Squeezed

Posted on by Will_GSRR

I missed out on Rebel Roll – the pains of not working in central Bristol… All I ever heard was how good it was and that Alex Hayes was cooking up some damn good burgers and we all know that I love a burger.

When news broke that he was coming back I was very happy and even happier to find out it would be at Wapping Wharf in Cargo 1.

Fast forward a few months and Squeezed has finally opened to rave reviews. I tried to get down on National Burger Day to sample the delights, but they were sold out before I could even get close – sucks for me, but great for them. But don’t worry guys, it’s ok, I’ve had one now and I have to say they deserve all the praise they’re getting.

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The menu features a decent choice of burgers, but what I really like is that it’s not your standard burger. The St Werburger, for example, certainly sounds like it’s a cheese burger, but it has the addition of caper aioli, chipotle & tomato relish & confit shallots which I think it elevates it from being ‘just’ a cheese burger to something a little more special.

I opted to go for the Reverse Cowgirl – beef patty, smoked bacon, monterey jack, peanut chipotle bbq sauce, charred scallion sour cream, tomato & lettuce.

Oh my, what a burger! Lovely tasty patty and nice crispy bacon, but the real game changer in the whole concoction was the peanut chipotle sauce. It was fantastic and probably one of the tastiest burgers I’ve had in while. If I were allergic to nuts, I’d still be tempted.

Chuck in some well spiced fries to the mix and you’re on your way to a great meal.

Squeezed also have a selection of their own lemonades on offer with a few creative flavours to choose from if you’re looking for something the whet you whistle.

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In Bristol there seems to be an ever growing divide in the types of burger joints you now get, the first is your more restaurant style and then you have the fast food joints. Squeezed firmly falls in the fast food lane. You’re not going to coming here for a sit down meal, there isn’t enough space even if you wanted to, this is something you’re going to grab and then go and sit in the sun somewhere, or take it home and devour it whilst you binge on your latest Netflix series. I’m telling you now, you won’t be disappointed.

It’s getting harder and harder to choose who does the best burgers in Bristol with so many strong contenders, but Squeezed is certainly up there with the best – it’s like Tom Cruise getting sent to Miramar to be with the ‘Best of the Best’ in Top Gun.

/Filthy Grub

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Quick Update

Posted on by Will_GSRR

Burgers in Bristol are everywhere now; they’re the new Starbucks, except they’re much more awesome in every single conceivable way and quite frankly there’s always room for more if you’re good!

If you’ve been here before you know the deal, I write about burgers and rank them from best to worst. The thing is, is that my ‘ranking’ feels a little arbitrary at times, adding a numerical value to how good a meal is, is kind of pointless. They’re all different, some are going for the more fast food style, whilst others are a bit more of a restaurant experience which makes it tough to compare, so I’m not going to do that anymore, I’m scrapping the scoring  and I’m just going to tell you what’s good and why it’s good.

To quickly sum up the burger scene right now, here’s a quick overview of places that I think are the best around town.

Three Brothers Burgers – Consistently great burgers for any time of the day!

Burger Theory – Recently announced they’re opening their own restaurant which is fantastic news. If you haven’t checked them out yet and can’t wait for their restaurant to open head to Kongs or The Golden Lion to get a taste. FYI the Prairie Girl is probably the best chicken burger in Bristol.

Oowee – Taking Bristol by storm with their outrageously cheesy burgers. Oowee is the definition of Filthy grub at its finest! Even the fries are fabulously filthy.

Asado – They may be the new kids on the block, but god damn do they know what they’re doing. Asado oozes quality throughout all of their ingredients and their burgers are fantastic!

I’m also going to branch out from just burgers – which was always the plan anyway, Bristol has such a massive diverse food culture that narrowing it down to just burgers is ludicrous. I will still keep things Filthy though, so don’t worry about that!

So, uhh I guess I’ll see you soon with more food stuff!

/Filthy Grub

 

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Oowee Diner

Posted on by Will_GSRR

Woah, dude, where did all the time go? It’s been ages since I posted. But don’t worry I’m back after ticking off another of Bristol’s contenders for the theoretical burger crown – sorry, I’m not going to buy one to give out, or maybe I should? I could get a cape too, and a sceptre! Does anyone know how much Thrones cost?

