Las Iguanas

Back to another chain restaurant...

This time I venture to one of Southern American Latin descent (or so their PR campaign insists anyway). I imagine the owner is probably no more Latino than Donald Trump. I have actually ventured in to this establishment before and believe it or not I had a curry, not a burger. That was before the days of insisting on having a burger regardless of the cuisine of the restaurants I attended. Now I'm a changed man, a burger is all I crave, be it Nepalese or Icelandic cuisine some form of meat has to be lovingly enticed between some form of bun. Yes it is possible to have a burger of any nationality, in an Indian restaurant, simply sandwich a shami kebab between two circular naans, add the onion salad that always without fail accompanies the poppadoms and hey presto one Indian spiced lamb burger (of sorts). The vibes coming from the restaurant spark party, but I found due to the sheer size of the place it does feel quite baron, capturing the desolation and vast open space of Argentina quite well. So on to the food, what did I have? The Buenos Aires Burger.

The Burger

"National Burger Award Winner. Our 100% prime short rib & chuck beef patty, char-grilled & topped with aioli, crisp baby gem lettuce, smoky pork chorizo, caramelised onion, Emmental cheese & fresh herb chimichurri in a toasted brioche bun with slaw & a choice of fries or salad." Fries all the way.

Sounds good if not a little pricey for a chain, coming in at 12.95 sterling, a reasonable price as long as you get high quality. Throw in the award of national burger winner and I'm sold. Now this burger is advertised as award winning, I'm not sure exactly what award it was nor even who it was awarded by. I can only surmise the possibility that the health inspector gave them a golden five star medal. A first class for managing to cook the burger to such an extent that no amount of moisture or bacteria could ever possibly survive, chances are there would be more left in the aftermath of nuclear testing. The point of my ridiculous analogies, the burger was dry, very dry. As a result it overwhelmed the entire eating and made for a reasonably un-enjoyable dining experience. I attempted the burger slice, if I were to ever return I might call in the help of the Canadian lumbar jack association to saw through it for me to make things easier.

The one saving grace was from the chorizo, as we all know, chorizo imparts a ridiculously huge spiced hit. Thankfully there was a decent amount on top of the burger which gave full bodied smoky flavour. The excess fat from this also helped to lubricate the burger just enough for it to be swallowed after several chews. As I'd mentioned before with chorizo on a previous burger man review, it ends up overpowering the entire dish. In the hands of a great chef chorizo can be a thing of wonders, and particularly in a burger, however it requires a very delicate balancing act of flavours to ensure it compliments the whole ensemble rather that masking any other flavour. On this occasion, the heavy handed chorizo wielding chef actually clawed back a small amount of eating satisfaction by masking the overall blandness of the burger and making a pretty dull meal, somewhat slightly better. I really can't comment about the cheese as I couldn't taste it. Emmental cheese is a fairly mellow cheese to begin with so it's understandable this got lost in the facades. The aioli was either slathered very sparingly or it too was underwhelming. The onions came through just a touch but nothing major. 

The sides

The sides were minimal, however, I will say they did produce a nice crisp thin fry, though it wouldn't have taken too much effort as they were the standard makro bulk buy affair.


On to the Coleslaw. I don't even really know where to begin. It had a very peculiar taste, the only way I can possibly describe it is that if they had made the coleslaw with UHT milk and then left it outside in the blistering Argentinian summer heat for a few hours to curdle ever so slightly, giving it an interestingly repulsive Tang on the back of the palate. Authentic I guess you could call it.

Overall

This did constitute as a burger. Would I say this was a national award winning burger? No. On the whole I think it could be good, all the base level ingredients are present to turn this into a top class meal. The overcooking of the burger really just let this entire dish down and the chorizo took the reigns and went full blast picante on the whole thing. They will not serve medium rare, due to the cuts of meat, my suggestion would be to scrap the short rib meat and use 100% steak mince so it can be pink. In an ideal world, less burger cooking time, less chorizo, a stronger tasting cheese and more of the lettuce, onions and aioli would probably elevate this into what could be a good burger. The execution was just not up to the expectations of a high class burger which you would expect sandwiched between two pieces of brioche.

