my blog, nor the end of my burger reviews. At the beginning of this task myself and Corey sat down and made a list of places that we would visit to review some burgers but as the weeks have went by, we haven't stuck to our list on bit, meaning there are still so many burgers in Glasgow I'm desperate to try. Jacker De Viande, Bloc, Buddy's, TriBeCa, Roasters Deli,...the list is endless, and no doubt we'll be back to all of the places I've already reviewed for a different burger. That Special O' Cajun from BRGR is calling me already...

 

But for now, I'm going to move on to a different food group, I'm thinking Mac n Cheese... any recommendations for me?

 

Peace & love- stay tuned!

 



[Review: BRGR Great Western Road]

For my 7th and final burger myself and wee Coco took to BRGR in the West End of the city on a fine Saturday afternoon in spring time in Glasgow, so naturally there was hailstones. Irrelevant really, but whatever we went to BRGR. I just kind of heard about BRGR from floating about the town, I seen the little red entrance one night on my stoat back into the centre of town from after a few drinks in Ashton Lane and thought it looked pretty cool, then I was at a party and someone had ordered in from BRGR, then one of my pals recommended we went, seeing as I was reviewing burgers.

It's dead easy to find, turn to your left outside of Kelvinbridge subway station, walk up the street five minutes and cross the road, you can't miss it. It's red. So upon arrival I was pretty buzzin', I'd eaten dead healthily all week and I wasn't feeling very well either so I was probably just happy to be getting out the house and not to be doing uni work. It was about 2.30pm and it was really busy, I think we got the last table actually. I wasn't too sure what the etiquette was for getting a table- do we kind of hover awkwardly at the door or do we just grab a table? to be honest I don't really think the staff knew either, they sort of pointed to a table from afar and I guessed that's where we were to sit. So we sat down and I scanned the menu and I literally wanted every single burger there.

The Dreaded Kitchen Roll

On the table there was a roll of kitchen roll and I really hate when restaurants do that because it just gives off such a bad impression and indicates that the food is going to be so greasy that you might as well have an entire roll of it as opposed to a wee napkin. Maybe it's because of my terrible experience in Burger Meats Bun in the city centre- which is now closed, I can't imagine why- when they gave us a whole roll of kitchen roll, which I legit needed the entirety of. To accompany our roll of napkin there was spicy mayo and all your usual condiments etc. A waitress came over to take our drinks order, which was when I came to realise that milkshakes were only £2. Kinder milkshake 4 me pls. Disappointing to say the least, where was the kinder at? You realise I go to the university of the West of Scotland where Equi's ice cream parlour is a five minute walk down the road and 'Milkshake Monday's' is a 'ting? Very milky and not very creamy. I was more interested by Corey's excellent choice of holiday juice (Fanta Lemon).


Shortly after, a waiter came over to take our order (before the drinks that we had ordered had reached our table) and asked if we would like drinks, which showed a total lack of communication between staff and lack of organisation but anyway, I didn't like this waiter. I had been watching him since we walked into the burger bar and he just came across as a bit of a dick, as though he couldn't be bothered being there at all.

The Burger

Anyway, we just got a burger and side to share- we went for the Philly Cheese Steak, but I was eyeing up the Special O' Cajun and Hot Coo too. The Philly cheese steak came with 'Cos lettuce , caramelised onion, roast pepper, steak, smoked  cheese and mustard mayo.' The burger came wrapped up in a wee tin foil wrapping with a BRGR logo sticker on the front, and looked pretty pathetic from the outside but it was actually really good, it was a rump sandwich steak inside the brioche bun and they weren't holding out on the steak. It was cooked perfectly as well, not too chewy and pretty much zero fat. The burger wasn't one of these tall ones that I can't fit in my mouth so biting into the burger and tasting every ingredient mixing together was a rare treat. The combination of the caramelised onion and mustard mayo made it very sweet but I really liked it. A sweet burger is totally different for me as I always tend to go for spicy food, but I enjoyed the change.

