Side Blog part 2 - Burger Bistrot.

Burger - Classic Bacon and Cheese

Rating - 8

Burger number two in Amsterdam – Burger Bistrot, just around the corner from our Hotel. And just in the right place and time to save my bacon! I didn’t do much/any research on this place, and Lucy and I just walked in, grateful for a place to sit. We were greeted by a bloke who I reckon must have swallowed a bag of gravel, directing us to our table and then pounced on by a very friendly waitress to take our order for drinks. Weird vibe but I didn’t care at this stage. Suitably refreshed, we ordered or food, I got the bacon cheese burger and Lucy got some fries. They bill themselves as a top shelf burger establishment, with high quality meat and a more formal restaurant style vibe. The burger on arrival certainly made the meat the star of the show – it looked the goods – you can tell from the look that it was a good piece of meat. 

On closer inspection I was a bit concerned with the veggie components – it looked like light one the lettuce, I prefer shredded and not a couple of leaves – it was iceberg though which is a plus. The tomato however was so unripe as to be green – and it was very small – had they run out? The caramelised onion reminded me more of those onions you get at bunnings early on a Sunday, as they just fired up the barbie and you couldn’t be stuffed waiting until you come out so you get one on the way in. And you ask for onions even though you know they’ve only just wacked them on – and they are closer or warmed up than actually cooked – Still hits that spot though – am I right?? Yeah, so that’s a long and Australian way to say these “caramelised” onions still had some crunch. 

Ok – so some issues on the vegie front. Let’s talk first bite – it’s all about the meat – and it is good, very good. A well-seasoned, beefy, tender, slight hint of pink, juicy patty – A+ here. The bacon was really good as well – crunchy, adding a great smoky note, the cheese was American style, cream salty, great on a burger. The pickles were thick cut and added a nice pop of acid against the richness of the meat. We’re winning here. However, there wasn’t enough sauce, what was there was ok – standard burger sauce, but not particularly flavourful – and the bun reminded me of a McDonalds bun – you forgot it was there, didn’t add much. This burger was all about the meat – and you might think that’s the point – but a good burger is about all the elements come together in harmony, a balance of savoury, salty, acidic, sweet – the textural elements coming together as well. I can see that at its best, this would be a very good burger, today I feel that it was missing a few points that would have elevated it. I’m going to give this an 8 for the high quality of the patty. Good – close to very good, but not all the elements working together.