I digress as usual…

Oowee, that’s why I’m here, that’s what I was going to talk about. Oowee Diner has been on my radar ever since it opened on Picton Street. I did try to go a little while back for lunch, but we got there just as they opened and they weren’t doing burgers. Needless to say I was devastated. It’s ok though; I’ve since returned and have been successful in my quest for burger consumption.

We arrived on a Friday night just as they opened and a queue had already formed, this gave me a little bit of time to contemplate my choice of burger. I eventually settled on the Big Cheese – Double patty, Swiss, Jack and American cheese with pickles and baconnaise. On the side? The Clucking Fries – Fries with fried chicken, cheese and gravy.

The burger was top notch – well burgers actually. Whilst a fairly thin patty they were still substantial enough in size – to be honest, I don’t understand when you get super thick burger patties, I’d much rather have one a bit thinner. Cooked just right and well-seasoned with a really good texture to them! As I said, top notch!

4.5 out of 5

The bun was a solid companion, like that defender you can always rely on to make a last ditch tackle, or another analogy about something being stable. With the thinner style patties, you need to get a good ratio of bun to burger, you don’t want to be eating a loaf of bread with a tiny burger hidden somewhere inside. Thankfully the amount of dough was just right, tasted great and stayed together throughout the whole devouring – although I’m sure the sheer amount of cheese probably helped, acting like a glue.

4.5 out of 5

Speaking of cheese – the toppings are low key, mostly just cheese and sauces with the odd extra topping like bacon. The Big Cheese comes with a lot of cheese, like seriously, fricking loads and it’s amazing. I added bacon to mine and it was awesome, crispy, salty, and meaty, everything you want bacon to be. CHEESE OVERLOAD!

4.5 out of 4

Last, but by no means least we have the sides, the Clucking Fries! In one word, outstanding! Need I say more? Ok, amazing fried chicken on top of delicious fries, melted cheese and super tasty gravy. If that doesn’t make you salivate, then just go, leave, you’re in the wrong place.

Also, there are so many other amazing looking options for fries on the menu!

5 out of 5

A total of 18.5 out of 20 That’s tied with Burger Theory!

Oowee is right up there with the best burgers in Bristol, no doubt about it! Just remember that there isn’t much room inside, so you’re probably going to have to take away.

Go there now!

/Filthy Grub

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The Hobgoblin

Posted on by Will_GSRR

It has been a little while since I’ve ventured out somewhere new to feast on a burger. But, the Hobgoblin on Gloucester Road has always  been somewhere I’ve wanted to try – I’ve heard that their burgers are top notch and I’d also heard of the legendary eating challenges – not that I was going to be trying them.

So one sort of sunny afternoon, before a trip to see Rovers – “Up the Gas” and all that, we started our day stuffing our faces with food!

There is a fair amount to choose from on the menu so making decision wasn’t an easy task, but eventually I settled on the Cow & Chicken which consisted of melted brie and smoked bacon on top of fried chicken and a beef burger – go big or go home I guess…

The burger itself was actually a little underwhelming for me, just slightly over done making it a little dryer than I’d like. But it was still a really tasty patty with a great texture to it. Just a little less time cooking could’ve made it excellent.

3.5 out of 5

The bun was as solid as a rock, but thankfully it didn’t have the texture or taste of one. For such a sturdy bun it was surprisingly light and soft. It actually think it was the perfect bun. It performed well under the melted cheese and sauces test – didn’t buckle an inch under the pressure and stayed with me throughout the whole meal – there’s nothing worse than a bun wimping out on you half way through!

Have you ever seen that Peter Kay sketch about hobnobs?  Well this was the bun equivalent!

5 out of 5

The toppings were also very, very good. Brie is actually one of my favourite cheeses, so melt it and chuck it on a burger and you’re on the right track to winning me over. Add to that some nice thick cut and perfectly cooked bacon and I’m figuratively yours. Plus the chicken (kind of doesn’t count as a topping to me) that was on top was also crispy, tasty and juicy, I could’ve maybe taken a bit more spice or flavouring in the coating, but that’s just me – it was still a great piece of chicken.  There was also a nice bunch of fresh crisp salad which rounded off the burger nicely

4 out of 5 for the ‘normal’ toppings – not the chicken.

