Prezzo - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England

About the Burger:

A great burger served on a wooden platter with the salad components available for self assembly if required.

Menu description:

Classic Burger £9.95
100% prime beef burger with emmental cheese and garlic mayonnaise in a sesame seed sour dough bun served with house fries.

Rating:

Review:

It's been a while since I've reviewed a burger, it's not that I haven't been eating them more that they've mostly been take aways from McDonalds and Burger King when travelling.

I was surprised that Prezzo served burgers but the grill section of their menu includes one so I had to give it try.  I would normally order pizza at Prezzo, which are very good by the way (and my second choice if burgers aren't listed).

The burger is served on a wooden platter which is quite rustic, I also liked that they provide the lettuce, tomato and onion on the side so you can add these if you like.  I'm not that keen on tomato and I prefer not to have lettuce on my burger, it makes it slide around when trying to eat it, so I left these off - I did put the onion on there though.

I enjoyed the burger, the bread roll was soft and fresh and the burger itself was cooked nicely.  As usual it lacked the flavour I'm looking for, hence the 3 burger rating.

About the venue:

Prezzo in the market town of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk is part of a chain of Italian restaurants in the United Kingdom with venues in many towns and cities.  A good range of pasta, pizza, salad and grill items are available.

Guest Reviewers Wanted

Do you have a good or bad burger experience that you'd like to share with others then please send me an email with your review, rating and photo.  The sections are:

• About the Reviewer - a brief profile about you that you are happy to be shown on the blog.
• About the Burger - a short description of the burger.
• Menu Description - how the menu was described in the restaurant including the price and any extras.
• Rating - a score between 0 and 5, this is your personal assessment of the burger overall.
• Review - your anecdotal observations of the burger helping to describe how you gave your rating.
• About the Venue - a short summary about the restaurant including the name and some location details.

Every burger and venue will be considered from fast food burger vans through to fine dining and everything in between.

The Three Jolly Butchers - Wyton, Cambridgeshire, England

About the Burger:

A classic burger served on ciabatta bread in a country pub setting.
 

Menu description:

Home Made 8oz Jolly Butchers Beef Burger Topped With Cheese £9.25
Served On A Toasted Ciabatta Cob With Homechips & Dresses Mixed Leaf Salad

Rating:

Review:

This was very nearly a 1 burger rating review but it clawed its way back to up to a 3 based on taste alone.  I ordered a side order of onion rings as these make a great companion to a burger meal.  My burger arrived with a side salad which I normally consider as something that is contaminating my plate but this one had a nice dressing so I'll forgive it this time.  I'm not sure that ciabatta makes a good bread roll for a burger as I'm not keen on crusty bread, especially with a burger.  The ciabatta was my worst fear realised, it seemed like it either wasn't fresh or had been hastily defrosted as it was very hard, especially the top half.

As regular readers will know, I typically eat everything other than the burger first and leave that until last and this was no exception.  The chips were amongst the best I've ever had with a crisp outside and a nice fluffy inside - perfect.  The ciabatta roll top was so hard I couldn't even cut through it with my knife and ended up not eating that bit.  To add insult to injury, the onion rings were over cooked with very little batter on them and had a bitter taste.  At this stage I was thinking this was going to be my first 1 burger rating review until I tasted the burger itself.  The taste was what I've been looking for since starting this blog.  If the onion rings and bread roll had been better this could have been a 4 or a 5 burger rating - it was that good.

I'm willing to give this venue the benefit of the doubt and think the person who prepared the bread roll and onion rings was having an off day.  I probably won't go back there but I will continue to seek the perfect burger with the great taste and flavour of this one.

About the venue:

The Three Jolly Butchers is a country pub in the beautiful village of Wyton in Cambridgeshire.  The pub has a large beer garden and large grounds that back on the the Great Ouse river.

Guest Review: Brasserie Banús - Puerto Banus, Spain

About the Reviewer:

This review has been compiled by Chris, Burger Critic's friend and neighbour.  We share many common interests including the occasional burger.

