Burger Bite Off with TukTuk

After Brass & Knuckle closed down their burger shop (not missed at all) at Carob Tree, someone had to step in to provide a burger offering at the popular food court. That someone happened to be TukTuk with a lineup of curiously Indian-inspired burgers. Meat, take a back seat! Today is the day to make some room for a new plant-based burger, Indian style! We never say no to veggie burgers, especially when they are vegan, as some of our team embrace this lifestyle to the full. So with great pleasure, our burger bite off of the day is with the curiously named “TOO MUCH GOOD VEGAN BURGER”. Mind you, this is the burger name on the menu, not our final opinion!

The burger itself is a two-storey game. The first is expectedly the patty. It’s freshly made in the TukTuk kitchen and it shows. It’s packed with lots of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, peas, beans, sweet corn and fennel seeds for good measure. There’s a gardenfull of fibre and legumes inside! The vegetables are mashed and blended just enough to create a dough-like patty which is on the mashy side and disintegrates very easily, but this is expected from handmade patties with no crunchy shell to bind. The patty is very moist and not dried out. Most importantly, the Indian taste is undoubtedly there. And it’s Vegan!

The second storey is more unique and comes in the form of a chana vada fritter. This is a popular South Indian tea time snack in itself but has been wisely infiltrated here. The base of the fritter is a “dhal” made from a deeply spiced stew of native chickpeas or yellow lentils. This dhal is more of a blank canvas for the aromatics. Here it is lime pickle and green chillies. Chana Dhal is actually the less spiced version in Indian cuisine, but HOT it is! It’s actually marked as HOT on both the menu and visually with a grilled chilli atop the burger itself! The fritter is very crisp in contrast with the mashy patty and adds a much needed dimensional layer of texture. TukTuk should think of doing a Chana Dhal inspired burger. They would have a winner there.

The burger is served in a soft bun, which was the perfect size for the veggie patty. There’s a chutney paste at the base that stands as the only “sauce” in this burger. With so many nut-based vegan cheeses on the market these days, we missed the cheese in this burger. Yes, cheese is not included and it’s a pity.

A worthy mention are the Indianized version of French Fries that accompany the burger. They engulf the plate en masse. There’s enough to feed 3 people, and best of all, they are GOOD! They are the freeze bag variety, but more of the premium brand kind. They are fried crisp as it should be, which always gets TOP marks from us. The fries are sprinkled with a spice mix, which tasted mostly of curry, chilli and cumin. A sweet chilli sauce serves as a ketchup stand-in.

TukTuk made the right move when they added a vegan burger option to their 2020 menu. If you love well-spiced food, this one should be on your burger bucket list. We don’t know if this burger is going to convert any beef fans, but you never know, it might just do the trick!

Top Fries you need to try today!

Whether you call them French Fries, Chips or Potato Fingers, Burgers’ best friends are loved all around the world, even by vegetarians. The Burger-Fries relationship is known to have started after World War 1, when White Castle, home of the then 5 cent hamburger, found out that returning veterans were asking for fried potatoes. These sliced batons of potato are cut to various thicknesses and then fried in oil until golden, varying from soft to crispy, and most often served with little more than a dusting of salt. And today it’s their day!

Just like every year, we celebrate French Fries Day by turning a blind eye onto burgers and going Potato all the way!

Whilst many millennials keep on arguing over McD and Burger King‘s fries and never bother to try out anything else, we’re restoring the balance in the war between good and evil by touring the whole island and tasting whatever Fries come in our way! So, who are the new players of 2020?

Sea Salt

Sea Salt in Sliema is definitely one of the most remarkable local eatery concepts of the past years. They also managed to grab our much coveted Gold Standard award for their Surf n Turf burger. Their fries are no less extraordinary. They are freshly cut potatoes that go through a 1½ day process of preparation. They are boiled in water & doused in vinegar and left to rest before they are blanched in an ice bath. They are ultimately deep fried until they end up in your mouth. We’re sure that Chef Darren was inspired from his many years in the UK as this is a common pub snack all over the British Isles. These chunky and scrumptious potatoes have a very addictive salty-sourness, which we adore, and are definitely hitlist material. That salty, acidic crunch is totally addictive and unforgettable. Crave on, these tangy and crispy chips can be enjoyed for dinner time, lunch, and why not, even breakfast! We’re heading back to Sliema for some more…

