Burger Singh

I am in a real dilemma about Burger Singh. It’s got me half way between liking it and not liking it with some positives in the presentation and flavour area, but also some major negatives in the overall taste department. So, when in doubt, the best thing to do is list the pros and cons and then make a final judgement;

I have to give it to Burger Singh for being cunning enough to come as close as possible to naming themselves after a famous burger chain and not getting sued. Besides the familiar sounding name, what Burger Singh does fantastically is present its products in a fun and colourful way. Their bright yellow boxes are a novel idea to serve the burgers in, as a result they give the perfect first impression and this certainly calls for applauding their design department.

This might not be a huge positive for many, but the fact that Burger Singh has a very limited menu of burgers along with a few sides is perfect according to me as it allows them to concentrate on the food and simultaneously makes for the customer to, over time, develop a taste and hopefully in the process have a few favourites from the lot.

Having ordered online, Burger Singh, which takes a lot of pride for on-time delivery, my food arrived about 10-15 minutes late. However, I was called in advance and informed that the delivery person was stuck in traffic. This again deserves credit for not many restaurants call and inform about delays.

Now for the food and this is where the pros and cons mingle together and create a hotchpotch of all things good;

Burger King has their flavours right in terms of the patties they make and the ingredients that are added to further boost the taste. The Tibetan-Van Paneer Burger, by far the best that we had, with its caramelized onions and sticky sweet chilli sauce is brilliant and achieves the Indo-Chinese flavours that it claims to reflect.

The same also would have held true for the Falafel Bomb Burger too, with the roasted mushrooms and caramelized onions, but there was a slight problem as the mushrooms were roasted too much giving an almost overpowering burnt mushroom flavour to the burger. Moreover, even after having a “garlic infused falafel patty” and “garlic mayo”, there was no garlicky taste at all that could have counteracted the intensity of the mushrooms.

As for the non-vegetarian option and the United States of Punjab Chicken Burger, while the patty was certainly grilled well and had that charcoal-ish taste to it, it didn’t remind me of “tikkas”, and rather came close to the Maharaja Mac from McDonlad’s, and this could also be because of the “tandoori mayo”.

Sadly, the Moroccan Fries lacked the lemony kick that it should have provided and were more like fries mixed with herbs. On top of that, it might be a good idea not to order fries for delivery for by the time we ate them (within minutes of delivery) they were chewy, dry, and hard. But, on the positive side, the Mint Sauce and the Sweet Chilli Sauce that we ordered were perfect in all respects.

All these are small observations that can easily be rectified, provided the chefs want to take my recommendations, by adding or reducing the ingredients. My biggest issue with Burger Singh though is that their buns were not to my liking. It was simply the fact that

I don’t like BIG Buns, and I cannot Lie!

While the big buns do give the illusion of having a big, value for money, meal but in real this makes the burger too bready in taste, and when they have so many good falvours going on, too much of bread just kills the experience. On top of that, the bread is too flaky, breaking off on the slightest of touch and that makes for messy eating – not the good type of messy eating.

Burger Singh has a lot going in favour for them; besides the hip name and packaging they seem to have come up with some signature burgers that are different and taste good. They are priced just right and can give the best of fast-food restaurants a run for their money.

Even though there is a massive burger war going on in this region with many restaurants aiming to be listed amongst the “best burgers in town”, Burger Singh can easily achieve a standing by rethinking some of these crucial points. Till then, it’s a good change from the usual burgers and something I wouldn’t mind trying again… once in a blue moon.