3.5/10

Las Iguanas

Riverside

7 Wherry Road
NR1 1WX

The Dining Rooms (and also a cinema)

It's time for a date. Burger style.

Firstly, a history lesson. The dining rooms is located in a pretty old building, medieval era old, not just David Attenborough old. So not only does it make for a very pleasant meal it also makes you feel like you are being cultural as well. As we all know, culture is the over-riding social currency used amongst civilisation nowadays. Unfortunately it also now appears that you can just take a few selfies with a cute dog dressed in varying international garbs to gain such esteem as well. I prefer actually going out, with people, and eating obscene amounts of burgers. I opted to go here because I thought it would seem like a nice casual place for two guys to go for a casual burger. Heads up, it was very ‘datey’, something which I’m totally cool with. So naturally I went with my metalhead* compadre as oppose to my female courting partner. So if you’re trying to impress a special someone in your life then this would be a good place to start. However, for a duo of partially inebriated lads it may not be the best venue.

The Burger

Let’s get cracking; what did I have?

"Thick rib beef burger served in a brioche bun, with cheese, bacon, baby gem, vine plum tomato, gherkins, red onion and burger sauce served with hand cut chips"

All for a fairly reasonable £13, nothing that will break the bank, but pricey enough to know that it should be good quality. Its worth noting we did ask for medium rare, and was told no due to the cut of meat. Presumably the rib of beef is slow cooked then formed into a burger? Who knows. I’ll forgive them for refusing medium because they did say no right from the outset. Though when it comes to ‘well-done’ cooking, they certainly delivered. It was very much cooked through, to the point where the meat was ever so slightly dry I have to admit. Confirmed by the registered burger slice method. A shame because the taste of it was incredible, a really deep rich smoky chargrilled flavour, similar to licking the remnants of a barberque after a mass meaty cook off. Like the ones you'd expect several southern state texan cowboys to have in oil drums. It just required a small amount of effort to chew and would of been so much tastier if it was juicy and slightly less cooked. 

The cheese was solid, nicely melted and actually tasted of cheese. I'm thinking it was a fairly mild one as it didn't have the usual punch that I like when I make them myself. I prefer to go for a nice creamy rich extra mature cheddar when topping a slab of meat. A metaphorical cheesy punch to the face. As I always say, if somethings going to be added to a burger make it count, go big or go home. When I taste each bite I think to myself, what is in this meaty construction, and what is it adding? Yes mild cheese is a nice mellow flavour, but who has time for mellow flavours?

The bacon. It was reasonably crispy but could of been taken a notch higher on the crispness scale (1 being a flaccid lettuce leaf left unwatered for three days, 10 being a kettle chip crisp left in the Gobi desert during midday sun). They didn't specify it would be crispy so no complaints there, it was probably a six which is a lot crispier than some places that actually advertise it as crispy. In my opinion it always has to be crispy, not only because it tastes better, but to add the much needed texture element. Bun was standard brioche; pillowy, sweet and classic 'let's make this an upmarket burger'. Worked really well given the venue, that added to the chopping boards as serving platters really added the fancy touch. Granted not as bacterially sound as a bone china plate but they do look nice. I wonder why the health inspector doesn't concern him/and/or herself with that biological hazard more than medium rare burgers?

The garnish was simple for this burger, but quite frankly that was all it needed. The intense chargrilled burger simply needed a nice fresh salad underlay to add the freshness, the baby gem and the raw red onion really cut through this. The gherkin then mortared this meaty beast to new levels adding an all needed jab of acidity that hits home just at end of the palate. Overall the entire ensemble was balanced quite well. The burger sauce was underwhelming, if I hadn't of just this second read it was actually included in the burger I never would have known. Plus I'm certain burger sauce is basically putrified E numbers anyway so I'm quite glad I couldn't taste it, I can't say it would of added anything as the burger didn't really need anything else.

The Chips

Imagine a potato like marshmallow. Insanely fluffy to the point where no chewing was even necessary, I could of merely sucked them through my teeth had that not of invoked several looks of disgust from the other clientele dining alongside us. The only let down was that yes the inside of the thick cut chips was as soft as a baby panda, so too was the outside. They reminded me of twice cooked chips that had had their final glorious stage of high temperature cooking cut short. In general though they did taste nice, I'm just being overly picky and their cooking prematurity is their only fault. In the grand scheme of things they were a hell of a lot nicer than bulk buy oven fry style things that a fair few restaurants cheap out on.

