Giraffe The Giraffe Burger

Review of Giraffe – The Giraffe Burger

Website: http://www.giraffe.net/

What they say:

Irish-reared beef (170g) with smoky bacon, mature cheddar, lettuce, tomato, dill pickle, mayo & smoky tomato relish.

Price: £11.35.

Calories: Unknown.

A visit to Bristol and I really wanted to go to Atomic Burger, which Burger Lad® raves about!

However, a combination of horrid traffic, confusing routes and not being the sole decision maker, we ended up at the main shopping centre, Cabot Circus, which I actually really liked.

Walking around the eating area, and noticing that everyone sounds like Russell Howard (one of the better accents in Britain, I must say), we ended up at Giraffe – a chain I’ve often seen and passed, but never been in.

Outside Giraffe…

The menu as a whole was quite varied and interesting, but unsurprisingly my eye was drawn to the burgers. There were a few beef and chicken options.

The beef burgers were stated as being Irish beef. I’m not quite sure why we need to have foreign beef, when there are an awful lot of great quality beef rearers in Britain, but there wasn’t a choice.

I ordered the Giraffe Burger, which comes with bacon and cheddar, and I added the toppings of Jalapeños and fried onions. I’m glad I did, as you’ll see in a minute.

The presentation was neat, on a wooden platter, with a spike which a lot of places deem necessary to keep stuff together.

£11.35 will get you this…

The bun was small and tidy, and quite well toasted. That made it crispy and it didn’t crumble, holding all the contents in well.

Visually, the most noticeable content was the big generous chunk of lettuce. A solid piece, folded over. When I lifted the lid, the fried onions were very striking, but for some reason added very little to the overall taste.

“The Giraffe Burger…”

As is the case with most burgers, the bacon wasn’t shy. Probably the most striking of all the ingredients.

The cheddar gave that distinct bite that only really mature cheddar can do.

I’ve had lots of different cheeses on burgers, but usually come back to the fact that although Swiss and American and blue cheeses try hard, it’s pretty darn difficult to beat a good mature cheddar (and that doesn’t just apply to burgers).

But a few bites in, it was the Jalapeños that saved an ordinary burger and filled my palate with the depth it deserved.

Lifting the lid on The Giraffe Burger…

Finally, a word for the side dish. I could have upgraded my fries to sweet potato. I didn’t, but I wish I had.

The skin-on fries were OK, and hadn’t been killed off with salt, but they weren’t anything to write home about. They could perhaps do with a bit more seasoning, and a bit more crispiness.

If I were to improve this burger, I’d put a bit of herbs on the fries, use British beef, cook the beef a bit shorter, and thrown in a bit of sauce into the stack.

A perfectly decent burger, and worthy of trying, but the menu contained some other things, such as a pork schnitzel, which I’d probably rather try next time.

Toppings are charged extra…

Giraffe is a nice, family-friendly place, and this particular location was very welcoming.

I’ll end with a big gold star for the staff that made our first Giraffe visit a lot of fun!

Admiral Burgerbar