The South American Dream - Las Iguanas Restaurants

Where?: Las Iguanas Torquay

What?: The South American Dream

How much?: £10.50

The Verdict:

I generally steer clear of burgers from national chains. Notable exception was the Jamie's Italian Burger which was epic and quite tasty, but you will discover sooner of later that in comparison to a standard Gourmet Burger Restaurant burger, it will not even hit the mark.

So I give you another exception to the rule. The South American Dream which was featured on Eating Exeter's latest review of the Las Iguanas restaurant in Torquay.

Click the link to read more!

The Mutha Ducka - Ruby Modern Diner

Where?: Ruby Modern Diner, Queen St. Exeter

What?: Smoked Creedy Carver Duck Leg, Spring Onion, Cucumber and Hoi Sin sauce

How much?: £8.50

The Verdict:

The Mutha Ducker burger is an interesting and successful concept. Duck meat, in a burger? You have to be quackers!? Excuse the pun. I have to say though, this burger works really well with the lashings of Hoi Sin sauce, smoked pulled duck and the freshness of the spring onion and cucumber, it is an interesting alternative for those who want something a little different.

The smoked duck and hoi sin sauce reminds me of duck and hoi sin wraps that you sometimes get in Chinese Restaurants. The spring onion adds that extra dimension to the flavour and the whole thing is topped off with some fresh Cucumber.  The duck, like nearly all of the ingredients that go in to the food at Ruby Modern Diner is locally sourced, coming from Creedy Carver based a few miles away in Crediton.

This was part of a longer review which can be read on Eating Exeter

The Scorchio - Ruby Modern Diner

Where?: Ruby Modern Diner, Queen St. Exeter

What?: Lettuce, Tomato, 7oz Patty, Spicy Chorizo, Chipotle Mayonnaise, Mexicana cheese piled with Jalapeños

How much?: £8.50

The Verdict:

The Scorchio is a tower of spicy meaty majesty.  The spicy chorizo pieces work really well with the chipotle mayo and the mexicana cheese. This combination turns the whole burger in to a heavenly stack of umami awesomeness that I enjoyed with every single bit.  The Jalapeños give it a fiery hit and mixed with the seasoning of the burger it creates a really top combination, and certainly one of my favourite burgers so far.  The spice level has to be noted too; it is not challenge just to eat the burger and non of the taste is lost in the burn, as it would be very sad to lose any of the chorus of lovely tastes. With the glazed brioche bun, it works really well as a burger and really hope it stays on the menu for a long time to come.

One of my burger heroes is Burger Lad who has eaten and travelled the length & breadth of the UK reviewing burgers and writing about them.  He recently stopped by Ruby Burgers and wrote about The Scorchio Burger saying about the Spicy Chorizo…

“The Spicy Chorizo was beautiful. Bordering on outstanding… very rich with its signature smoked paprika flavour, thickly cut and a very generous amount on-board. In my notes I described it as highly decadent, oozing with quality bringing another dimension to the arsenal of tastes in my mouth.”
Burger Lad (2015)

Burger Lad also had The Ruby Burger which he rated really highly as one of his favourite burgers that he’s sampled on his travels, Beer Burger and Beyond (our sister blog which I also write) sampled The Ruby Burger as well and I can say that it an impressive burger.  But The Scorchio might just be nipping at its heels for my affections.

Ruby

Bison Burgers at The Exeter Food Festival 2015

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Stampede-Bison-burgers-Exeter-Festival-SW-Food/story-26388821-detail/story.html

Express and Echo reports that Bison Burgers were very popular this year! Follow the link with caution as the website is utterly littered with adverts and pop-ups.  Or at least turn on your pop-up blocker.

The Jamie's Italian Burger

Where?: Jamie's Italian, Princesshay

What?: The Jamie's Italian Burger

How much?: £10.95 (bundled with chips £13.95)

The Verdict:

Jamie's Italian brings many things to Exeter with its opening last week, including this epic burger.  Loaded with pickles, chilli, mozzarella and mortadella smoked meat, it was the highlight of our visit to this new restaurant.  Read the full review here.

