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Tonic Dundee 8oz Dessert Burger

Tonic Dundee

Review of Tonic Dundee 8oz Dessert Burger

Website: http://www.tonic-live.co.uk/

What they say:

Simply put, we’re a bar that serves chilled beer, great food and perfect coffee. We work with a broad range of local and national suppliers to ensure the finest quality in our food and drink. Yup, chocolate & banana on top.

Price: £10.20.

Calories: Unknown.

Tonic is, I think, first and foremost a student bar. Certainly it is in the student end of Dundee city centre.

In quite a large space, there are six normal tables, as well as bar seats and window seats, and a low slung table with a sofa.

It may be a bar but the menu is massive, with two pages of burgers, each of which comes in 6oz, 8oz, 16oz, 24oz, chicken or veggie versions. Staggering amount of choice!!

I’m in Dundee, one of my favourite places in Britain and first choice to see in the new year (Edinburgh and London are far too busy).

In Dundee on the burger trail…

My order is taken and I settle in. The Dundee accent is one of the most difficult to tune into, but once you do, there’s nothing quite like it.

I’ve decided to go for the Dessert Burger, a burger topped with chocolate and banana. I’ve certainly never had that before!

I pick the 8oz version – not feeling hungry enough for one of the monster sizes and no doubt I’ll be stuffing myself later with vast quantities of beer and shortbread.

The place is nice, wooden floor and tables, and the staff very welcoming with the unique Dundee tones twanging around the room.

Menu overload…

The waitress explained that the chocolate was Nutella, which I though was a little disappointing.

Somehow I’d expected some melted Belgian truffles or similar, but in actual fact it is chocolate on beef so I shouldn’t be picky.

Speaking of which, some folks might find it odd, chocolate on beef, but the stomach mixes everything we eat over the course of the day, and it all comes out looking a bit like Nutella anyway, so I don’t really see the problem with mixing it at the point of entry.

I wasn’t asked how I wanted it cooked. Perhaps I should have asked. This is a student joint so it’s probably well done.

Anyway, the bar is nice. Lots of spirits laid out, some decent beers on tap, but I’m driving and the SNP has very recently lowered the drink driving tolerance here further than the rest of the country. I made a mental note to return someday without the car.

The service time seemed quite a while, but was probably within the 15 minutes they aim for.

As I waited, I saw other burgers come out. I’d chosen a seeded bun (marked on the receipt as the healthy option!) but I sort of wish I had chosen “plain” because it seemed to be a morning roll, which I like.

When it arrived, it was quite flat but wide. The presentation was decent, a generous amount of lattice fries, some coleslaw, lettuce and grated carrot.

What’s on the plate for £10.20…

Looking at the burger, it was the case that the banana and chocolate were the only toppings. No cheese, which was a shame. I realise its personal preference but I have come to consider burgers without cheese as lesser in some way. I need cheese!

With my first bite I got the beef and bun without the toppings. There was an odd taste of which I wasn’t too fond.

My first reaction was that the burger tasted similar to those you might find in a supermarket’s frozen section, but I must be wrong. Surely I’m wrong. It was cooked well done, just as expected.

Tonic Dundee 8oz Dessert Burger…

At any rate, once the toppings kicked in, that’s what dominated my senses, more or less.

When I lifted the lid, I’m sure I saw a couple of chocolate buttons as well, and of course this was incredibly sweet. No kidding – Stop Press! – burger with chocolate and banana is sweet.

Lifting the lid…

My disappointment with the bun was entirely my own fault. There was actually nothing wrong with what I had, but I spent the whole time wishing I’d chosen the morning roll.

The beef, previous concerns aside, did its job. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m certainly glad I didn’t choose 16oz of it.

This was definitely a bit of fun for my final 2014 burger, on a day when everybody else was seemingly having McRibs, and I certainly wasn’t expecting burger greatness.

As such, it was perfectly OK.

Happy New Year, burger world.

Inside the Dessert Burger…

Admiral Burgerbar

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