Overall

The burger was slightly overcooked (it is possible to have the meat cooked through, but not overcooked), but that aside they had pretty much got the rest of the meat tower in good order and the burger itself did still taste really nice, just required a bit of extra chewing per mouthful. There's a few things that could be amended to take this meal to new heights but in general they are well on their way. The simple fresh salad garnish was fresh and crisp and was a great addition which I thoroughly enjoyed. Overall taking in to account that everything tasted and looked freshly made in house you can't knock them and they certainly have one over any restaurant that chooses to use mass bought produce from retailers any day. I had a great time with a friend, but would definitely recommend if looking to impress a special someone, especially if meats on the cards.

7/10

The Dining Rooms
Cinema City

St Andrew's Street
Norwich 
NR2 4AD

*Metalhead - Someone that likes metal (a musical genre, not the solid material)

The Coach and Horses (Thorpe Road)

Off to another pub!

Before we begin it's worth noting there are two 'Coach and Horses' pubs in Norwich, this is the Thorpe road one near the train station. Most importantly it's the home of Chalk Hill Brewery, a cracking microbrew pub that supplies Norwich goers with a cracking selection of fine ales. Not only do they offer insanely good beer, they boast a decent reading homemade menu. When I see words like 'homemade' on a menu I can't ask for much more (except it being good maybe). The prospect of homemade food just makes it that much greater, because frankly, if something is just bought in from a colossal retailer what's the point in going out eat it? Just buy it yourself and cook it at home. The other benefit of the pub is just a short walk out the back of the pub down Rosary road there is also lots of pleasant ladies offering all sorts of massages, who knew masseuses worked into the early hours of the morning? On a serious note, whether having food or not this pub has a very good atmosphere and I can think of fewer places I'd like to spend an evening. With that, here's hoping the food matched.

The Burger

First things first, I don't have an instagram because the photos I take are fairly crap. Most instagramers would cringe at the poor out of focus blurred non X Pro-II filtered snaps I take, however (mass generalisation coming up), it's these instabloggers that go out for meals and generally don't have a good time because they are too focussed on phones. By the time they've photographed their meal from every height advantage angle and in different tonal dimensions of light, the meals cold and soggy. My main priority is embracing the burger and getting the most out of the atmosphere and photographing adhoc how the meal comes as quickly as possible then chowing down with my cohort of burger buddies. I had also sank a few pints by the time it came to eating which never helps with photography skills.

Quality exposure on this one

What did I have then? I opted for their flagship the 'Groundhog Burger': Beef patty, homemade BBQ pulled pork, dill pickle, Monterey Jack cheese & tortilla chips, served along side our hand cut chips & homemade slaw. As usual, always ask for medium rare. It elevates the beef to a new level of moist juiciness that can't be put into words. I was told on ordering the burgers are all homemade, and if fresh, can be served medium rare. Unfortunately they were sold out of fresh and had starting using a homemade supply of frozen ones and had to cook them through. I am actually ok with this because they actually told me the real reason. They didn't make up some hilarious excuse about the elephant in the room. Check that, less of an elephant, more of a suited gentleman/woman with horns and a flaming pitchfork wielding a health inspectors badge. It's been a while since the HI bomb has been dropped in a restaurant and I'm pleasantly surprised. Coincidentally I did perform a meat dance to the burger overlords last week.

                            

                          

The ultimate burger oxymoron: cooked through yet moist. New for me.

The beef was cooked through which normally this tends to dry the meat out, it did slightly, however the vast quantity of juicy pulled pork balanced this out quite well so it didn't matter too much. The actual burger itself did have a good taste and was seasoned well and strangely considering the amount of pork slapped on top the flavour of the burger came through really well. The pulled pork has a distinct BBQ flavour but it's not overpowering and complimented the beef really well. With such colossal amounts of meat this burger really needed the vinegar element to cut through the seriously rich flavours and balance the palate. They delivered, good old fashioned royal mail style. The dill pickle was just what this needed to harmonise the burger yin-yang. From here on the burger started to venture into tex mex style with the Jack cheese and the tortilla chips (nachos for us Brits). The cheese didn't come through a great deal which is a shame, as far as plastic American cheeses go Monterey Jack is one of the better ones and creates a super rich creamy taste when melted. My suggestion would be to crank up the level of cheese on this to heighten the indulgence. This wasn't a healthy burger, I knew that from ordering so let's kick it up a notch, BAM! The nacho did add a great crunch element which I thoroughly enjoyed. All of this was beautifully layered between a fresh, soft yet slightly crisp, bun. I can't say exactly where the bun came from but it tasted very nice, proper bakery quality.

