Hungry girl seeks perfect burger in Singapore – will a famous expat win her heart?
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CNA Lifestyle
Hungry daughter seeks perfect burger in Singapore – will a famous expat win her heart?
With all the hype around international burger chains lately, CNA Lifestyle goes on blind dates with American, British and Korean burgers – including Five Guys.
(Art: Chern Ling)
06 Feb 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 02 Feb 2022 04:15PM)
Every bit yous know by now, my search for the perfect burger has been full of ups and downs; highs and lows; ketchup and mustard. It is a long and lonely road that I walk, this quest for buns-and-meat perfection. My journey thus far has ultimately been filling, but non all that fulfilling.
READ: Hungry girl goes on blind dates with 5 new burgers in hopes of finding The I
Afterwards stepping uncertainly into countless restaurants on endless blind dates with new burgers, I am, I must confess, a fiddling jaded. It feels like burgers these days but desire to talk a lot about themselves on social media, brag nearly how many other girls are lining upwardly for them, toy with your feelings a piffling, and so exit you to pick up the cheque.
The game is getting me downward. I'm not looking for a flashy one-nighttime fling. I'm looking for a burger I can settle downwardly with. The burger that volition complete me. The committed father of my future nutrient babies.
Why is it so difficult? I'm tempted to resign myself to existence forever alone. Simply even though my heart says to surrender, my stomach says, "Feed me". Now that at that place are so many new imports from famous Western brands, I suppose I owe it to myself to adventure kissing a few frogs in hopes of finding a prime patty. Are whatever of them The One for which I would be happy to stand in line until the terminate of my days, or at to the lowest degree until the grain-fed cows come up habitation, whichever comes first?
READ: Hungry daughter goes on blind dates with meatless burgers – should she follow her conscience or center?
Milk shake SHACK'South SHACKBURGER, Due south$ix.20
I've had rendezvous with Milk shake Shack burgers in several other countries before, so I'm curious to meet what the settled-in-Singapore one is like, especially seeing as although I approve of Shake Shack in principle, I've never been impressed by the lack of consistency – patties in cities such every bit New York, London and Dubai tend to be dry and overdone more than often than not. But surely, the Eduardo Saverin of expat burger joints should know that Singaporean women have notoriously high standards, right?
The first matter I note about my single (and available) cheeseburger, with lettuce, tomato plant and ShackSauce, is its stunning good looks. This burger evidently knows the importance of spending lots of fourth dimension getting dressed to go out. It is put-together and picture-perfect. The lettuce is crisp and fresh. The love apple slices are neatly bundled. The vivid yellowish cheese is melting invitingly over the patty. The whole thing is a masterpiece of layered chief colours.
READ: Are you ready for Singapore'southward 2nd Shake Shack? Information technology officially opens on Feb 7
But well-nigh impressive of all are its eye-catching, attending-grabbing, double-take-inducing buns. They are towering. They are fluffy. They are thicc. These are buns of steel.
Now, I love me some strong, confident buns. Merely, after I've taken a couple of bites, the slight problem for me soon becomes apparent. The balance of the burger isn't correspondingly bold and doesn't bring rest to the force of the astonishing buns.
Is it because I should have ordered the double instead? I don't know. What I exercise know is that although this is a very tasty burger that should be rightly proud of itself, information technology doesn't brand my jiff take hold of in my throat and my heart skip a beat. The patty is cooked well, which makes me exhale a sigh of relief, only that isn't quite enough for Cupid'due south arrow to pierce my eye. I desire our human relationship to be hotter and steamier – like, literally. I want to be licking beefy juices off my wrists. I want a burger that will give me gout and phone call me a dirty girl. And this burger is, well, just not that kind of burger. Alas, it's back to swiping and hoping for me.
BURGER & LOBSTER'South MAYFAIR BURGER, Southward$25
This London-built-in burger from a much-hyped establishment is such a thirst trap in all its profile pictures, and when you lot add that to the fact that its latest restaurant is at the Raffles Hotel, it's a burger I brand sure I go dressed up to get out with.
When it arrives at my tabular array, I'k sufficiently overjoyed. Although information technology'southward compact in circumference, it's tall in summit. The bun is an exotic gold-brownish hue, with blackness and white sesame seeds sprinkled attractively over the top. In between is a Nebraskan beef patty with lettuce, tomato, house-made pickles, onions and Burger & Lobster's "clandestine burger sauce".
