Longhorn Burgers Reuben Burger

Review of Longhorn Burgers Reuben Burger

Website: http://longhornburgers.com/

What they say:

Longhorn steak patty, Dorset cured pastrami, sauerkraut, Emmental cheese, toasted brioche, pickled cucumber, crisp leaves, shallots & our mustard aioli.

Price: £11.50.

Calories: Unknown.

We were in Bournemouth on burger business.

We’d arrived via London after having an exclusive look at the soon-to-be released McRib and due to the anticipated lateness into the resort town on the south coast of England had to cancel our Friday evening reservation at Longhorn Burgers.

After grabbing lunch at 7Bone Burger Co. on Saturday we headed into Longhorn hoping to chance a booking for that evening and we were fortunately in luck and secured a table for two.

I’m not going to go into too much detail about Longhorn cattle but according to their website they produce some of the best beef in the world due to the breed having “quiet, gentle natures, which produces a relaxed meat”.

Longhorn Burgers Reuben Burger
Inside Longhorn Burgers…

We arrived promptly for our table at 7pm and it was very quiet inside, however, a quick scan around the restaurant of approximately 40 covers revealed that it was indeed fully booked.

We knew this because on each of the tables is a cute little mini chalkboard placard with the name of the party, how many diners and at what time they would be arriving.

We were shown to our table and I was more than happy with the location. The lighting seemed good at the time but it was dimmed a little before we received our food so you’ll have to take that into consideration when looking at the photos.

Inside Longhorn it is classy, warm and inviting with smooth lighting and a new and polished feeling to it.

There’s that classic steakhouse décor with plenty of brick and woodwork but it’s got a grown-up and elegant feel to it, almost like a steakhouse evolved and decided to fly business class for a change.

It’s certainly a destination for an intimate dinner for two, review or no review…

The menus are extensive for both food and drink with additional seasonal specials. As we looked through what was on offer we were given complimentary sweet snacking popcorn and a refreshing iced water infused with cucumber.

As you know, I tend to make my menu choice way before arriving but tonight I agonised over the Reuben vs. the Pulled Longhorn Beef (a burger topped with 4-hour braised shin of beef) but in the end I went with my original choice.

The interior picture above makes the restaurant seem deserted but by the time our food arrived the place was crammed full and there was a delightful buzz of conversation and Christmas cheer.

Longhorn Burgers Reuben Burger
Longhorn Reuben Burger…

So the Reuben was placed in front of me and it looked very well presented with hardly anything protruding out of the toasted brioche bun.

Starting from the bottom up it housed the Longhorn steak patty which then had two generous slices of pastrami on top of it.

Working your way up you could see the exquisitely melted Emmental and on further up this stack was the aïoli, sauerkraut and pickled cucumber.

Burger Lad
Candle not included…

Now I’m not a massive fan of sauerkraut but there’s the perfect amount used on the Reuben so it doesn’t domineer the other flavours on-board and actually enhances everything else.

The aïoli was subtle and I expected a stronger mustard taste.

Aïoli has just been voted the condiment of the year by Burger Business and like they say on their website “when it’s done right, it can beautifully elevate the flavours of a burger” and this is most definitely the case for the Longhorn Reuben.

The thinly sliced pickled cucumber was a nice addition and a welcome change to the standard gherkin… but my goodness let us please talk about and re-visit that beef patty!

We went into great discussion while eating our burgers at Longhorn about the best places we’ve visited based on food, interior/ambience and staff… funny enough what do you think spurred on this topic of conversation?

That’s right, the beef patty created and used by the Chefs here at Longhorn burgers.

I sort of knew they were going to be good as they also stock a high quality selection of steaks which we were told prior to ordering that some had sold out.

This might sound strange but I like that in a place that they order such high quality food and in limited numbers that some things can be unavailable due to their demand.

Longhorn Burgers Reuben Burger
Perfectly cooked, pink, juicy and tasty…

Back to the beef… this was beautifully cooked pink and was outstanding and could have been a steak it was that moist, juicy and meaty. It was oozing with taste and the texture was really very special.

If you stripped away everything from any other burger we’ve had this weekend (or possibly ever) and just had the beef you’d be pretty hard pushed to beat this one it was that damn good.

I was picking up a very strong peppery taste with each bite and having broken a slight bit off one of the slices confirmed it was coming from the Dorset cured pastrami. This was lovely… really, really lovely and is fast becoming one of my favourite meats to accompany my burger. Watch out bacon…

The brioche was enjoyable and gave its signature buttery taste to your palate. All of the ingredients fused perfectly together to create a rich, upmarket burger and without a shadow of a doubt one of the best I have ever sampled.

Longhorn Burgers Reuben Burger
Longhorn serving upmarket burgers…

The burger was served up with a fine side of greens and a small batch of fries – we didn’t realise the burgers came with fries so had also ordered a side of them as well.

But these were awesome, perfectly crisp and seasoned, and were served with three mini dipping bowls containing ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce (probably the first place ever I’ve not had to ask for a BBQ dip).

We also had the privilege of sampling their Panko Flake Onion Rings which were absolutely incredible and the Thrice Cooked Longhorn Dripping Chips (served in the cutest little mini frying pans I’ve ever seen – oh and when they say they’re hot, they are!).

Anyone that knows me will testify that I’m not a fan of thick cut chips but these were off the chart in terms of awesomeness.

Crispy on the outside, fluffy and soft on the inside and a real game-changer in my opinion of chips – amazing!

We couldn’t finish all of what was on the table and the staff very kindly bagged the remaining food up for us to takeaway.

Having seen people on the streets earlier that evening we decided to give the remaining food to the first person we saw.

Please remember that the next time you’re dining out and can’t finish everything on the plate. Someone might just appreciate that which is otherwise destined for the bin.

Overall, this is an excellent burger and both my pictures and words cannot do it justice.

If you are in Bournemouth be sure to book a table in this beautiful restaurant.

The food is top quality, the interior is immaculate and the staff are absolutely incredible and a credit to themselves.

Longhorn Burgers have not even been open for six months but if they continue like they are they’ll be around for many, many years to come.

Good work guys and thank you!

Burger Lad®