 Gyros & Churros

Poutine is a Canadian dish of French Fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. Americans took the concept further, adding regional variations to cater to local tastes. And the evolution continues at G&C and their selection of loaded fries, ranging from cheesy fries with paprika, to the superb pulled pork ones with spring onions, to the pizza loaded fries with slices of pepperoni, salsa and loads of heavenly cheese. These Fries are the real deal for those hungry Junior College students who will not shy away from a hanzirata! This fries dish is meant to be shared between 2 or 3 people, but there will always be those hungry piggies who will eat it all on their own! Obviously, this one is a massive calorie hit, but who cares when it tastes this fantastic. The one we recommend the most has melty cheese and is topped with delicious pulled pork. When you get a forkful of all that, you might even forget about getting a burger as a main! However it’s not suffocated with an extreme amount of toppings, and the ratio of potato to condiments is just right. There are enough potatoes to scrape off the meat, BBQ sauce and cheese; that is, if you ever manage to eat it all! It’s no wonder that G&C have become a foodie landmark for students, and we can envision them eating these fries all day long, starting with late breakfast…

The Crew

The Crew have wowed us many a time with their Fish & Chips offering. These hand-cut chunky chips are boiled, baked, fried and sprinkled with garlic. The triple cooking method and the actual size of the chips themselves are unequalled locally and deserve the full attention of any chips lover! Those thin potato sticks you are accustomed to, have nothing on these chips!

Burger Bite Off with SFC

How hard is it to find a crispy chicken burger that’s tasty & tender? Apparently, it is in 2020! During our research for the Ultimate Chicken Burger, we ended up disappointed more times than happy and had to drive to KFC for some poultry consolation. But even KFC have been losing ground by the year, with oily and crumbly chicken offerings that are a far cry from what we used to savour & salivate upon just a couple of years back. In the meantime, other franchises like Chick King have been sharpening their game and rubbing their hands with joy.

One other franchise that came up on our chicken radar is Southern Fried Chicken. This year we visited the Birkirkara place 5 times, during different times of the day and specifically during weekdays. If we saw long queues we would skip the visit, and come back when the staff were relaxed, to give them the benefit of doing the best job they can. Unfortunately during these visits, we were given dry chicken two times in a row. So we were on the fence. We decided to do one final burger test, and this would be it! We tried their Empire fillet, which is made from a chicken fillet piece, hash brown, cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise, encased in a soft sesame seed bun. This time around, the chicken was moist and succulent, with a spiced batter crisped to golden excellency. The chicken part itself was handcrafted with the right amount of crispy batter and a tender core. From a texture perspective, it’s a massive step up from KFC. The portion was generous and had a good diameter and thickness to it. The cheese is an American slice and one element that can be massively improved upon. It would be in place if this was some ground chicken burger like McD do, but we need proper cheese with real chicken! It would make the product taste a tenfold finer. Mayo was well-dosed, but the hash browns were of the freezer bag variety. And that’s something that needs urgent improvement. All this provides 37.9gr of protein, 28.8gr of fats and weighs in at 583 Calories. The fries can be a hit and miss affair too, but when they are left their due time in the frier, they are crispy and savoury, and amongst our take-away favourites.

Despite all these shortcomings, we liked the Empire burger so much, that we went one step ahead, and added an extra chicken fillet into the mix, making this one an “off the menu” double chicken burger exclusive! Now we’re talking! At less than €10 for a meal with drink and fries, this was a no-brainer… #MaltaBurgers approved, with two thumbs up!

Burger Bite Off with Pitstop

There’s a horde of voracious big eaters that are always on the lookout for towery, double burgers. During our never-ending search for the Ultimate Double Decker Burger in Malta, we made a literal pit stop in Saint Rita Stairs in Paceville, at the Pit Stop Takeout. Every Paceville goer knows the hangout-busting properties of the Pit Stop burgers. So when you’re in Paceville, and exceedingly hungry and one burger is not enough, what do you do? You go DOUBLE! And that’s the Big theme of the latest Pit Stop burger. It has two hefty 200gr beef patties, a double dose of Edam cheese, and a fill of veggies in the form of lettuce, tomato slices, onions and gherkins. The burger is well sauced up with ketchup and mustard.

We all know that there is no such thing as too much beef, and for us, more of a good thing is always a terrific idea! There’s some good percentage of chuck steak cuts in these thick form patties that have a pleasing beef texture. These patties are full of morsels of goodness and have a medium grind beef texture. They also make this one, a seriously XL sized burger. Chuck from the shoulder and neck area of the cow has a palatable flavour profile and a good amount of fat and gristle that produces tender patties. The patty is grilled and browns up beautifully, with flavour lacing all the way around the edges.

There’s one BIG problem though: This Double Decker Burger has no name yet! Why not try it out and let us know your name suggestion…

€2 Burger Challenge

Are we going out of our minds? A €2 Burger ?!