Gustatory modality-wise, information technology scores better than average. But so, probing deeper, the red flag pops up, proving that y'all should never judge someone by their looks. Perhaps in relation to the patty'southward thickness, the within is far too raw to be medium, as I've requested. I don't mind my meat on the raw side, just really, a well-brought-up burger shouldn't make a lady sit down and saw through anything pink and stringy.
READ: Sambal lobster, anyone? London's Burger & Lobster opens at Precious stone with a Singapore-only dish
I'1000 pleasantly surprised by the accompanying chips, however. They're toothsome, flavourful and addictive, and I find myself spending manner more time and free energy on them, as well as on the salad – which is not a bad bargain for me, all things considered, but a considerably bad sign for the date. Unfortunately, it's a main human I'thousand looking for, not a wingman, and there probably won't be a second appointment.
BURGER+'S KOREAN BULGOGI BURGER, Due south$13.eighty
So far I've swiped right on an American burger and a British burger, so now, I reason, it's time to requite a Korean burger a whirl.
The card at Burger+, which has a new restaurant at The Central, is Korean-inspired, from the yangnyeom chicken wings to the signature "B+" sauce in the cheeseburgers, and developed by a Korean chef.
In hopes of finding my perfect K-pop match, I lock eyes with the Bulgogi burger, hoping it will blow me away like BTS have blown American soccer mums abroad. Sure, burgers have a decidedly Western full-blooded, simply who doesn't beloved those bright, intense Korean flavours?
I'm sort of expecting sliced, marinated beefiness like you'd find in a bulgogi dish. But the burger turns out to be a regular beefiness patty between potato buns, with bulgogi mayonnaise, bulgogi glaze, romaine lettuce and seared onion. I feel my defenses go up a little. Is this going to be a regular, standard-issue burger-next-door who's decided to put on a Korean accent just because it's supposed to be absurd?
I accept a seize with teeth, my fears are confirmed, and the engagement goes downhill from in that location. This burger, I feel, needs birthday more char, more sweetness and more umami. I also wish it were spicy, or had the option to be spicy, with a badass gochujang kick.
Bored, I turn my attention to the other burgers and find myself having a much better time. The Cheeseburger (S$13.lxxx) bears a striking similarity to a Shake Shack burger, and its B+ sauce is punchy and fun. And the Truffleburger (S$21), with truffle slices, truffle mayonnaise, onion and sauteed mushrooms, is quite compelling, even though towards the cease, its no-holds-barred flavours go a little likewise pushy, and I have to make an excuse to go out.
5 GUYS' CHEESEBURGER, S$15
It'southward generally not advised to go all the way on the first date, only this fourth dimension, I throw caution to the current of air. Because the carte lath clearly states the option of a cheeseburger "all the way": With mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, mushrooms, ketchup and mustard. Information technology's very forrard – my mother would exist appalled – but what girl wouldn't go weak in the knees?
At this famous American joint that just opened its doors a couple of months ago, you can watch your burger being assembled in front of you, so collect it, along with Cajun fries (S$7) if you wish, in a brown newspaper bag.
When I unwrap my burger, my first thought is that information technology'southward besides big, and I mentally decrease some compatibility points. (That's why 5 Guys besides offers the "petty" option for their burgers, which has a unmarried patty instead of double and is closer to the size of the fast nutrient burgers we're used to.)
READ: Burger articulation 5 Guys Singapore to finally open up at Plaza Singapura
But then something weird happens. I take my first seize with teeth, and so earlier I know it, the burger is all gone.
The onions are cooked through and sweet. The buns are soft but have bite. There are – praise be! – two slices of cheese, which is definitely ameliorate than ane slice of cheese. And, the ultimate deal-sweetener: The patties, handmade with an 80-20 lean-to-fatty ratio, are juicy and meaty, in spite of the fact that V Guys cooks their patties to well-done.
It is a quintessential all-American burger. I've inhaled it in tape fourth dimension. Do I regret leaving nada to the imagination on our offset date? Non a chance. Only the more pertinent question, I know, is: Is information technology so good that I'm willing to stand up in the snaking queue for it whenever I feel like a lilliputian afternoon delight?
My heart is conflicted, because peradventure, no matter how much we're attracted to each other, information technology'south just non meant to be between me and this burger. And maybe that'due south okay. Because, when all'south said and done, how many times in your life can you say you lot went "all the way" with not one but Five Guys?
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