Review of Gourmet Burger Kitchen X-Burger
What they say:
Two 6oz beef patties, mature Cheddar, baconnaise, grilled pineapple, Cajun relish, jalapenos, chillies, crispy onions.
Price: £12.95.
Calories: Unknown.
GBK have released a new special to coincide with the 2016 Olympic Games being held in Rio, Brazil.
If you can remember, in November 2015, Miss Milkshake and I were asked to contribute to the debut GBK publication entitled First Bite.
In this edition, we had to present arguments for and against including pineapple on a burger, and in the case of their latest LTO, it looks like my pro-pineapple comments were victorious!
On paper, the X-Burger sounds incredible! Two 6oz beef patties with cheese, two types of sauce, crispy onions and a combination of chillies alongside grilled pineapple – that is a lot of components! As soon as I read the description, I could not wait to try the burger with “flavours and inspiration all the way from Brazil”.
I was in a mega rush at lunch and GBK did not disappoint with a very quick turnaround despite being pretty busy. The X-Burger is quite a big, imposing build with the two beef patties and pineapple contributing to the overall height.
For a Brazilian-inspired burger I felt there was a lack of colour. OK you’ve got the red and green chillies but I had to pop the crown bun to get a glimpse of them. I suppose I was expecting wild vivid carnival colours and a samba beat to accompany it but I got neither.
The pineapple is the talking point of the X-Burger and is sandwiched between the two patties. It’s very juicy, fresh and certainly an interesting topping to go with. What it does do, is that it creates an incredible amount of juice. And that, combined with the juices from the 12oz of beef on-board, results in the X-Burger sitting in a small pool of liquid. Burger Lift on the plate please to protect that bun!
The beef was cooked exactly to my requirements and I can’t fault it. I was more than happy with my medium patties. Both displayed some flecks of pink throughout and offered that flame-grilled GBK familiarity on the palate.
Unfortunately, the crispy onions didn’t make it onto my X-Burger as they should have. I got towards the end of the meal and realised I hadn’t tasted any of them. I was expecting something like ‘Top Taste’ crispy onions and if what I thought could have been them then I wouldn’t describe them as crispy onions. So… I am adamant they were misplaced… which was a shame.
To offset the slight disappointment of my crispy onion predicament, I am pleased to report that the chillies and jalapeños are great on the X-Burger. They are placed under the crown and provide a real glow throughout. Not overly spicy if you are a bit of a chilli-head, but definitely giving a pleasurable heat. Good.
The thickly cut and perfectly melted mature cheddar was surprisingly not lost amongst the other toppings. I did wonder if a spicy cheese, say a Mexicana, might have been a better choice with its red & green flecks running through it. This could have brought some much needed colour to the X-Burger.
I love the GBK baconnaise which is fast becoming my favourite mayo-based condiment. This had been liberally applied to the heel which was struggling to cope with the sauce and juice overload. Good flavour though, seductively smoky!
That brings us to the final component of the X-Burger – the Cajun Relish. I was expecting more from this to be honest.
I’ve had one of GBK’s Cajun-spiced patties before and they are really bold with a distinct flavour. I found the relish to act more as a compliment to everything else more than trying to steal the show. I guess this is the sign of a good relish…!? Fresh, slightly fruity but I was definitely expecting more of a kick from it.
Overall, the X-Burger is a pretty respectable offering from Gourmet Burger Kitchen. It’s certainly not my favourite but it definitely isn’t the least enjoyable either.
Big appetites will be satisfied with the two 6oz beef patties and these, plus the pineapple makes for a juicy, sloppy affair.
You get an undeniably pleasant mellow glow from the mixture of chillies and jalapeños which is the most memorable element of the build. Despite being pro-pineapple in my original First Bite debate I’m not sure it works as a burger topping with beef but possibly better paired with chicken.
I enjoyed it though and at £12.95 it’s certainly a pricier option on the GBK menu. Give it a try while it’s still available and let us know your thoughts via the usual BURGER LAD® channels.
Burger Lad®
Website: http://www.gbk.co.uk/