                             

The Fries

These were the proper job. Or as my London based friend says, peng*. This pub proves that homemade chips can be done in bulk by a restaurant and that they don't have to rely on the identical frozen six centimetre anaemic chips sold by large retailers. I'm aware the main focus is always on the burger for me, but when you get a quality homecut chip like this it really is worth shouting about. I'd go as far to say that these bad boys can only be topped by grosvenors fish and chip bar. I regularly come back here purely for the chips themselves. In terms of size they are perfect, not too thick but not mega skinny. And yes, a chip can be too big. The only thing I could say is that they could of been slightly crisper, but that is me being overly picky. I tend to like my chips crispy, mega crispy, just incase I wish to re-enact the great scene from the film Troy when Achilles stabs the massive Trojan right at the start (I essentially do the same if my girlfriends hand ventures near my personal chip proximity). That said these chips are the best I've had so far as part of or in addition to a burger meal.

Extra sides 

Came with slaw, homeade, enough said.

Overview

The taste of the burger came through really well and surprisingly wasn't overpowered by the accompaniments. With a bit more melted cheese and a touch of fresh Cos lettuce I think this burger could be taken to a new level of meaty goodness. I appreciate this burger already has two different types of meat in it, but I couldn't help thinking that crispy bacon still could be added quite happily into the mix. After all, is there such a thing as too much meat? Unless you are vegetarian the answer is always, no. Now I couldn't have the burger medium rare, but they didn't make excuses and surprisingly the burger was still pretty moist. Would it be better medium rare? Definitely, but it was still good I can appreciate that. The portions were very generous which is just what you need considering you are in a pub offering that amount of good quality beer. It was a fairly well balanced overall and I would definitely come back, if not for the good burger, but for the great chips, and if not for the great chips, for the even better beer. This place has all bases covered.

7/10

The Coach and Horses
82 Thorpe Road

Norwich

NR1 1BA

Peng - Apparently this means good in London.

The Burger Man Special

I can talk the talk when it comes to burgers, but can I walk the walk?

That is the question. There will probably be a vast amount of people questioning my pickiness when it comes to burger reviewing. What gives me the right to quantify these meaty delights and apply number rankings to them. Well simply; I love burgers and I love cooking. Burgers require multiple elements to be successfully mastered in order to pile it all up into a stand out tower of taste. After having judged a few burgers now I'd like to give you an insight into what I expect when I order a burger by showing you one of my very own creations. Here is my version of the classic bacon cheeseburger: The Burger Man Special (BMS Burger). Contents as follows.

The Burger

Handmade using a blend of prime butchers steak and beef mince (always support your local butcher), the small amount of beef mince adds a little bit of extra fat into the mix to ensure a seriously rich meaty taste. Another way to ensure the burger is the star is to keep them thick, I opt for around a one incher to ensure a solid medium rare cook and good amount of meat per bite. What else went into the burger I hear you ask, nothing! Since this is my classic bacon cheese I want the meat to shine, the only thing added was seasoning whilst cooking, lovingly added from a great height whilst pan frying on a smoking hot skillet. Ideally the greater the height from which you season the greater range and ensures a more even coverage. Don't just take my word for this, science can back me up with the use of the inverse square law. Essentially, the further away you season from, the greater area you can cover with said seasoning. I opt for the Ainsley Harriot style, holding the pan as low as possible in one hand, and with my other hand outstretched high above primed with fine sea salt flakes, shower the sizzling meat with a full arm span distance of salty goodness. Repeat with freshly ground pepper on both sides during cooking. Other methods include the salt bae* technique but this doesn't allow for enough height and I was wearing quite a nice shirt at the time and didn't want my elbow covered in salt.