Mcdonald’s. Burger King. KFC. They are an almost-daily food staple for the Millenial and a guilty-pleasure for the doyen BurGourmand. It’s that time of the year, where we put on our boots and open our umbrellas, and run out looking for beaten-up bars and hole-in-the-wall eateries with just a kitchen sink, to find eatable burgers for the pocket challenged. Last year we set the threshold to €2… and we intend to keep that! Are we going out of our minds? A burger for €2?! What kind of Challenge is that?

For Round 2 of our wacky Burger Challenge, we ended up at McDonald’s. We’re not known to be McD groupies, but who can say no to an unbelievable burger opportunity? Not one, but two burgers for €2. And that includes fries! And there’s more. You get a free coffee too! Ho ho ho, Santa has landed at McD this Xmas! When it comes to low-cost burger options, it seems that no one in Malta can beat those golden arched number crunchers at McD.

The first burger out of the box is the Big Mac, often considered as McD’s Golden burger. It’s been around for more than 50 years and was first created in February 1968 by Jimmy Delligatti, who ran a McD franchise in Pennsylvania. He wanted to call his burger “The Aristocrat” but the advertising people at McD stopcocked him and imposed the now popular name, Big Mac. This burger is mostly known for its sauce, which apparently took Delligetti two years to perfect. Years later, some started to claim that this secret sauce is based on the Thousand Island dressing. At the time, the burger sold for 49 cents! True McD fans know that today’s Big Mac is significantly smaller than it used to be. It shrunk from two 115gr patties to today’s version with two 45gr pieces of beef. It comes with a hefty 500 calories tag and packs 26gr of protein.

The burger has three pieces of sesame seed bread, a slice of cheese, together with pickles, lots and lots of shredded lettuce, diced onions, and the special sauce which is very generously spread. The sauce-to-bread ratio is pretty good. The excessive amount of unnecessary lettuce that looks like shredded office paper made us wonder if there’s more lettuce than meat.

McD say that they source all of their beef from European farms, mostly from Italy. The patties are made from beef with no preservatives or fillers, and only cuts of boneless muscle meat from the flank, forequarter and hindquarter are used. This does not explain how the beef was quite dry and mostly bland. The meat is grilled on a double-sided grill so it’s cooked from both sides simultaneously. McD are often criticised for their very thin patties, and although that’s the case here, we presume that is by design, to make it possible to grill dozens by the minute. Still, these are the flattest and thinnest patties we’ve seen this year. The taste and texture are exactly what you would expect from a Big Mac with all its pros & cons. With the meat alone, there’s very little to offer in terms of taste. The one item that added a sharp flavour were the pickles. The beef is nothing to write home about but the tasty sauce is the only saving factor. It’s what made it possible for us to eat the whole Big Mac! Without it, the Big Mac would be a Big Miss. No burger connoisseur in his right state of mind is going to spend his dough on a McD meal when you can get a gourmet burger for €10! But at this price point, there is currently nothing locally that beats the Big Mac!

The second burger out of the box is the McChicken. The patty is made from chicken breast and covered in a crispy coating. Just like the Big Mac, it’s overloaded with shredded lettuce and mayo sauce. The McChicken has been around since 1980 and over the years there have been many inaccurate stories about the use of pink slime and high pressure mechanically reclaimed chickens. McD say that they only use 100% chicken meat. The patty itself is all-white meat and has a stringy texture. It has no beef with other McD chicken burger options, that have a totally mashed and ground consistency. This is definitely NOT a big nugget. It also has a slight black pepper kick to it and very crispy and crunchy breading. Everything in this burger works well together. It also smells good, which helped with the overall sensory experience. Overall it counts 426 calories and packs a surprising 17gr of fat, most probably due to the amount of fattening mayo they use. On the other hand, this burger is very filling and satisfying as it’s one of the bigger McD offerings. At this price point, McD have a chicken winner here.

We’ve also got a regular portion of fries. In 2007 McD phased out the use of beef tallow fat from their fryers. Since then they switched to 100% vegetable oil with a vegetable-based flavour. The fries we got from Sliema were long, limpy and slightly on the raw side, most probably due to the frying temperature or duration to produce crispy fries. We easily fixed that, ran to McD B’Kara and were given fresh and crispy fries.

The standard price of a Big Mac is €4.05, a McChicken is €4.05 and fries are €1.35. So how come McD is giving you all this for just €2? According to insiders, the actual cost of a Big Mac is 77c, a McChicken is 36c and fries are less than 10c… You do the maths! One last thing, save the receipt, go back to the counter and get a coffee on the house! Ain’t McD Xmastastic?