Philly Cheese Steak

Accompanied by the burger, we also received a burger 'HAWDER' which was a cool touch, emphasising that BRGR is a Glasgow-based company. A 'HAWDER' is a foldable cardboard holder for your burger so that your hands don't get too greasy and if you're a mingin' eater and try to shove more burger in your mouth than can fit- the 'hawder' will catch the rest. I reckon I'd have been more impressed by this if I hadn't already seen it in a burger bar (best burger I've ever had to date by the way) in Barcelona called BACOA. Sorry BRGR, it's been done before!

The HAWDER

I enjoyed my fries so much at MeatHook, that we went for the same again in here (with an added extra)- rosemary salt and parmesan. BRGR offer a bigger portion for the same price (£3.00), and in this instance definitely have the advantage. The fries were very salty but unlike Meathook the salt was much more evenly spread and I couldn't get enough of them. They were soft, fluffy and not too greasy.

Also worth noting is that BRGR has framed signs up around the restaurant informing us that all burgers with the exception of 'The BRGR' burger are only £4.00 during the week, and £5.00 on the weekends. So for a burger that we were willing to pay the full £8.00 for, only cost us £5.00. However, the lack of advertising of this offer on the website clearly didn't affect the number of customers that day.

Rating

Overall, not an amazing experience, but a great burger and would rate this 8/10- highly recommend for a quick 'in and out' scran if you're about the West End.

[Review: Meathook Glasgow]

American-Style Diner

Big holla in wee Linda's diro for this one as she bought Corey and I an Itison voucher for the newly opened Meathook in Glasgow's West End. Itison is a great website to sign up for if you are looking for some great deals on eating out around your area, you are kept up to date with the latest deals via e-mail, which are specifically tailored to your interest. This particular voucher cost (my mum) £10.00 and this entitled us to two main courses and a side of fries each meaning all we had to pay for on the night was for our drinks.

On first entering the restaurant I was surprised by the size, it's pretty big and stretches over two floors, I definitely wouldn't have thought that from the outside. The first song we heard playing was 'The Getaway' by The Music, and the second was 'Stand Back' by Stevie Nicks so obviously I was impressed. However as we sat chatting, taking in our surroundings I began to notice how empty the place was and considering we had a table booked for half past seven on a Saturday night it seemed strange. There was a huge bar stretching over the back wall which was loaded with different kinds of spirits but there wasn't a sole standing around it with a drink. Perhaps we visited too early to get a good insight into the kind of clientele who eat or drink at Meathook in Glasgow but I felt it was a wasted bar.

However, the service was great. We literally phoned up an hour before we wanted to reserve a table and had no problem securing one. We were served by three different waitresses who were all cheerful and helpful and were in and out within the hour!

The Menu

Like many burger restaurants, Meathook's menu was very basic. There really is nothing fancy about a sheet of printed paper and although this says nothing about the quality of the food, I really do find myself questioning the practicality of them? Yeah, it might work out cost-effective in the short time but surely, SURELY in the long term it will work out more expensive than just paying to get an actual menu made... unless they plan on updating the menu frequently. However, Meathook offer us a variety of sides, burgers, meats, hotdogs, sandwiches, salads, sides and desserts. In the way of burgers I was mildly disappointed in the options that were available as they are definitely kept to a minimal. I could chose between a chicken burger, a beef burger, a shrimp burger, a falafel burger and a vegetarian option and from there, there was a few different toppings which could be added. Naturally, I went for the classic beef burger and topped it with smoked cream cheese and jalapeno.

 

 

The Burger

The burger was cooked medium as always, unless requested otherwise and served on a brioche bun. The bun was slightly chewy and not too soft, I wouldn't want to accuse Meathook of not serving me a fresh bun as I feel as though this was just the way the bun was- it was slightly toasted on the inside of the burger but not on the out- perhaps toasting it on the outside slightly may fix this issue. The meat was also quite tough, but nevertheless very tasty. The burger was delightfully NOT greasy but could almost be considered dry- will I ever be happy on the grease front? Probably not. The cream cheese on the other hand was lovely, but it definitely lacked in jalapenos. The combination of the two were great but I love jalapenos and would have preferred them to be chunky and more prominent as opposed to tiny pieces mixed throughout the cream cheese.