Look at that burger juice

Since I wanted to keep this fairly classic I opted for a fresh sesame seed bun, lightly toasted in the pan which I cooked the burgers in to soak up the meaty juices and take this up a notch. I then lovingly smeared a generous dollop of home made lemon and olive oil mayonnaise on the base. The lemon adds a subtle sharpness which cuts through the intense overbearing meat flavour. On top of this lay several freshly plucked leaves of batavia lettuce (in summer I use freshly picked from the garden).

Crispy bacon, something which a lot of good eateries seem to struggle with, yet it's so easy to get right. Simply cook low and slow in an oven, then when half hour or so from service, ramp the oven up full whack and leave the bacon to sizzle away in that rampant inferno. For this burger I like to add a hint of sweetness to compliment and balance the dish, so I maple glaze the bacon right at the end and finally top off with some vintage extra mature cheddar cheese (and lots of it) and allow to melt and infuse with the crisp bacon. I always opt for extra mature for the stronger flavour. If you can't taste the cheese then in my opinion there's no point it being there. Go big or go home.

This behemoth is then topped off with fresh home made pickled onion. The recipe for which is a personal secret which I'd never share, unless subjected to four hours of Justin Bieber. Then I probably would crack. Essentially it is a light vinegary element to add a new flavour and again help to cut through the rich meat, since the burger itself was about an inch thick it does require this to even out the palate for a rounder taste. It also seems to highlight and accentuate just how good the quality of the meat was. I then added another homemade sauce, a lightly smoked pepper and tomato sauce. This burger is a classic: you've got the thick meaty flavour from the burger, the soft bun, the smoky tom sauce, the crisp salty yet sweet smoked Norfolk maple glazed bacon, rich mature cheese, the zesty twang from the mayo and the fresh lettuce. What more could you want from a bacon cheese burger?

I think it's safe to say it passed the burger slice in terms of rarity. If attempting to serve medium rare burgers at home you MUST use fresh quality beef, preferably from a butchers and only attempt if you are competent in the kitchen. If in doubt, cook it through. If it's good quality meat it should still taste good.

The Fries

Norfolk potatoes, sliced up skin on, not too thin but not too thick and double cooked in a secret blend of spices. The first cook low and slow to ensure the potato is cooked right through yet still soft. Then at the same time that the bacon is placed into the roasting inferno oven to crisp up the potatoes are put in to do the same. End result, seriously crispy chips that you could probably use to pick a yale lock with. Incredibly easy to do and allows a lot of expression of flavour as you can really add whatever takes your fancy. When good homemade chips are so easy to make why settle for McCains?

Overall

Obviously I can't rate my own burger as that would be biased, but it was good. All I wanted is to share my creation and genius with regards to the art of burger construction (and maybe get an endorsement here or there). My point I am trying to make is that when it comes to burgers and eating out, I expect high quality for my money because burgers don't have to be hard and if done right are actually quite easy to make, so why settle for substandard burgers or pay exuberant prices when the rough cost of this burger was about £4 sterling max. All freshly made with quality butchers meat. I ended up making four burgers for friends, they are the real judges here, and not a single plate was left with food on so I can only assume it went down well. Burger man out!

BurgerCave

Norwich

NR

Salt bae* - A man who loves meat as much, if not more than myself. He has some fairly outrageous seasoning techniques using his elbow to spread the salt, requiring less height.

The Ribs of Beef

To the Pubs...

Now I'm starting to get the swing of things I'm going to branch out at start sampling some of the many unique pubs that Norwich has to offer, one that had always caught my eye was the ribs of beef. It is a perfect example of a good British boozer in a cracking location by the river, great anytime of year for a pint or two. A burger is almost certainly always on the menu of any good foodie pub so I thought I'd give my first official pub burger review to the ribs. Going purely on the reading of the menu alone it sounds like an absolute corker!

"Our 6oz burgers are handmade in house from traditionally reared 100% prime local beef! They are grilled especially for you when you order. Served alongside a generous portion of chips, your burger will be in a freshly toasted bun, accompanied by lettuce, onions, tomato, mayonnaise, dill pickle and homemade coleslaw"

Sounds incredible doesn't it? Almost like it could be the perfect burger. I firmly believe in local produce and showing off the best that Norfolk has to offer, and by using prime local beef, they immediately set this one up on a pedestal. So here's the question, did it deliver?