About the Burger:

An amazing burger in a French inspired bar in Puerto Banús, Spain with a view of expensive boats and cars along the harbour.

Rating:

Review:

The beef was amazingly tender and it came with bacon lardons, not too salty and Gruyere cheese, the bun was lightly toasted and sesame covered, and was very soft.  Considering the area the burger was good value for money costing €10.95.  My only criticism would be that the bun was almost too soft and broke up as I tried to eat it.

About the venue:
Brasserie Banús is located in the affluent town of Puerto Banús, Spain with views of the harbour area and is surrounded by exclusive shops and restaurants.

The Plough - Coton, Cambridgeshire, England

About the Burger:

A traditional burger at a gastro pub in Cambridgeshire served with lettuce and tomato.

Menu description:
The Plough Homemade Beef Burger £9.95
hand cut chips – coleslaw - pickle
Additional toppings 75p each - cheddar - bacon - onion marmalade

Rating:

Review:

I had a burger at this pub before and was looking forward to this one.  We were dining with another couple and they both ordered burgers as well.  I selected cheddar and onion marmalade as my extras.  The food arrived quickly which surprised me and when we all cut into our burgers we understood why - all three were raw in the middle even though we'd order medium-well.  We brought this to the attention of our waitress who apologised and quickly whisked them away.  Around 15 minutes later freshly cooked burgers were brought to the table followed by apologies from three different members of staff.  Although the food should not have been served like that they staff did quickly rectify the situation without issue.  My rating is based on the burger I ate and not the one I initially received.  In addition to the apologies deserts were offered on the house as a goodwill gesture.  The burger was good although it still lacked the elusive flavour that I am seeking.

Once again I've given a burger a rating of 3, what I'm looking for is perfection - when I find it I'll give it a 5 burger rating.

About the venue:

The Plough is a modern and comfortable Gastro-Pub located in the small Cambridgeshire village of Coton.

Guest Review: Babe's Bar-B-Que & Brewhouse - Palm Desert, California, USA

About the Reviewer:

This review has been compiled by Roxanne Wells, Burger Critic's wife and occasional burger eater.

About the Burger:

A classic style burger served with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and a choice of extras.

Menu description:

1/2 Pound-Twice Ground Cheddar Burger - $10
With a choice of French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Cole Slaw, Baked Beans, Turkey Chili

Rating:

Review:

This is my first burger review and I'm also the first guest reviewer at Burger Critic and I'm not used to analysing my food for review but here goes...

First impressions of the burger were good, I'd chosen French Fries and Cole Slaw to accompany my burger.  The restaurant was inspired by the film Babe about the pig and many things at the venue are pig related including the plate which was pig shaped.  I'm not much of a bread person and tend to leave that to the side, the bread roll on this burger was fresh and soft and I don't have any complaints even though I didn't eat it all.  The burger itself was nice although there could have been more flavour which would have improved the rating.  In summary, there's nothing to fault here and I would recommend giving the burger a try - if you do go here then I suggest you try and sit in the outside seating area where they use water misters on hot days which keeps you nice and cool.

About the venue:

Babe's is an independent restaurant located at the The River shopping area in Rancho Mirage, California.  Occupying a corner plot Babe's offers both indoor and outdoor seating.  Inspired by the movie Babe there is a strong pig theme with large bronze statues that are popular with passing children.  The outdoor has water misters which spray a fine mist around the edge of the seating area helping the diners to remain cool on hot days.

Wish I'd Eaten Here

This isn't a review, rather somewhere I wish I'd been hungry enough to eat at.  While on holiday in the Palm Springs area of California we visited a street market at the College of the Desert.  At the market where hundreds of stalls selling a variety of clothing, shoes, hats and other goods.  Clustered around the centre were a number of food stalls selling a wide variety of food including a BBQ vendor called Rocky Mountain BBQ.  This stall was very popular and once I saw one of the burgers I understood why, they where freshly cooked on a large Barbecue and you could add a number of additions from a selection including lettuce, onions, tomato, cheese and different sauces.

If you've tried a burger here please let me know what is was like.