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Snorting his way across the USA
Burgerim is an up and coming fast food franchise, which, I'm going to guess probably originated in Los Angeles, judging by the heat map:
Now - here is the thing. Some of the locations profess to be halal. How can you be halal if you have bacon? There is bacon on the menu. That is not halal. Maybe they do not have bacon. They do however have some interesting burger options. You can get a lamb burger if you want. You can get a falafel burger if you want. Lamb is halal. Falafel is halal. As is beef and chicken. I might have reviewed the lamb burger but decided to do the beef burger. This is what they want you to see:
This is what you get: Well, what I got anyway:
There are two basic requirements that I have in a burger joint: 1: They need to offer burgers. I mean, I guess by definition a burger joint needs to offer burgers. But they also need to offer lettuce wrap. Burgerim offers lettuce wrap. And they need to offer side salads. I kind of waive that requirement for Inn n Out, but as you can see, the above is Burgerim's rendition of a lettuce wrapped burger, and a side Ceasar salad.
So let's talk about the burger: It is what they term the Spanish Beef burger. It is a 1/3 pound, griddle fried patty, with some Spanish type toppings on it. The taste was fine, but, something bothered me a little bit. It seemed... lean. Lean on the other things that give volume to the burger, like tomatoes and onions and things like that. It was basically just a burger with sauce on top between a couple pieces of lettuce. The burger was juicy but more on the greasy side than the juicy side. Now here is the thing about sizing: 1/3 pound is an awkward size. Normally I like 1/2 pound for lunch and 1 lb for dinner. I can get there by having a double and a single for dinner (an extra patty is $2.99) but lunch ends up being too little or too much. I got a single, but I should have gotten a double. There are also 3 oz patty options. Those are just too small, although three would be about right.
Now, on the salad. Kudos that they have one, but it's basically some shredded romaine plus you get a small tub of dressing that isn't really enough. And it's like four bucks. Habit will give you a squared away Ceasar salad with the dressing tossed in, topped with fresh shaved parmesan and it's a buck cheaper.
The cost: The whole deal, single patty burger and side salad was north of twelve bucks, and that is without drink. A double at Habit or Carl's with a salad is about ten, and you get more. They do however have some interesting and expanded topping options, which is refreshing.
Now here is the odd thing. They have wine and beer, and even have a couple draft beers on tap. This is a storefront franchise fast food restaurant. I do not see myself hanging out drinking in a storefront fast food franchise restaurant. It's kind of like drinking in the nail salon. I'm not even sure they WANT people hanging out and drinking. Which brings us to the other point - normally in countries where halal is an issue, alcohol is an issue too. The Burgerim in Kandahar will probably not have alcohol. Or bacon. Actually it probably makes more sense to have alcohol in the nail salon. You aren't going anywhere for a while anyway, so why not.
On a scale of 1 to 5 I would give them about a 3.5. I'd probably try it again, but I'd probably go with a double, and maybe ditch the salad because it didn't really meet expectations. If they were half the price, I'd probably up them to a 4.
Now the name: Burgerim. Burger, I am? Burger rim? Burger instant message? Maybe the name and initial of the creator, Burgeri Mustoffah? Dunno. Can't figure that one out.
Now - here is the thing. Some of the locations profess to be halal. How can you be halal if you have bacon? There is bacon on the menu. That is not halal. Maybe they do not have bacon. They do however have some interesting burger options. You can get a lamb burger if you want. You can get a falafel burger if you want. Lamb is halal. Falafel is halal. As is beef and chicken. I might have reviewed the lamb burger but decided to do the beef burger. This is what they want you to see:
This is what you get: Well, what I got anyway:
There are two basic requirements that I have in a burger joint: 1: They need to offer burgers. I mean, I guess by definition a burger joint needs to offer burgers. But they also need to offer lettuce wrap. Burgerim offers lettuce wrap. And they need to offer side salads. I kind of waive that requirement for Inn n Out, but as you can see, the above is Burgerim's rendition of a lettuce wrapped burger, and a side Ceasar salad.
So let's talk about the burger: It is what they term the Spanish Beef burger. It is a 1/3 pound, griddle fried patty, with some Spanish type toppings on it. The taste was fine, but, something bothered me a little bit. It seemed... lean. Lean on the other things that give volume to the burger, like tomatoes and onions and things like that. It was basically just a burger with sauce on top between a couple pieces of lettuce. The burger was juicy but more on the greasy side than the juicy side. Now here is the thing about sizing: 1/3 pound is an awkward size. Normally I like 1/2 pound for lunch and 1 lb for dinner. I can get there by having a double and a single for dinner (an extra patty is $2.99) but lunch ends up being too little or too much. I got a single, but I should have gotten a double. There are also 3 oz patty options. Those are just too small, although three would be about right.
Now, on the salad. Kudos that they have one, but it's basically some shredded romaine plus you get a small tub of dressing that isn't really enough. And it's like four bucks. Habit will give you a squared away Ceasar salad with the dressing tossed in, topped with fresh shaved parmesan and it's a buck cheaper.
The cost: The whole deal, single patty burger and side salad was north of twelve bucks, and that is without drink. A double at Habit or Carl's with a salad is about ten, and you get more. They do however have some interesting and expanded topping options, which is refreshing.
Now here is the odd thing. They have wine and beer, and even have a couple draft beers on tap. This is a storefront franchise fast food restaurant. I do not see myself hanging out drinking in a storefront fast food franchise restaurant. It's kind of like drinking in the nail salon. I'm not even sure they WANT people hanging out and drinking. Which brings us to the other point - normally in countries where halal is an issue, alcohol is an issue too. The Burgerim in Kandahar will probably not have alcohol. Or bacon. Actually it probably makes more sense to have alcohol in the nail salon. You aren't going anywhere for a while anyway, so why not.
On a scale of 1 to 5 I would give them about a 3.5. I'd probably try it again, but I'd probably go with a double, and maybe ditch the salad because it didn't really meet expectations. If they were half the price, I'd probably up them to a 4.
Now the name: Burgerim. Burger, I am? Burger rim? Burger instant message? Maybe the name and initial of the creator, Burgeri Mustoffah? Dunno. Can't figure that one out.
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