The Burger

So did it deliver? Well it was just about as good as yodels* courier service, for any non Norfolker, thats a no. What made the blow worse was the hype that was built up by such an incredible sounding online menu. Going in I felt like anything was possible, I love the pub and I so desperately wanted to love the food. But it was as disappointing as a hipster in a bar fight, it never had a chance, especially looking like this. The one positive is that it did fill a empty cavern in my stomach, but not the one in my heart. After weeks of planning to come here I can only show remorse and deepest sorrow for having dragged my dining compadre with me and subjecting him to the first world middle class equivalent of water board torture. Less of this and more with the actual burger then. What did I get and how much did it set me back, £7.95 for the burger and £2 extra for the chips. Now I've prolonged it enough, here's the photo.

I had asked for it medium rare to which I was told it comes how it comes. Not a good start as that suggested it may not be freshly made as the menu had suggested. As expected the burger slice produced a dry overcooked piece of beef not too dissimilar from my grandmas handbag. The health inspector would be thoroughly proud that such a piece of beef has been unable to unleash ecoli on another unwitting member of the public. Job well done sir and/or madam! The meat itself had a peculiar taste that at the time I couldn't put my finger on, but on reflection, I can now pinpoint it was old cooking oil. The sort of greasy taste you get from a burger van because they've cooked with the same oil for the last 12 years.  The pickles were a nice touch added to the burger, the vinegar cut through the strange oil taste quite well and for a split second I lost the image of a burger van outside a car boot sale. With regards to levels of seasoning I have no idea. Most of the time spent tasting was idling over in my head what that familiar unpleasant taste was. I opted for the 'old porky' with crispy bacon and cheddar cheese. The bacon was in no way crispy, a good reference I use for crispy bacon is it shouldn't be too far off a jacobs cream cracker. It should snap in the hand, much like a tweel in a more fancy restaurant. Ultimately it should be crunchy to add a texture element to the burger. The cheese was overpowered by the strange oil taste from the burger. As for the bun, it was soggy. Literally damp to the touch and the cracked top of the bun (zoomed in picture below) suggests to me that it was in fact frozen and microwaved before service. Was the burger frozen as well? Who knows. One thing was certain though, what came out was not what the online menu described.

The Chips

Now reading the online menu you will note that it comes served with a generous portion of chips, correct? Wrong. We were required to pay an extra two pounds sterling for the privilege of these bulk buy chunky chips. As a result I can't even take these into consideration The discrepancies between their online menus and the actual ones provided are once again apparent. They were very crispy which was bonus though I'm of personal opinion that the perfect chip to have with a burger is always a fry, preferably found in their plural, fries. A burger should already be a fairly heft lump you don't want that replicated with big chips. A burger meal is about compromise and achieving the perfect yin and yang balance between textures, tastes and structural sizes.

Overview

In a city with some great pubs and great burgers on offer, this pub certainly raised the bar on paper but completely missed the target when it came to the most important aspect, delivering a tasty burger. It is without a doubt a fantastic pub for drinking, and some of the other items of food on the menu did look nice. The staff were super friendly and offered all sorts of sauces and dips. Great service is something always worth commending. My advice would be to raise their game to produce a burger of equal measure to their other food, or straight up get it off the menu. I hate myself for doing this but I really can't find anything at all good about the burger other than the fact that it does constitute as a burger for providing the two basic elements; a minced beef patty and a bun. Considering the high standards of other food establishments around the city, in particular those I have already reviewed, if craving a burger stop here only for a hoppy aperitif or a malty post meal digestif...

1/10

The Ribs of Beef
Riverside Freehouse
Norwich
24 Wensum Street
Fye Bridge
NR3 1HY



*Yodel - An incredibly poor delivery courier service based in Norwich, having gained excessive reputation for not even attempting to deliver parcels or pretending they couldn't find your house.

Mambo Jambos

Four burgers in and I've taken to the lanes...