For Round 1 of this crazy Burger Challenge, we were inspired by Valentina Rossi and her antics with €1 burgers! We ran off to McDonald’s with the aim of building a €2 Tower burger out of their EuroSaver Classic burger! It doesn’t get more basic than this.

This is the original McD burger that started it all in 1940 and spawned a whole express burger food industry. This Hamburger is a grilled patty seasoned with salt and pepper and sandwiched in a plain soft, toasted bun. There is ketchup, mustard, onion and 1 slice of pickle. Back in its day, it sold for the equivalent of 12 Euro CENTS! If we had a working time machine we would even dare to go back to 1940s California and be served by the Dick and Mac, the McDonald brothers themselves!

We don’t know what the “100% pure beef patty” is made of, as it’s a closely guarded “secret”, but our tower of 2 EuroSavers add up to a total of 508kcal and 26g of protein. It might not be much in size when compared to the other McD offerings of today, but our little creation is sweet in its simplicity. For many, one bite might bring back the memories of when McD opened its doors in Malta. The squishy softness of the bun, the sweet ketchup, and the little hamburger patty provide comfort food that thousands of Maltese people like.

Would we eat this, if we were stranded on a deserted island, and the only 2 options were this burger and a coconut?
We would opt for the coconut, but your mileage might vary.

The Lucky Lamb

The local gastronomy scene is in a ceaseless state of reinvention. It’s innovate or close shop. And burger land is no exception. The concept of a gastro bar, an eatery halfway between a bar and a restaurant, is gaining grounds. Originally, a gastro bar was based on the notion of serving innovative tapas at accessible prices. But gastro bars do not only serve tapas, instead they go far beyond that cuisine. One such place is the Lucky Goose, who opened its doors towards the end of April, in the Ta Xbiex seafront area. This gastro concept has risen onto the ashes of the renown Lucky Bar. Indeed, the first half of the name on the signage has been retained for nostalgic purposes. An unassuming bar on the outside, you’re immediately transported to a modern interior design and a foodish atmosphere that screams gastropub culture, once you step inside. Matthew, one of the two owners is a self-confessed foodie lover and concedes that he has handpicked the menu himself. This seems to have resonated immediately with patrons, as the place has been attracting crowds of all ages day in, day out.

Which brings us to the burger of the week. Just like last year, this summer we toured the whole island, searching for the lambiest burger in Malta. Why? Because this particular flavour of burger could be well seen as the Mediterranean version of the American all-time classic, the Beef burger. And our timely search landed us at Ta Xbiex.

The Lucky Lamb burger is made from 3 main components, the patty, the sauce and the bun. You can’t get more basic than that. The patty is made from 200gr of shoulder & rib cuts. That’s a whole lot of lean Irish meat. The shoulder provides grassiness and plenty of deep lamb flavour. The equivalent of the beef chuck, it’s the best single-cut piece for making patties out of lamb. The meat is worked out in the kitchen making up the thick patty, which is combined with mixed herbs, some onions and red peppers. And here comes one important factor that many lamb burgers fall victim to. They are so jam-packed with spices, aromatics and condiments that they end up tasting like lamb meatloaves! Luckily this is not the case with the Lucky Lamb. Gamey, minerally, sweet and dripping with juice, this lamb is flavorful enough on its own, that there’s no need to add a whole shebang of extras to create a meaty burger experience. The lamb is grilled to order and then oven-baked, resulting in a juicy patty that pleases on all counts. Even at a well-done temperature, it retained the right amount of juice. In terms of texture, the patty is well packed with a charred crust that is very present.

The sauce is mostly yoghurt & dill. This is a classic culinary pair as it goes particularly well with grilled meats, and it’s abundantly spread over the patty. All these combined flavours have been used wisely and craftily, as they build up to an evidently Mediterranean burger. The patty and sauce are held together by a special kind of butter-based bun. Many buns are overly airy and cannot stand up to a hefty sauced-up patty. They break down in the middle of biting actions, and we don’t like that. A butter-based bun is used here, and we must admit that this was a very compelling choice. It has a rich and soft centre, with a hard browned crust. It matches the burger, and the butter adds a brioche-like richness, which contributes to the success of the overall flavour. Baby spinach leaves, onions and tomatoes make up the vegetarian elements of the burger if you ever needed any.

The burger comes with a choice of traditional fries or potato wedges. A very generous portion is an understatement here, but Matthew likes to feed his patrons well. The wedges have a crunchy outer skin which envelopes a soft-cooked potato making them our prefered choice of the day.