The sides…. oh the sides. I think I’m still digesting them. Dirty Fries! As standard your burger comes with fries or coleslaw, but if you’re feeling very hungry – we were, then you can get the dirty fries – a mountain of fries, topped with pulled pork and various cheeses. They recommend to share between two, but there was four of us and we didn’t finish them.

They are immense in size, but they’re actually very good fries too and the pulled pork on them is also top notch. Some times I feel like I’m a bit over pulled pork – I’ve had a lot of it and it seems to be every where now, but the Hobgoblin do some damn good pulled pork! The only downside people might have is the price with them coming in at around £10, but if you’re sharing then it’s not so bad.

4.5 out of 5

17 out of 20 in total, putting The Hobgoblin right up there with the rest and I think that’s fair. They’re offering some damn tasty burgers with a large menu offering lot of interesting combinations, you’ll be sure to find something to your liking if you go, and go you should!

If you’re not looking to gorge yourself on the Dirty Fries then you’re looking at around a tenner for your meal which just the right price I think and represents some great value for money!

Oh and in case you were wondering, Rovers lost.

/Filthy Grub

 

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Five Guys

Posted on by Will_GSRR

I’ve been tossing and turning at night about whether to include Five Guys in my Bristol’s best burger list. Mainly because everyone already knows about it and also because it’s an international chain. Not that I’m trying to be all hipster and be like “Oh, I only review independent restaurants because I’m super cool and stuff.” – Although it probably sounds like that. It’s just that it’s kind of like reviewing McDonalds… It falls in to this void of fast food, but not quite your standard fast food. It’s such a weird void that I don’t actually know how to describe it, just accept that it exists and I’ve been there – it was greasy, but like, good greasy!

So after *months of sleepless nights I’ve decided to review it and here it is!

As I’ve said we all know Five Guys, if you don’t then where have you been? It’s right in Cabot Circus, like right in the middle of the shops *points* see, just there.

It’s like fancy fast food, but totally not fancy. When I say fancy I kind of mean fancy prices…

menu

So, the menu asks you to pick the type of burger you want – the usual stuff like, normal burger, cheese burger, bacon cheese burger. Then you get the choice of adding toppings and you can pick as many as you want at no extra cost. Everything else though, that costs, and it ain’t exactly cheap.

The burger! Well, you get double which is a great start. They’re nice and juicy with a good texture to them. They taste pretty damn good too.  What more do you want to know? You will also have the taste of it in your mouth for about a day… I don’t see that as a bad thing.

4 out of 5

I feel like the bun is the quintessential burger bun. If you were to draw a burger bun this is what it would look like. If you were to imagine eating a burger bun, this is what it would be.  It’s no frills and it does it’s job nicely. It’s not too over the top and bready – yes, that’s a thing and it also soaks up the juices nicely all whilst staying together.

3.5 out of 5

The toppings are basically standard burger toppings, lettuce, tomato, pickles, bacon, that kind of stuff. Again it’s no frills but it’s done well. You can’t really complain about a bit of salad on top of your burger, but at the same time it’s also not going  to exactly set your world alight. Personally I’d like to see a few more varied toppings just to mix things up, but hey, it’s still good!

Also, SO MUCH MELTED CHEESE! IT’S AMAZING

3.5 out of 5

Fries, oh my god the fries, mountains of them. It’s overkill. I remember the first time I went to Five Guys and we must’ve had about 7 portions worth of fries given to us (there was two of us). It’s way too much, but is that something you can really complain about? Especially when they’re that good! It’s like saying “oh, I like free beer, but only like 1 or 2 pints, please don’t give me 8.” You’re not going to moan about that are you?

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This is only some of the fries….

The fries  are top notch, proper thick cut, skin on chips! Nice and fluffy on the inside. you also get a good mix of sizes and textures,. You get the big thick ones, then a sneaky little crispy one. They’re great, just don’t bother ordering a large as they always dump more in the bag. One ‘portion’ of medium fries served two of us the other day.