My long journey for the perfect burger will no doubt see me wandering all over the streets of this great city. This latest burger escapade has taken me down an area of particular importance to me, the Norwich Lanes. This venture took me to the lower of the goat lanes, presumably named so because in olden times the inhabitants really loved goats. No doubt they ate medium rare goat burgers prior to the introduction of the food standards agency and their draconian ways of thinking. With that piece of faux history told we can look toward the restaurant and the burger.

The Burger

Mambo Jambos is a fun loving excitably food establishment that embodies everything you want in a party atmosphere; good music and dim lighting. Provided you take the right company of course you're guaranteed a good time regardless of the food. I went for the Mambo High Rise, it appeared to be their signature burger and I was absolutely ravenous so the double stacker tipped it for me. So what did I get for this £13.95 beast: a double stacked burger, cheese, BBQ sauce, onion rings and two slices of bacon.

As always we start with the burger slice, this revealed a fairly good pink medium rare cooking throughout both burgers. The meat itself was ok, it could of done with a pinch of extra seasoning but overall it was pretty tasty. The bacon was a nice touch, after all what goes better with meat than even more meat from a different animal? It wasn't crispy, though they didn't advertise it would be so I'm ok with that. Potentially if it was crispy that would add a new texture element in to raise the overall experience. There was a pretty crisp onion ring amidst the chaos but ended being pretty soggy after it soaked up the gallon of sauce. The melted cheese and the BBQ sauce with the mega soft bun meant there was a lot of easy to chew non crunchy textures. I would suggest a little less BBQ sauce next time or scrape some out with a chip. It's worth pointing out here that the bun was sublime, very soft and perfectly toasted. Nothing fancy like brioche, just a good classic white bap. The height of the burger was about 5 inches so it was a mission to get down.  had to have a full logistical plan put in place prior to attacking this and I hate to admit it but I did end up using cutlery. This was definitely not a date meal. I ended up with sauce everywhere and looked quite frankly, repulsive.

The lighting in Mambo Jambos makes a great atmosphere but is a nightmare for instagram food bloggers, they would cringe at this, I probably wouldn't even get a single like. Thankfully it's not all about the photos. Though next time I could take a lighting rig with me.

The Fries

Standard bulk buy fries, fills a gap but won't leave you thinking 'wow those were great chips'. They weren't seasoned at all which was a bit disappointing and they weren't particularly crispy either. If you have to serve these Maccy D style fries at least get them crisp. What is the correct level of crispiness I hear you say? Essentially, you want them to be crispy enough that if someone tries to pinch one, you can jab their hand with one as they reach over and do enough damage that they won't try again.

Overall

If you like BBQ sauce you're in for a winner, that was the predominant taste. Everything else was pretty much consumed by it. It kind of reminded me of a BBQ sauce version of the pokemon muk. The burger was very well cooked and although it could of had a touch more seasoning, it was still moist and juicy and tasted nice when tried without sauce. I can appreciate that their other burgers are probably very good too, next time I will definitely opt for a less 'saucy' one (though it is valentines today). Now this place has a fairly extensive menu with a huge range of ribs and wings, but when it comes down to the burger alone, I actually think Captain A's tips ahead ever so slightly as their meat was top notch and they really weren't afraid to show the pink!

6.5/10

Mambo Jambos

14-16 Lower Goat Lane,

Norwich

Norfolk NR2 1EL

Tune in next time for when I finally make it to the Ribs of Beef public house...

Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK)

Hitting up a chain, can they produce?

Now I think it's worth mentioning some of my standard rules I've been applying to my meaty endeavors:

1. Main focus is on the burger, always.
2. Sides can gain bonus points if included in the meal, however, if I have to buy sides separately then I'm afraid they won't count.
3. If a waiter says yes to medium rare, it HAS to be medium rare, end of. Don't disappoint.

With that done, we can begin. I went for the stack, a whole 10.95 sterlings worth of 100% prime beef, grilled chorizo, red Leicester cheese, house onion ring (and I quote 'ring' singular, there was just one), smoked chilli mayo, rocket, pickled onions and house relish. Sounds like a bargain until you realise sides are not included. Prepare the bill for a rise to ascent like the selfie stick in the mid 2015's. The restaurant itself is pretty nice inside, free nuts which is always a bonus, but the whole evening just felt like a weird game of musical chairs. You're shown to you table, sit down, then get up to get nuts, then sit down, get your menu, and get up again to order. Maybe you forgot to get the hot sauce, back up again you are! Who do they think they are, Nandos?