Birds of a feather, flock together and we couldn’t ignore the Tapas and pasta on the menu. The Halloumi salad is a tasty option for vegetarians and non because it also works wonders with lamb. It’s made from 3 chunks of grilled halloumi and a considerable salad of cherry and salty sundried tomatoes, lettuce, beetroot and a mix of green leaves. Halloumi is a fresh, semi-firm cheese, traditionally prepared from sheep’s milk in Cyprus. It’s safe for vegetarians who do not consume rennet. Once grilled, the saltiness fades into a robust, savoury bite with a creamy texture that’s a bit akin to a marshmallow! This cheese is crispy and savoury on the outside, and sinfully melted on the inside! It won’t melt totally but develops a crispy crust because the protein bonds are broken before forming into curds.

We also spot lamb rolls in the Tapas section of the menu. These are spiced lamb wrapped in puff pastry with a fig sauce on top. The tender chunks of lamb are spicier than the lamb burger patty in a good way and are covered with a delicately candied sauce that makes the whole roll sweetly biteful. Our verdict? Give us more! The pasta selections lead us to a dish of Tortellacci filled with mushrooms. Tortellacci are a labour of love, customarily formed by hand by grandmothers all over Italy. These stuffed noodles are indulgently filled nutty and earthy porcini with a meatiness in flavour and texture. Indeed, they are small culinary wonders full of gusto. The dish also abounds with a thyme butter sauce and Grana Padano cheese, which infuse the Tortellacci with even more intensely sweet flavour and a tantalizing aroma.

The Lucky Goose has hit a fortuitous start as they have managed to combine quality ingredients to build a new classic standard when it comes to local Lamb burgers. Their lamb offering is a definite crowd-pleasing piece of grilled lamb with no frills and ostentatious condiments. All the thrill is in the meat itself. One final question remains to be answered: Is the Lucky Lamb Burger, the tastiest lamb burger this summer? MALTAburgers say Yes. What about you?

Surfin n Turfin in Gzira

Summer just wouldn’t be summer without big, juicy burgers. Our next summer tour pit-stop lands us in the Gzira neighbourhood, where our burger radar picked up one creation loaded with both beef and sea flavour. The Crew is a family-run eatery that opened its doors last May in the heart of Gzira, just opposite Manoel Island. Stefania Scerri is the manager supreme and plans to run the establishment like a tight ship, with a crew of family members on the assist. Now we have a good hint where the name on the sign comes from. But why the nautical theme? The building has been a family heirloom for generations. Indeed, it was one of the oldest in all Gzira. In the 1940s, it was a popular bar with sailors. It was known as The Great War until grandma turned it into a grocer in the 1960s. Stefania’s father took over the grocer in the 1980s and kept it running until he recently retired. He also dabbled as a fisherman, and that further explains the whole marine motif of the eatery. As the decal on the wall says, welcome aboard!

With a cushy downstairs area decorated with original photos from a bygone time, an open kitchen that oozes the sweetest aromas and an appeasing terrace overlooking the Marina, this looks like the quintessential place to consume a surf and turf summer burger. Chef Georgia Dickens, who hails from Northampton, UK promises a burger that blends together land and sea through a combination of a 150gr beef patty and two prawns. The whole burger is dripped in their own version of a spicy mayo sauce that bolsters the overall richness.

The patty is made from a mix of beef with a good percentage of knuckle and chopped onions. The actual recipe was buried deep underground in a pirate’s chest by some sailor pictured on the wall. No one is to tell! Knuckle beef is flavourful and very lean and including it in the patty mix imparts an overall good beef texture. The patty is quite packed and leans towards a finer grind. It’s brushed with butter, grilled and finished in the oven. When cooking over a hot grill, fat helps prevents the beef from drying out, and the resulting char taste of this grill is very balanced, slightly smoky and totally delightful. There is no scientific analysis of what makes the best burger patty, so stop asking us when you see us around! It could be a specific percentage of fat content, a unique coarse texture or a distinct blend of beef cuts. Presumably, it’s a combination of all three. This buttery patty here is delicious with an abundance of texture. It has a rich, full, meaty sensation in your mouth and on the back of your tongue. It’s also seasoned flawlessly and cooked exceptionally well to the requested temperature. The beef is just juicy from start to finish. It’s a pretty thick patty with a hefty bite to it and fits the diameter of the bun like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a proper burger patty done right in every conceivable way.