4.5 out of 5

So 15.5 out of 20 overall

Five Guys is a good burger, great for a hangover too, all that grease will make you’re drunken self feel much better about life. But damn is it expensive. I don’t like paying extra for fries especially when you’re burger is already topping the £10 mark. You can easily spend close to £30 and for what is basically a better McDonalds that just too much in my opinion. You can get better burgers for cheaper. But if you’re feeling flush, or it’s pay day and you’re in a bit of a hurry Five Guys has you covered.

/Filthy Grub

*literally not even one night, I sleep like a log

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Burger Theory

Posted on by Will_GSRR

Burger Theory have actually been around for a while, but there is a good chance you may have missed them. That’s because they keep hiding in different places. They used to be in the Golden Lion, then they ventured to Bedminster and set up in the Old Bookshop, now they’re on Kings Street plopped in Kongs.

I’m already a big fan on Kongs and a big fan of Burger Theory, so to have them both in one place is perfect for me!

I’ve actually been twice within a week, but I’m going to tell you about the day I went on a when I was a little hung over so had the hangover munchies hard! Because of my slightly hungover state I wanted the biggest burger I could manage and that was the Hairy Beast – Beef & jalapeno burger, southern fried chicken breast, crispy bacon, melted cheddar, franks hot sauce and a blue cheese dressing.

The burger itself was packed full of flavour with the jalapeno’s giving it a nice little kick. It was also ridiculously juicy; in fact just thinking about it is making me salivate a little bit. I guess technically I had two burgers, so I will also mention that the southern fried chicken is probably the best chicken I’ve ever had in a burger.

5 out of 5

As I’ve said, the burger was super juicy, which means you need a bun that can take care of you like your best friend getting you home after 10 pints and a few Jagerbombs! Needless to say this bun is the friend you need. Not only did it manage to stay together for the duration, it was also a really good tasty brioche bun – and the shiniest bun I’ve ever seen, seriously it was like a mirror. Best burger bun I’ve had!

5 out of 5

Can I count a chicken burger as a topping? Because it kind of was… Even if it wasn’t the bacon was the perfect accompaniment to the whole burger deal. I love bacon – who doesn’t, when it’s in a burger it has to be crispy bacon . There is nothing worse (literally nothing!) than taking a big bite of a burger and then having the tendrils of bacon fat come slipping out and flopping all over the place like a limb you’ve slept on all night. I don’t want to bring the entire slice of bacon with me when I bite my burger. Crisp that bacon fat up! Thankfully the bacon is super crispy and very, very tasty. The cheese also adds a nice little tang to things!

Most of the toppings are kept fairly simple throughout the menu, but what is good about that is that whilst they might be simple they’re done very, very well.

4 out of 5 – I’m not including the chicken burger as a topping.

There are a number of sides to choose from, we decided on wings, Kimchi fries and Halloumi fries. The wings come with Frank’s hot sauce on and if you’ve ever had it before then you know you’re in for a good time! Best chicken wings I’ve ever had, very generous in size too!

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The Halloumi fries were a revelation. There isn’t much better than deep fried cheese, but when that cheese is the salty goodness that is halloumi served up with a delicious BBQ sauce, you’re on a trip to cheese heaven! I didn’t even know deep fried halloumi was a thing, now I never want fried cheese in any other form.

Finally we have the Kimchi fries, there are a few other options you can have, but I was told to try the Kimchi fries by a friend. They come with slow cooked short rib too – meat on fries, good! But the Kimchi is definitely something of an acquired taste. Kimchi is a Korean dish made with fermented vegetables. It has a slight fishy taste – usually because it contains fish oil or oyster sauce. Now, on its own I wasn’t particularly fan of it. But if you had a mouthful of all of it together it worked.

20160407_193256.jpgIf you aren’t feeling that adventurous though, stick with the cheesy fries, you can’t go too far wrong there.

4.5 out 5

That gives a total of 18.5 out of 20 and putting Burger Theory top  of the best burger list right now!

I’ve been to Burger Theory multiple times now and I’ve never had a bad experience in fact I’ve always come away feeling incredibly satisfied with my meal. I highly recommend that you go, but make it quick because they will soon be moving on to a new location but you can keep an eye on where by following them on twitter.

