The 'Build-A-Burger' - Morrison's In-store Cafe, Exeter

The week before payday is often taken up with inventive ways to eat out for not much.  Catapulted mercilessly into the week, the shock of returning to work meant that after a busy day at the coal face the idea of cooking food let alone deciding what to cook was mostly out of the question.  It didn't matter how much food we had in, it was going to be traumatic given how tired we were feeling and the lack of motivation.

Last week whilst shopping in Morrison's we had noticed that they had revamped their menu and this included the inclusion of a new Build-A-Burger menu which let you construct a burger for £4.  The deal seemed pretty good as it included a drink as well, so what a perfect opportunity to have a look see.

The thing that you have to remember about Morrison's Cafe is that there are a few things they do well.  Fish and Chips is one thing that I have had a few times and on the whole, its been good.  They are normally very speedy in the serving the food, rarely under 10 minutes which is perfect for a filler up before the trauma of food shopping.  Despite a few strange things to appear from behind the till in the past, the polite staff and the service has always been friendly and never anything but pleasant.

So what was the burger going to be like?  Given it is £4 (and remember my Staple Hill Rule 'If you pay £3.25 for a burger it is more than likely going to be horrendous') you get the following.  A cheap burger, a bun, some lettuce and if you paid 60p extra, a slice of cheese...and some chips...did I mention the lettuce? You're meant to get tomato too but given we had waited 30 minutes for our food, I was hardly going to send it back.  One of the options was simply a sauce, hmm... Not really 'building' anything here.

Add a slice of bacon and some cheese for 60p each and you have an averagely priced burger £5.20.  The value part of this isn't really adding up to be honest.  But I mustn't grumble too much as you do get a drink too?

Yes dear readers (have genuinely always wanted to write that and not sound too cliched), we waited so long that I actually noticed people ordering, getting their food and then leaving, and that generally speaking isn't great news.  I then noticed a steady stream of people walking up to the till clutching receipts and looking very annoyed.  It wasn't until after we had become one of those receipt-clutching, stern-faced hungry people stomping up to the till, that we were told that one of the staff hadn't turned up for their shift.  Its strange how anger dissipates to sympathy when you are told that there is a reason why the food has taken so long, and even though I was so hungry I was digesting my own stomach lining it wasn't something I could easily stay annoyed.
They were doing their best, and although one of the checkout girls had been drafted in to serve, it still didn't seem to be quite enough for some diners who were demanding refunds and looking very pissed off.  Free top-ups on our drinks made up for it, but unfortunately the burger wasn't really worth the wait.

These days Burger Addicts like Fatso here (me) are treated to the glories of Gourmet Burgers in more places than ever which are made with good quality meat and have generally good ingredients with lots of thought behind it.  When you get a taste for good meat, it is more obvious when you get a cheap burger bulked out with onion and other bits.  The promise of building a burger is fine, but when you get a tiny burger with a few pitiful options, it makes the whole thing a little hard to swallow.  The chips were nice though but not enough of them...