The surf part of the burger comes in the form of two prawns, with the shell left on. Steak and lobster is the name of the game for surf and turf, but as much as we like to eat lobster every day, you need to change it up once in a while. Prawns come in a variety of sizes and textures. These are chunky and fabulously succulent crustaceans, unleashing the turbocharged flavour of the ocean. All this goodness is sandwiched in a brioche bun that is spread with butter and lightly toasted. The tender bun is covered with a creamy sauce, made in-house, and then layered with lettuce. What’s a burger without sauce? This element has not been neglected here as there’s a generous amount of very spicy sriracha and lime mayo spread on both halves of the bun. This sauce is tangy and zesty and covers all the goodness of the land and sea. It deserves its place in this beef and prawn combination, and gives the whole burger just enough creaminess, to turn it into a marriage made in heaven! Yes, there will be an amount of creamy and dreamy sauce dripping down the side of your burger but if you are going to go surf and turf, let’s not cut corners! You don’t need a bib to eat this burger, but you might get your fingertips slightly saucy.

The construction and plating of this burger look as good as it tastes. This is one of those unassuming burgers full of superlative flavours because it’s done from the heart. Each bite mixes softness and tenderness with plenty of marine juice, alternating with crispy, crunchy bits for contrast. No burger is complete without the compulsory sister side dish, the fries. The skin-on potato chips are crispy, light and flavourful. Two bites in and we were hooked. However, The Crew also offer the option of hand-cut chunky chips for an extra charge. These are identical to the chips that come standard with their fish & chips cod dish. They are boiled, baked, fried and sprinkled with garlic. The triple cooking method and the actual size of the chips themselves are unequalled locally and deserve the full attention of any chips lover! Those thin potato sticks on Big7 have nothing on these chips! Our Top 5 Fries charts are trembling big time!

The menu is chockful of sea delicacies and the Fritto Misto catches our attention. This is a whole fish tank of sorts on a platter, and it looks ravishing. The calamari fritti are a golden pile of tangled tentacles, crisp and tender in all the right places and served with an in-house tartar sauce infused with parsley and olive oil. The prawns are plentiful and have a white compact pulp and rich creamy flavour, guaranteeing a mouthwatering result. An L2 sized king prawn is also present. It had that moist, firm flesh and a medium sweet flavour that we love so much. Every bite proved to be a lifting point and an immaculate outset for the beer-battered fried cod. Here, the flavour comes from the seasoning and the beer and is the same variety of cod as found in the Fish & Chips dish on the same menu. Take our word, the cornerstone of British culture is the best order on the menu. The fresh and flaky cod had a flavourful batter with a thick crust and was crisped to perfection. We washed down all the sea goodness with some Luscombe organic drinks. These are made in the UK and are crafted from classic English soft drinks and sparkling fruit juice. Every drink is entirely free from concentrates, additives, preservatives or artificial flavourings. The Lime crush was our favourite as it’s made from Sri Lankan limes and Sicilian lemons.

The Crew have taken the beef burger and shot it up the next level by adding the surf factor, hence created a star of a burger that is a tremendous surf and turf experience. This burger is one of those agreeable friends, a sort of reliable buddy whose purpose is to make you happy and make you feel full. It’s so good that it will make you want to learn to surf! August is the perfect time to get things crossed off that summer burger list, and if you’re like us and you’ve been eating beef burgers all winter long, a burger like this is the perfect summer treat. More burger joints should aim higher and stand up to the challenge of offering more seasonal burgers. As far as Gzira burger eateries go, The Crew are sailing triumphantly towards the finish line, and it seems that for the time being there’s very little in the way. Too much of a good thing is never enough, but don’t take our word for it. Just hop over to Gzira, as this is one summertime burger you must experience for yourself.

The Nutty Stack

With summertime at its peak, we recently came at a crossroad: do a meaty bbq feast or go vegan for a whole day? Our team voted, and our meat lovers were outnumbered by those veggie-conscious ones! But we wanted to go a step further. If we’re going vegan, we might as well go gluten-free too! Finding gluten-free or vegan burgers can represent somewhat of a challenge. The surge in popularity of both diets has led to a smattering of food options on the market. But not burgers. Finding a combination of both was proving to be an impossibility. So we started to scratch our heads, and think of names. We wanted the top of the veggie game. That’s when we called onto our friends at Balance Bowl. Their squashed tahini burger proved to be an instant hit when we featured it last December, so we had great faith in them. And indeed they managed to deliver and create a vegan burger that’s extremely cheesy and also gluten-free! And it’s triumphantly called The Nutty Stack.