Now I’m hungry for burgers…

/Filthy Grub

Bonus Burgers from first visit because, why not? It was also mega!

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MEATliquor

Posted on by Will_GSRR

I feel like when I write on here, I need to be in a very specific frame of mind. I’m not sure why, but it just seems to be the way. If I start to write reviews when I’m feeling… shall we say ‘normal’, they just don’t work.

But fret not my burger loving minions, I’m particularly odd right now. I think it’s because Christmas is coming and I LOVE CHRISTMAS. It makes me go Super Saiyan

CHRIIIISSSSTTTTMAAASSSSSS!!!!!

A good few months back I heard about MEATliqour coming to Stokes Croft and I was excited. Meat and liquor seems like a good combination to me.

Well it’s open now and I’ve been, twice in fact.

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The first thing to notice when you walk in is the graffiti and arkwork, you can’t miss it, it’s errrvrywhurre – it reminds me of a cyberpunk 80’s film and I fully expected an 80’s action hero to walk in wearing a beaten up leather jacket and start a bar fight – I’d av him though! Ain’t no one getting their mitts on my burger!

As it’s Christmas – did I mention I love it? Meat liqour have put on a little Christmas menu – which I just couldn’t pass up. The offering was a Christmas themed burger, sausage meat, stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, bacon, GRAVY! Twas the bomb before Christmas!

Do you think I could get any more ‘Christmas’ in that paragraph? If you do, please email me at Christmasiffookingawesome@christmaslife.christmasburgers

The thing is, is the XXXMas wasn’t your typical burger… So I’m not going to review that one. But it’s OK, because I tried some of my Meg’s burger which was the epic Dead Hippie – 2x French’s mustard-fried beef patties, dead Hippie sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, minced white onions.

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The burger was cooked to perfection – nicely pink in the middle, with a little bit of char on the outside. The texture of it was top of the pops too! And that mustard-y… glaze? I guess it was kind of glaze or something, whatever, it was delish – yea, I abbreviated delicious.

4.5 out of 5

The bun. We all know I’m very particular about buns and burgers. If your bun can’t hold your burger you’ve got issues! The bun at MEATliqour was a stand up guy though, he held his own and didn’t even back down from the challenge of being covered in gravy – from the Christmas burger. It was an impressive feat to stay together after being covered in so much gravy. Bravo my bready friend.

It also tasted real good FYI!

5 out of 5 – it just has to be, to be able to contain all that gravy.

Ok, toppings! To be honest the majority of the Dead Hippie has pretty standard toppings, that’s fine though, as long as you do a good job with them. The Dead Hippie sauce is like a fancier, tastier burger sauce – think a Big Mac, but, like… good.

It was a no frills affair done very well.

Also the Christmas burger had some outrageous toppings, also done very well. Due to the fact that this one is just going to be around for a little while I won’t be factoring it in to my scoring.

4 out of 5

I realise I’m kind of flipping between two burgers here, but it’s kind of hard not to…. but just stick with me, it will be fine!

Finally we have the sides – which you have to pay for. This is a gripe of mine. Why are sides extra now? Who decided that was a good idea… The only good thing is that the burgers are comparatively cheap – around the £8.50 mark, so adding a side doesn’t take you too far above £10.

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Anyway, I had the Chili cheese fries -fries, beef chili, cheddar cheese, onions, jalapeños, French’s mustard. the problem is, is that I have to compare these to the Three Brothers  dish of the same name and they’re perfection.  Meat Liqour’s are good too, with a nice generous helping of fries – best to share, topped with a great tasting chili piled on top and loads of melted cheese. Personally I think they’re slightly let down by the fries though. They aren’t bad, they just don’t have much pizazz, zing or woosh!

3.5 out of 5

Overall 17 out of 20

A mighty fine meal indeed!

As I was hoping, Meatliqour is excellent, it had a great atmosphere, great music, great staff and most importantly great food.

Would burger again!

If you made it this far through my ramblings well done. I kind of just write down what pops in to my head and roll with it, that’s why things can get a little random and that’s kind of why I’m writing this too, I just can’t help myself… You can stop reading now if you like, I’m not going to talk any more about food.

Merry Christmas you burger animals.

/Filthy Grub

 

 

 

 

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