The Burger

Off to a good start; I requested medium rare and was ready to hit the brick wall of overcooked disappointment but low and behold, no issues! Order went through like a dream, not a ghastly nightmare where I'm chased by the shady presence of a health inspector.

The burger slice produced a good even pink cooking, handled very well I'll give them that, the meat tasted reasonably good and was well seasoned. The chorizo sausage was perhaps the highlight of the burger, partially because it dominated the overall taste and left little room for anything else. Great if you like a nice piece of Spanish pork. Bad if want 100% prime beef. The onion ring added a crunch and a deep peppery taste to compliment the rich meaty spiced taste of the chorizo. The rocket took this peppery assault to further heights and should of been balanced well with the pickles and cool smoky mayonnaise. Unfortunately the smoked chilli aspect didn't really come through and neither did the pickled onions. So the palate is left in a desperate need of a pickled sharp taste to cut through bold flavours in the meat. Maybe just more of the smoked mayo could of balanced out the rich flavours by toning them down a touch. But we will never know. The bun was top notch, literally as soft as a pomeranian* and seeded for extra crunch. Everyone loves a sesame seeded bun, fact. If only Captain Americas used the same bun suppliers they may have nudged their score up. As for cheese, red leicester offers about as much flavour as a piece of toilet tissue paper, it did make the burger look very appetising though. Overall the flavours were good though essentially it was just chorizo. I would suggest cutting down the quantity of the chorizo to allow the beef to sing a bit more and adding normal batavia or cos lettuce to reduce the pepperiness. They advertise their beef as being high quality prime cut so show that bad boy off! Don't let no chorizo sausage steal your show! Alternatively make the burger bigger? Now to the elephant in the room, no sides...

The Fries

I went for the truffle cheese fries, smother anything in truffle and I'll lap it up (within reason). At £3.95 I never realised such disappointment could ensue after a fairly hefty priced portion of chips. I will be honest, I was at a chain restaurant so I wasn't expecting actual fresh black truffle shavings that hand been scouted and picked by a Slovenian wild pig, but what I do expect is at least some decent chips and a good cheese sauce. These were fairly poor chips, bulk buy I'd imagine. Also add to insult they were fairly soggy. I went straight in for a chip to test the sog factor before the cheese sauce took full effect and ruined any crunch. Epic fail. Unless they leave them pre made under a hot lamp behind the scenes all I can assume is they just don't get their oil hot enough to get the perfect crisp texture. Let's assess taste, the actual chip was fairly bland, complimenting the bland cheese sauce really well. I would hazard a guess and say that no real cheese is even used to make that sauce. If I were to apply a score to them I'd say 1/10.

Onion Rings

After the disappointment of the fries I really couldn't take another hit. I was on my knees praying to the burger overlord that I hadn't just wasted yet more money on more awful sides. Thankfully, they were actually really nice, probably the best aspect of the meal and at £3.55 cheaper than the fries. They were incredibly crisp, and fresh onion too which made all the difference. You could really taste the onion coming through. Complimented with the perfect balance of seasoning ever so slightly favouring the pepper. Now at this point the bill was hitting £18.45 and we haven't even started on drinks. On reflection, I'd go purely for burger and onion rings if I were to return. Heed my advice, you heard it here first.

Overall

The burger was fairly tasty though strongly dominated by chorizo. I did try their cheeseburger too which I would actually recommend over the one I had if you want to taste the beef. The fries were a huge let down. Thankfully the onion rings brought the overall experience back up. However, for the purpose of this review the sides mean Jack! It was a fairly average experience as a whole which is a shame considering they actually managed to produce a medium rare burger. It's not something I'd particularly go back for unless the third party was pushing it. This thought is mainly driven by the price. For a standard burger meal you're looking at around £20-30 all in, which for a chain restaurant is fairly high. Not worth it considering you have to play a fairly tense game of Russian roulette for the side dishes.

6/10 

(excluding sides)

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Chapelfield Shopping Centre

Norwich 

NR2 1SZ

*Pomeranian: An insanely fluffy dog