As the name dictates, the patty itself is made from walnuts, mushrooms and brown lentils, all seasoned with tamari sauce. Linseeds and flour powder are added and everything is blended into a patty, which is then baked. Frying is not an option here! This patty is suspiciously meaty without the need of plant-based meats. Lentils, mushrooms and walnuts provide a dense texture whilst the tamari, made from fermented soybeans, packs a flavourful punch. Tamari, which many know as a wheat-free soy sauce, is a byproduct of miso paste and has a richer flavour than standard soy sauce. It also tastes more balanced and less salty, so it does not kill the umami-ness of the mushrooms. Wise move! The walnuts are a great nut choice as they do not only provide a good crunch but a complex taste that’s earthy, fruity and even tarty.

The burger is flooded with vegan cheese made from carrots, potatoes, unsweetened soy milk, garlic powder, lemon juice and some other secret ingredients that truly make it unique. Vegan cheese is usually made with nuts, but not here. This one is akin spicy nacho cheddar but made out of vegetables. The look, creaminess and consistency are very similar. There are even two whole layers of cheese for good measure, and we love this cheeseburger likeness of the nutty stack. The burger is also sauced with satay which has a distinct peanut taste and packs some heat.

The standard nutty stack comes in a wholemeal bun, but we ordered a gluten-free one instead. This is filled with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and pickles to create one stack of a vegan burger like no other. All this vegetable goodness sums up to a burger that has the right balance between bold flavours and lightness. We love it when burger-makers take the time to make artisan burgers by hand and not succumb to beyond burgers or what have you. After eating it, we felt no calorie remorse, but all that comfort of biting into a chunky, flavorful, ultimately satisfying cheesy burger. This one has boosted us into the stratosphere of vegan enlightenment and awesomification in one go!

But that’s only half the story. We wanted a full immersive gluten-free meal experience, and we were going to get one hell of a one, by any ways and means! Being the only 100% vegan restaurant in Malta, Balance Bowl have a big responsibility on their shoulders. And it doesn’t come without hard work and much sweat. Founded by three passionate foodies that met in London, these Charlie’s Angels of the vegan world visited Malta regularly before deciding to give a new spin to their livelihood and set up shop here. Apart from burgers, the rest of the menu is filled with healthy vegetable options based on seasonally available fresh produce sourced from local farmers. Their unlimited nutrition bar is one such option that needs further exploration. Healthy food doesn’t have to be boring and indeed this buffet bar is filled with red lentils, peppers, beetroot, butter squash, cucumbers, apples, olives, radishes, rice, potatoes and a dozen other veggie bowls. All this veggie goodness in one place is a sight to behold, and it could seriously change your nutritional life and make you consider coming here for daily lunch! We wish we had a delicious buffet like this handy in every town. Whilst we were at it, we washed it all down with a super smoothie made from coconut cream, pineapple, banana and plant milk. If you’re more of a chocoholic try the protein punch with avocado, banana, peanuts, plant milk, and dark hot chocolate. This was the creamiest, dreamiest chocolate shake we tried out this year… and it just happens to be vegan! That’s some fruity overdose to our usual burger regime!

One last thing: We can’t leave the premises without dessert, can we? Choosing from what looks like unlimited options is a dangerous game. Every dessert looks a tad more enticing and taste-buds-provocative than the one next to it. We close our eyes and just point at random to the raw lemon cheesecake from Jo’s Delights and a Brownie from Theobroma. Is there anything better than cheesecake? That answer is yes, a mango cheesecake! This one has the flavours of lemon zest, ginger and mango and is also full of buckwheat, coconut flour, dates, cashews and vanilla extract. The mango brings all the freshness of the fruit, and is highlighted by the zing of the ginger and the tartness of the lemon… this is all the sweetness you need in one place. The brownie is made from gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, vanilla and is full of dark chocolate chips. It has that perfectly crisp crust that we truly love and a rich, indulgent chocolatey centre.

We have to thoroughly agree with Balance Bowl that vegan and healthy food doesn’t have to be boring and The Nutty Stack burger is the living proof of that. We have to acknowledge the purpose, labour, patience and love that has been put into making this burger a vegan winner like no other in Malta. As we love to say, if you’re only planning one burger meal this week, make it vegan and make sure that The Nutty Stack is it!

Egging the Taco

The revival of Naxxar as a foodie hub is a story of both anguish and delight. As a nascent burger scene, we’ve seen it all: Becky’s greasy offerings, the disappointing Brass & Knuckle, Caeser’s XL cube roll-loaded burger and the bigger-is-better double stacker at The Mill. It’s been a hit and miss journey so far, but one The Daily Grub plans on changing the game. And it’s going to happen with an egg-loaded burger!