To accompany my burger I ordered rosemary and sea salt seasoned French fries- the seasoning was great as I LOVE rosemary however, it was a shame that the seasoning was kind of all dumped on top of the teeny cup of chips as opposed to mixed throughout. As you can imagine, I ended up with some really salty chips and some pretty bland ones at the bottom.

Corey's Meal

You know that way when someone else's meal ALWAYS looks better than yours, and your heart kind of sinks when you see the plates being brought over to the table? Yeah, that happened. Corey went for a chilli cheese 'dog tonight and it looked (and was) fabulous. The chilli was very spicy and topped with my favourite (parmesan)! He also ordered some sweet potato fries, which were also delightful- the sweetness of them somehow complimented the spicy chilli very well and the two went together nicely. It was just a shame there wasn't more of them. You win some; you lose some!

Conclusion

Unfortunately my burger at Meathook in Glasgow was not the best burger I've ever had but having a wee taste of Corey's meal definitely entices me to return and see what else they have to offer. Without an Itison voucher my burger would have cost me £7.50, which is definitely a reasonable price to expect to pay in the West End of Glasgow however, my rosemary and sea salt French fries were an extra £3.00 on top of that price and if I were ordering them without a main course I would definitely be left unsatisfied as the portion size was exceptionally small. All in all, I would rate this burger 6/10.

[Review: King Tut's Glasgow Food]

King Tuts Wah Wah Hut is arguably one of the best music venues in Glasgow. It provides an intimate space in which new and upcoming bands can kick-start their career and strut their stuff to the "I listened to them before they were famous!" lot, and my visit to King Tuts was for just that. I was there a few weeks back to support my talented other half perform in his band, Not The Messiah.

 

Not The Messiah

Not The Messiah are a heavy metal band, sorry guys if I've got this wrong but the ins and outs of music genres gets far too confusing for me. As usual though, the boys smashed it- they were so tight and awkward little Gareth is so funny. They were finalists in last year's Metal 2 the Masses competition and play often in Glasgow. If you wanted to check them out, you can do so on YouTube here, and if you like what you hear you can give them a 'like' on Facebook here and keep up to date with their latest news.

Anyway, as much as I love King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, eating here leaves a lot to desired. I arrived at the venue at around 7pm as I was unaware that the doors to the gig weren't until 8.30pm, so I had rushed straight there from work without having my dinner. Initially, I only wanted a little soup and a sandwich but there was no soup left so what else for it eh?! Burger time!!

The  Burger

The menu only offered your standard beef, chicken, veggie or pork burger with the choice of adding on extra toppings for a sub-charge. The choice of toppings was quite extensive however and is great if you're quite a fussy eater and would rather stick to what you know- but that's not me. I would much rather have had a few creative options designed by a chef who knows what they're doing when it comes to pairing off ingredients with other another to design a funky burger.

In the end I went for my usual beef burger but for a bit of a change I added beef chilli and sour cream with a side of sweet potato fries that were included in the price of the burger. When it came, I was initially really impressed because this was actually the first burger in 5 weeks that I had ordered and the bun had sesame seeds on it- very exciting. I love sesame seeds. However, it was definitely a knife and fork effort. The more I dug into the burger, the less impressed I became, it was definitely too greasy, too messy, and too much. The chilli on the other hand, was lovely. It wasn't too spicy nor too watery, the consistency was thick and there was plenty of it but I would have much preferred to eat it with rice. The burger was quite small in comparison to many other burgers that have cost the same, if not cheaper, as you can see from the picture- the fries came in a 'King Tuts' labelled mug with the burger beside them. The fries were good- perfect as they came with no sauce needed- crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. Fries and chilli save the day! Overall, I'm giving King Tuts Wah Wah Hut a 5/10 and that's mainly for lack of effort! I realise that my average experience here was entirely my own doing as I created my own burger but the lack of creativity in the kitchen for not designing their own burgers and leaving it to eejit, wanna-bee food critiques like myself.

Ciao for now.

