Burger Priest – The High Priest Burger

Review of The Burger Priest – The High Priest Burger

What they say:

The Burger Priest is a restaurant with a mission. We believe that the Great British public deserves good, honest, tasty food made using only the very best ingredients.

Double 3oz 100% Aberdeen Angus patties, Monterey Jack cheese, secret sauce & all the toppings. Served on a brioche bun.

Price: £6.95.

Calories: Unknown.

In the July 2016 issue of QuickBite magazine, I was very fortunate to have my Smashburger feature on the front cover. Inside though, I read of a new ‘Church-themed’ restaurant hoping to be worshiped by burger lovers.

A quick scan of the article revealed that The Burger Priest was now open in Wolverhampton and that they are planning on opening another 14 restaurants soon, in areas including Edinburgh, Birmingham, London and Manchester.

The Burger Priest
Outside the first Burger Priest…

As BLHQ is relatively close to Wolverhampton, we decided we would pay them a visit and check out The High Priest Burger.

We arrived at 2pm on Sunday and it was still fairly busy from lunch. We were greeted with a big smile and asked where we’d like to sit. We chose window stools and took in our surroundings.

Now I wouldn’t say this is heavily Church-influenced in terms of décor. This also isn’t the first restaurant chain to take a Church-themed approach (see Red’s True Barbecue), but inside you have food listed on hymn boards, church pews to sit at and the toilet cubicles are even set-up as confessionals.

You’ve got that smart, modern interior with clean and polished exposed brickwork with The Burger Priest logo painted on the wall. It’s clean cut inside with a mixture of seating options, from the aforementioned pews to funky stools, inviting sofas and more conventional dining arrangements.

The Burger Priest
Inside…

Informal, casual, you’ve got a pleasant mixture of chatter and tunes. This is a 50 to 60 cover (primarily) burger restaurant that caters for everyone, located on Victoria Street in the city centre. And I kid you not, there was an actual Vicar eating here today! I actually had to do a double-take.

Customisation is present here. Customers can add any of the free toppings and sauces to the Priest’s burger or cheeseburger. There isn’t a visible option to add something like bacon so that might be worth considering adding.

The Burger Priest also do a special not listed on the menu and at the moment this is The Hellfire – Spicy Double 3oz patties, spicy chorizo sausage, jalapeño peppers, Mexican spiced cheese with chilli mayonnaise on a brioche bun. So tempting, Miss Milkshake opted for this but I had already decided on The High Priest.

The Burger Priest
An excellent tray of food…

Served on a metal tray with Burger Priest branded burger-wrap, this looked quite a big burger and was presented with a small dash of slaw and a glob of relish. What also instantly got my attention (which it did by being on the menu) was the side of Ultimate Poutine priced at £4.95 (more on that in a bit).

Inside the wrap was a very tidy looking build which looked inviting and gave off a terrific aroma. I was ready…

The Burger Priest
All the toppings…

The patties are seasoned well and I am glad to report that the beef has a good, coarse texture and gives that fresh, quality beefy/slightly buttery flavour. Not as luxurious as say Haché or Honest but still very commendable. Both were cooked well done and retained that juicy goodness you need in a patty.

The Burger Priest’s mission is to provide beef that is 100% Aberdeen Angus, never frozen and always fresh (Smashburger and Fatburger like to use this one!), gluten/hormone free, no additives/preservatives and from fully traceable farm fed cattle.

In my opinion, they’re doing a pretty solid job of it so far! It’s quite interesting to go with two 3oz patties instead of the more traditional one 6oz option. I guess it is because it’s quicker to cook the 3oz and also having two of them stacked up on one another gives the build a good looking height.

The Burger Priest
The High Priest Burger…

It was about this time last year, that we encountered a bun that claimed to be brioche. Well… at The Burger Priest they use some really lovely, vibrantly yellow buttery brioche. This was toasted lightly and coped well with all the ingredients. I really cannot praise this bun enough…

I had made a clerical error when looking at the menu because funny enough “& all the toppings” means guess what? All the toppings. So The High Priest Burger is loaded with Cos lettuce, tomato, gherkin, red onions, sautéed onions, sautéed mushrooms and mixed peppers. Not a problem whatsoever and actually very enjoyable!

I was happy with the array of toppings although the tomato didn’t last long. The most prevalent flavours were the mixed peppers and mushrooms. In fact, I associated this burger with another of my favourite eats – the Philly Cheesesteak. I guess it was the mixture of the bell peppers, onions and mushrooms with those quality beef patties and melted Monterey Jack cheese.

The Burger Priest
Coming to a High Street near you…

The cheese does a good job of holding everything together and has a subtle, slightly sweet taste to it. One negative was the secret sauce which is such a secret it still remains a mystery. I could see it, it was there but it didn’t have a chance to shine with the other ingredients vying for a place on your taste buds.

Special mention HAS to go to the poutine!

Quite rare to see on a UK menu and we were told it was added to the menu as the owner used to live in Toronto where the dish is hugely popular. It certainly was different but we both enjoyed it (Miss Milkshake was dubious before trying it).

The gravy is a million miles away from your traditional Bisto-type and those fries… with the bacon, two types of onion and cheese curds certainly makes this the Ultimate Poutine! Worth a visit just to try this delicacy! But eat it fast as the fries start to go soggy… I can assure you, that shouldn’t be an issue!

The Burger Priest
The Ultimate Poutine…

Overall, I would have to say The Burger Priest is one of the better burger joints outside London or Manchester we have visited in recent times and has the potential to grow quite rapidly, especially via the franchise model. And they have had an encouraging number of enquiries!

It’s got a fresh, new vibe about it and with more restaurants on the way be sure to keep a look out for them opening up in a town or city near you soon.

We’re told they should have a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine in place in the next four to six weeks and if they continue with unlimited soft drinks this is going to be a great coupe. At around the £10 mark you can get a very good quality burger with fries and a drink so this puts them in a competitive pricing bracket.

The staff were excellent at the Wolverhampton restaurant and we cannot thank them enough for their knowledge, friendliness and all-round great hospitality. My one confession is that we didn’t pay for our meal today but as ever, this has no impact on our analysis of the place and food. God’s honest truth.

With a cracking menu of burgers using really good ingredients alongside a sinful list of sides, desserts and booze we can’t recommend enough, making a pilgrimage to worship The Burger Priest!

Burger Lad®

Website: http://www.burgerpriest.co.uk/

The High Priest Burger

£6.95
8

Flavour

8.0/10

Presentation

8.0/10

Quality

8.0/10

Hot

  • Quality beef
  • Tasty toppings
  • Excellent value

Not

  • Secret sauce