It all started last April when two cousins teamed up on a new venture. Situated right next to Naxxar’s Parish church, The Daily Grub looks sleek and modern and designed to grab the attention of those looking for scrumptious lunch grub. The menu abounds with burger options and we even notice a couple of them loaded with fried eggs. Hence our presence is commanded.

But let’s jump back in time and delve into a quick history of the teaming up of eggs with burgers: In 1891 Otto Kuase created a beef patty cooked in butter and topped with a fried egg, most probably inspired by the steak tartare. For the next 50 years, this particular burger configuration proliferated until 1940, when McDonald’s made away with the egg element. At least in most countries. In Malaysia, the McDonald’s menu still includes the option of having eggs in burgers. Meanwhile, the omission of the fried egg started to spread across Europe, and for years the egg part of the burger formula was lost in time. But that’s not today’s burger! Chef Sandy, who hails from India and has been working in the local burger scene for some 6 years is no new name to us. We featured his crunchy veggie burger in 2017, which eventually made it to the Top 5 veggie burgers hit list of that same year. The bar has been set, so we’re expecting nothing but a staggering egg burger, which is here aptly named as the Beef Taco Burger. Taco? We all know the taco as a traditional Mexican corn tortilla rolled around a filling of protein with vegetables, cheese and sauces of sorts. It’s comfort street food that allows great versatility and variety. Last summer we even had a beef patty stuffed between crispy tortillas, made specifically for us. But today’s burger has a more traditional bun format.

The main hero is a 200gr beef patty made from Irish black Angus chuck. This one is on the large side, with a luxurious and thick form that has a pleasing texture. It’s juicy and buttery, with a soft and airy consistency. It has that palatable and robust flavour and an impeccable amount of juice and moisture which we love and seek. This patty claims an aura of bold, beefy presence that only great burgers can claim. It’s also seasoned nicely, making it even more flavorful and appetizing. The patty is covered in shredded cheddar cheese. This cheese is mellow in character, yet rich with a tendency to melt in the mouth and has a full and fine flavour with a slightly nutty aftertaste. Chef Sandy played safe and did not go wild with the choice of cheese here. However, it’s effectively melted and worthy of sitting atop the patty.

The fried egg goes on top, sunny side up, and shines forth in all of its summer glory. It’s been cooked to textbook perfection with no runny white but no hard or rubbery areas. That’s the blessing of having a chef cook a burger, rather than a random patty flipper. Press down on the bun to satisfyingly puncture the yolk and watch it ooze, lewdly spilling over the sides of the burger. The yellow against the char of the patty makes for an appealing visual contrast, as the yolk shellacks the sides of the burger with maximum creaminess. As if the beef patty didn’t already provide enough juices, the added fattiness of the egg enhances the indulgence effect. If you’re not a Millenial who loves messy burgers, let the egg rest for a couple of minutes and the yolk starts to solidify lightly, avoiding any finger mess.

The egg is heavily blessed with taco seasoning, made with sweet paprika, cumin, garlic and onion. There is no one universal recipe for such seasoning, so the flavour profile varies a lot based on the maker’s preference. Chef Sandy’s version has the earthy and herbal notes of cumin at the forefront whilst the sweetness of paprika forms the background notes. The 5-inch brioche bun hugs the condiments in between perfectly. It is laden with lettuce, tomatoes and onions, and spread with sour cream sauce and Mexican salsa. Chef Sandy makes all the sauces himself, which is something very commendable and unfortunately seldomly seen in the local burger scene.

Every flavour associated with this burger is loud and clear, maybe also because of the many sauces used. All the condiments display a whole palette of vibrant colours. This melding of the iconic American burger with faithful Mexican flavours, creates an arsenal of texture, zing and spiciness in one burger package. This is also one of the sauciest burgers we’ve laid hands on this year! Tacos are generally eaten without utensils and you should tackle this burger in the same fashion! Despite its XL look, we managed to eat it all with no regrets! The Daily Grub have come up with a memorable burger that is ahead of the curve, with well-rounded condiments that will be enjoyed by any burger adventurer or beef seeker. If you’re in the Naxxar area, this is the first burger you should aim to try out.

Extra Time: Mexican Chicken Burrito

We wanted to check out if the menu had any offerings that can challenge the grand Taco burger! We tried the burrito which is a flour tortilla wrap filled with chicken, salami, fried egg, red Leicester cheese, and a whole slew of vegetables (mixed salad, tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet corn, kidney beans, sauteed onions), drenched in Mexican salsa, garlic, coriander, cayenne pepper and oregano. This is one wrap that packs a punch or two! Go for it if you’re famished, or share it with your best friend if you’re just feeling peckish. Get it for lunchtime, then go back in the evening for the burger!