[Review: Slimming World's Pulled Chipotle Chicken Burger]

 

 

I thought I would do something a bit different today as it's getting to that point of the month where I'm waiting on my next wage and so, ideally, shouldn't be spending my remaining pennies luxury dining. I must admit I've been wanting to try out this recipe for a while but just hadn't gotten around to it yet so tonight I decided to give it a bash.

I've taken this recipe for 'pulled chipotle chicken buns' from the October 2015 issue of the Slimming World magazine. I actually rate myself as quite a decent cook and my range of store cupboard spices and condiments is pretty extensive, but if you're not massive on cooking then a trip to a supermarket might be necessary prior to attempting this.

Recipe

Serves 4
Ready in about 1 hour

Ingredients

3 skinless chicken breast fillets
4 x 60g wholemeal rolls
For the chipotle sauce:
4 level tbsp. ketchup
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. mustard powder
1 level tsp. black treacle
2 tsp. sweet smoked paprika
2 level tbsp. chipotle paste
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Boil the chicken for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover. Leave to poach for 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and set aside to cool for 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together all the chipotle sauce ingredients.

3. Shred the chicken using two forks, then transfer to a frying pan. Stir through the chipotle sauce and cook gently over a low heat for 10 minutes to warm through.

4. Divide the chicken into four, and place each quarter on a bun and serve.

Outcome

Tah-Dah!


Many people would imagine that the healthier the burger, the less tastier it will be. However, this is certainly not the case with this Slimming World recipe. I am extremely impressed with out this burger turned out. Both the chicken and the chipotle sauce were so delicious, and the best part about it is that there is next to no fat in it! For anyone who follows the Slimming World food plan, this burger has just 1.5 syns, providing you are using your wholemeal roll as your healthy extra B choice for the day (7.5 syns if you are not using the wholemeal roll for your healthy extra B choice for the day). In my opinion- definitely worth it! I served my burgers with baby spinach and rocket accompanied with Slimming World syn free Cajun spiced wedges and some grilled halloumi cheese.

I realise that the purpose of this blog was to inform you lovely people of decent eateries in Glasgow City Centre, but this burger is not available to buy in a restaurant... yet. Honestly, this Slimming World Pulled Chipotle Chicken burger was literally restaurant quality and I reckon I could open up a pop-up burger bar in the city and sell it myself! Watch this space.

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If anyone would like the recipe for the wedges or a video demonstration on how to pull the chicken, please feel free to request it in the comment box and I will do my best to post either on my blog as soon as I can.

 

[Review: Bread Meats Bread]

There seems to be a massive hype in Glasgow regarding the now-famous Bread Meats Bread which becomes apparent when attempting to get table on a Monday afternoon, never mind a weekend. My friend who has been travelling New Zealand for the past year returned home for short while last month and I thought, where better to catch up on some exciting stories than grabbing a good munch in the heart of the city he has missed so sorely.

Luckily, this time we only had to wait ten minutes for a table which gave us time to scan the menu. It was short and simple with around fifteen different burger options, slightly less sandwich options and a handful of grilled cheese sandwiches. As usual though, I spent a good fifteen additional minutes (after sitting down at our table) mulling over the menu as everything sounded so delicious. As our server approached us, I hastily made a quick decision, and opted for 'The Wolf of St Vincent's Street.' That was such a big deal for me, because as I sit typing this review in uni I've literally just spoke aloud "I really didn't enjoy my lunch, I'm so disappointed- it totally depicts my mood for the entire day." So, this "signature burger" had better live up to my expectations.

Sides



Buffalo Fries


We decided we would share a side of fries as well but neither of us could decide on which ones we wanted. The waiter was great help in resolving this issue, I really liked him- he was enthusiastic with a bight exterior and a very loud American or Canadian accent- I wasn't too sure which but either way it fitted in well in this rustic burger bar. I wanted caramelised sweet potato fries and Ally wanted Buffalo fries, so the waiter didn't hesitate in offering us every combination of fries imaginable whether it was on the menu or not which was a lovely touch even though in the end, we just went for the Buffalo fries which came with hot Buffalo sauce, Blue Cheese mayo and crispy fried onions. It was a taste sensation and the flavours worked really well with one another.

