burgerworks Worcester Smokey Burger
Review of burgerworks Worcester Smokey Burger
Burgerworks Worcester:
Website: http://www.burgerworks.uk/
What they say:
Burger making is an art that we like to think we have perfected. Our menu is bursting with world flavours and packed with quality, locally sourced produce. Our burgers are hand pressed in house, using beef from 100% grass-fed Herefordshire cows, free range-chicken and local lamb.
Price: £6.00 for the burger + £1.50 for the dry-cured smoked back bacon & mature cheddar.
Calories: Unknown.
Last weekend I received a text from a very good friend that resides in Worcester.
The content of the message was to inform me of a new burger establishment that had opened in Ye Faithful City.
Excited I did a quick Google search which revealed that burgerworks had already been open for a month. I wondered just how this news had evaded me until now…
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| burgerworks now open in Worcester… |
After all, it was only recently I had been looking at Worcester-based burgers to review.
We’ve previously checked out the Salt Beef at The Dragon and also the Wild Boar at the Old Rec but I was looking for something new (and not Detroit’s).
Well burgerworks is the new venture of Arvin and Therese, who previously ran the Italian restaurant Puccini’s.
Their mission is to change the face of Worcester dining with the City’s first ever gourmet burger restaurant.
And promising food that is locally sourced, ethically produced and handmade on their premises I was instantly typing out an email to secure a booking for the following weekend.
Fast forward one week and there has been major burger news in Worcester with the announcement of Byron Hamburgers opening in 2015 as part of the multi-million revamp of Cathedral Plaza.
Speaking of news… on the eve of our visit to this establishment your very own Burger Lad® was the main feature in the local Worcester News “Taste” food supplement!
A whole page talking about this website and the Worcester burger scene! You can imagine our reaction at BLHQ…
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| 10 mins later every table was occupied… |
Anyway… back to the review.
We arrived promptly at 1pm and it was quiet inside with only one other couple in there.
They were sat next to our reserved window table so we asked to sit elsewhere and were rewarded with a delightful spot next to the fireplace.
This houses a charming little dedication to the previous incarnation of the premises with a Puccini’s menu and business card – nice personal touch.
Inside the restaurant it has a clean, upmarket and modern look with stylish, bare bricks and exposed beams.
It feels cosy, intimate and genuine inside, informal and smart with soft Sunday chill out tunes and perfect lighting coming from the hanging ceiling lights. A quick scan revealed capacity of about 34 covers.
We placed our order to the ever attentive and friendly team and watched as the restaurant began to fill up with eager diners looking to sample the City’s newest dining destination (they’d heard BL® was there to do signed copies of the local paper).
We picked away at some delightful olives and sipped on our Coke and Bundaberg Root Beer Floats (yes Miss Milkshake has already created an off the menu item). These were served up in some awesome jam jar style glasses. Want!
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| The menu @ burgerworks… |
On our table we had the usual condiment companions; Heinz Ketchup, French’s Mustard, Hellmann’s Mayo (I joked about making our own Big Mac sauce) but it was the Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce that caught my eye.
These were all placed in one of those Cub Scout style plates/dishes we’ve seen in other burger places.
Today I wanted to go with something “simple” off the menu because I wanted to give the ingredients the chance to impress.
Having checked the menu for seven days straight I’d been tempted by the Indian Summer (a lamb burger flavoured with Indian spices) or the No More Heroes (homemade chilli con carne on a burger) but I decided on the Smokey – a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, red onion and dill pickle which is standard on all their burgers.
What I love about burgerworks is that you can pretty much build your own creation.
Diners start with either a beef, lamb or chicken patty and then have a few options such as the Mamma-Mia, costing £2 to add buffalo mozzarella, tomato & pesto.
Additional toppings are available ranging from Jalapeños at 60p to chilli con carne at £2 so the customisation options are near endless… and you are in control of adding your own sauces.
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| burgerworks Smokey Burger… |
After a respectable wait our burgers and sides were delivered to our table.
I’d gone for the Skinny fries (£2) and Miss Milkshake the Sweet potato fries (£2.20) – both were incredible.
My fries had their skin on still and were hot, crisp and an absolute delight with that Cholula sauce as all thoughts of a BBQ dip dissipated.
To be honest when I’d seen a picture of a burger on their website I did wonder what it would be like.
I’m not a massive fan of “thick” burgers but this was one of the best beef patties I have ever had.
It had been cooked perfectly pink and I mean perfect! It was so, so good it was like I was eating a steak.
The taste and texture was brilliant and far exceeded my expectations. The meat used here is top quality! Fresh, buttery, moist and despite having bacon on there was no grease. None.
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| Superb skin-on fries… |
You’ll have to accept my apologies as I really do not think I can describe just how good this burger was today and the photos struggle to do it justice too.
The presentation was good but the taste was phenomenal!
The buns were exceptionally tasty and had been lightly toasted in butter I believe which contributed to the butterly brilliance of the beef.
I loved the dry-cured smoked back bacon – it had minimal fat, was thick cut and subtly smoky.
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| Fresh ingredients – these burgers really do work… |
The cheddar was quite distinct in flavour without attempting to overthrow the rest of the fresh ingredients. The salad items on-board were lovely with an artisan dill pickle wedge, big lettuce leaf and that incredible red onion cutting through as ever.
It was an absolute dream with that medium rare beef. Amazing! To my credit I did have a fair few bites with the fresh tomato on but my own personal preference is to remove it.
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| Pure pink perfection… |
At £7.50 for the burger this is an absolute steal and we are already plotting our next visit.
I actually felt sad as I came to the end of the Smokey knowing I was only going to have one or two more mouthfuls.
I’ll have to be honest and admit that I was very, very close to ordering another there and then and I can’t remember many places I’ve felt like that before.
burgerworks is a really, really good place to visit.
Inside has been tastefully decorated and has a real good ambience going.
The staff are incredibly friendly but the food is the main reason to come to Friar Street and check out the burgers being served up here.
Locally sourced, incredibly fresh, cooked to perfection and top drawer in terms of quality, this is without a shadow of a doubt THE BEST burger in Worcester.
If burgerworks Worcester keep delivering burgers on this quality scale it’s Byron that should be worried not the other way round!
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| The BEST burgers in Worcester… |
Note: Burgerworks Worcester is now permanently closed.
Burger Lad®
I have a long-held tradition of ALWAYS saving room for desserts, but that was broken when I tried a burger from burgerworks. As soon as this one was over, I immediately wanted another. Not because it didn’t hit the spot or didn’t fill me up, but because it was that bloody good! The beef patty itself was incredible. It was cooked pink and oozed flavour more reminiscent of a fine cut of steak, than what you’d expect from your average beef burger. I actually found myself saving a chunk of meat for my final mouthful, just so I could savour the flavour that much longer. I have never been so bowled-over by a burger in my life! This has gone straight into my top 3 burger joints in the UK, and I recommend that anyone even remotely close to Worcester check this place out.