This is an epic burger with a mighty kick of meatyness between its bun.  The patty itself was at least 9oz, having been chargrilled it was certainly worth the money.

What's Your Beef? Urban Burger's burger competition winner announced.

I was honoured to be invited to judge Urban Burger's design-a-burger competition which has been running for a couple of months. The event happened at the restaurant on Thursday, which saw the finalists have their burgers cooked and brought before a panel of judges, including little old me, for the ultimate taste show down.

The panel included John Harvey the Exeter City Centre manager @ExeterCCM , Chris 'Bentos' Bentley former Exeter Chiefs Lock and now Corporate Sales manager for the team @CCBentos and Steve who runs +DevonHour, and me who writes about food in Exeter and also has a small obsession about Burgers.

We were going to judge the burgers on Appearance, Taste, Texture and Creativity and give them a score out of 10.  "easy!" I thought, but this was much tougher than I envisioned given the high standard of the entries.

The first contender was The BRIEoche, which used an interesting combination of barbecue beans and Brie.  I love Brie and a Brie Burger might have been a winner in my eyes, but the use of beans for me didn't do it.  A combination that for some of the judges really worked, but a little too strange for my taste buds.  It was a clean and tidy burger, and very enjoyable to eat in that sense.

The second to enter our gaze was the Ay Caramba, a Chipotle laden spice mountain with Guacamole and some strong flavours.  I loved the taste of this one, but it was very sloppy and a little too messy for my liking.  This was my second favourite of the night in the end, and had I not been quite so bowled over by the winner, it would have been my favourite to win.

The third burger of the night was the Oh My Mexican Cheese, using Afterburner Chilli Cheese and an interesting salsa, this burger looked amazing as it came out.  But its appearance was part of its downfall as it fell apart very easily when trying to eat it, I enjoyed the taste but there was an expectation of heat which didn't come through.

The last burger of the night was the Duck n Dive, which won the evening for all of the judges. Smoked pulled duck with a chinese coleslaw was the one that got approving noises from all of us at the judging table.  It was light, clean, fresh and easy to eat without feeling too overbearing.  Part of me was sad that it wasn't a beef burger that won but Urban Burger have an impressive track record when it comes to Smoking things.  Take a look at their Smoke House menu if you get a chance :)

The winner was announced, the prize awarded and photos taken.  Take a look at some snaps from the evening, all credit for photos goes to Urban Burger for photos taken. I edited them, but didn't take them!

The entrants and their friends came to support and cheer for their burgers!

Team BRIEoche

The burgers came out from the kitchen in batches of four, divided amongst judges and contestants

The judges eagerly awaiting the next batch of burgers

 

#burgerboys

We didn't all agree sometimes, but that is what makes this process so much fun!

The Duck n Dive, an amazing burger which rightfully won the competition.

The judges with Lucy, winner of the competition who won £250 worth of Urban Burger vouchers and the addition of her Burger to the menu...

#burgerboys looking 'ard

Lucy, the creator of the winning burger

The battle of the burgers: who has stolen McDonald's crown? via Telegraph.co.uk

“So this is what America tastes like”, I thought, dreamily, on my first trip to McDonald’s, more than thirty years ago. There was no branch then in my home town, but a schoolmate’s parents took a group all the way to London for a birthday party. It was so new: perfect yellow squares of processed cheese, thin-cut fries, mouth-scorching apple pies. Mostly, I remember being startled by the flavours: sugary and salty with an undertow of dill.

The Golden Arches do not appear sparkly-fresh any more. On 23rd January, the world’s largest hamburger chain announced falling global profits for the fourth successive quarter.

In China, sales have been hit by scandal: a supplier was found guilty of using out-of-date chicken and beef. As a result, McDonald’s sales in Asia have dropped faster than anywhere else: by 4.8 per cent this quarter.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11371802/The-battle-of-the-burgers-who-has-stolen-McDonalds-crown.html