The Wolf of St Vincent's Street

Complete with American cheese, Crispy Bacon, Pulled Pork in BBQ sauce, crispy friend onions and 'Nduja Mayo. Sounds pretty standard, right? Right- but there was definitely no need to over complicate this burger as it was just fine as it was. I'm quite partial to a pulled pork burger and in my opinion, the only risky aspect of ordering pulled pork is the fear that it will come fatty and chewy. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the meat arrived juicy and tender and literally fell apart in your mouth. When measuring this burger against my previous two burgers of late, in terms of 'holding it's own' for lack of a better expression, The Wolf of St Vincent's Street is definitely my winner I managed to eat the burger with very little of it's contents spilling out. Another nice touch was the name- named after the Glasgow's St Vincent's Street- where the restaurant is located, the very same burger is named 'Lothian Wolf' in the Edinburgh restaurant.

The Wolf of St Vincent's Street

My One Criticism

The place is TINY, if you're looking to have a private conversation then you can think again about doing so in Bread Meats Bread. There is literally only one (don't quote me) booth in the whole place? I could feel my elbows banging against the person's beside me- and I'm not exactly a massive person, despite what all you guys who don't know me must be thinking. Anyway, luckily Ally and I were probably only chatting about sloths or something so privacy wasn't an issue.
 

 Overall

I'll keep it short and sweet. 10/10 for the fries and 9/10 for the burger this rating was based on the excellent quality of both food and service but unfortunately had to deduct just one wee teeny point for the burger being a weeeeee bit greasy. 100% recommend!

[Review: Lebowskis- Glasgow West]

 

Corey’s favourite film is ‘The Big Lebowski,’ which to be honest, I don’t actually know much about… annnnd at this point you are all thinking about what a terrible girlfriend I am. We did try to watch it together one time but all I really got from it was that the characters spent a lot of time in a bowling alley and drank a lot of White Russians. So, when I walked into Lebowski’s to see a table held up by several bowling pins and a menu solely dedicated to White Russian’s, I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

First Impressions

To put it simply- really cool, and I felt really cool being in there, like a right wee west-ender. There was a definite buzz in the atmosphere and every table was occupied despite it being only six o’clock on a Tuesday evening so I hoped that was an accurate reflection on the food and drink. If you want me to get technical, it’s not ideal in terms of location as it’s bang in the centre of all the nearest subway stations which were a good twenty minute walk away, and with Buchanan Street only a twenty-five minute walk away- you might as well walk if you’re travelling from the centre of the town.

The pair of us were totally overwhelmed by the selection of White Russian’s on the menu... the menu that was solely dedicated to White Russians. It was pretty embarrassing actually, the waiter approached us three times to ask for our drinks order before either of us could come to a decision. The White Russian’s are all named after characters from the film with a short quote beneath, which I imagine would be a great touch if you were familiar with the film.

White Russians

Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese- Classic burger pattie, mac n cheese, mozerrella and bacon fritter with smoked bacon jam.

Oh my God, mac ‘n’ cheese on a burger… naw. I expected this burger to come with actual macaroni cheese poured over the top of the burger like a thick sauce, so you can imagine my disappointment when the burger came looking like this...

Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese
 

 
The mac ‘n’ cheese was wrapped in a thick batter and placed on top of the burger. My initial reaction was to cut it in half to see the mac ‘n’ cheese but in hindsight this probably wasn’t one of my smarter moves and the burger proved extremely challenging to eat. The batter was too thick and too greasy and as a result I could hardly taste the mac ‘n’ cheese, and in the end I removed it, and ate the burger without it. The burger itself was well done and had a peppery, crunchy exterior, sweetened by the bacon jam. It was great… without the mac ‘n’ cheese.

To Conclude...

In terms of value for money, the total bill came to roughly £50. For this price we both ordered a burger each which came with a side of fries, a dipping sauce which we paid a small surcharge for, one diet coke and a total of four White Russian's. Upon receiving the bill, I was actually pleasantly surprised and taking into consideration the size of the burgers I wouldn't describe this bar over priced. I would definitely recommend Lebowski's as a great bar with a lot of character and friendly staff but the next time I would perhaps choose a different burger. I'd give the Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese a 6/10 star rating.