Just Burger have been dominating the Sliema burger scene for like forever. They have been coming out with different monthly and weekly speciality burgers, which always end up being best sellers. There is no doubt that they are the new king of the local express burger scene. To continue their winning streak, they have now come up with a raviolo burger! We truly didn’t see that one coming!
This burger creation starts off with a base made from Maltese pork sausage stew with onions, garlic and sundried tomatoes, reduced in jam form. This mix results in a perfect counterpart for the creaminess of the raviolo. The jam is both sweet and savoury and a great substitute for the standard slice of tomato we usually get in burgers. There’s also a good amount of Maltese sausage present, bringing in that salty and spicy tinge every Maltese loves.
At the epicentre, there is the renown Just Burger patty made from 140gr of Angus Beef. Just Burger get their own fresh cuts of Angus beef and mince and create the patty in their own kitchen. It’s also a fairly lean blend of beef, and even though it has a low-fat content it’s tasty and juicy and does not feel dry, even when it’s cooked at higher temperatures. The patty is very present in this burger and is never overshadowed by the surrounding condiments. It brings an instant hit of beef that screams of quality as it has that intense and stomach-pleasing flavour. Every burger joint is claiming 100% beef these days, but this one tastes 1001 times better than most of the other offerings in the same price range. And with a beef concoction like that, you have a winning formula for every burger you do.
The differential factor that makes this burger unique is the goat cheese raviolo at the top. It’s fried rather than water boiled, the traditional way. This produces a rather crunchy and crispy raviolo, filled with a tarty goat cheese, full of earthy flavour. These ravioli are handmade locally by a food artisan, using seasonal ingredients. The ravioli are a food staple in Italian traditional cuisine, but also in the Maltese one, and are very present in many gourmet menus. Making ravioli requires a particular skill set and it’s always a pleasure to taste a good one! We’ve never seen ravioli used in burgers, so most probably we have a World first here!
The burger is finished off with a sauce made from peppered goat cheese. This very Gozitan-belonging sauce has a sharper & spicier flavour than the goat cheese filling of the raviolo, most probably because of the peppered cresting. We have to say that this was a much better option than mayo.
Even though the combination of raw ingredients might sound a little bit bizarre on paper, this burger works in a great way. Every ingredient is layered beautifully on top of each other, and even though that does not affect the taste itself, it creates a very appealing visual synergy that sets you off to a stately start. All the goat cheese might make this burger look somewhat delicate but it explodes in your mouth like a grenade of burger tastiness, the moment you take the first few bites! Even if you are not Italian or Maltese, and don’t go wild for sausage or ravioli, all the flavours work so well together that it’s one of those very rare burger moments when you can simply close your eyes and nibble on your burger until it’s totally consumed! Every element can be tasted individually, and for some, it might also be one of the first times you enjoy goat cheese. If you’ve been living underground your whole life and only feeding on Big Macs, you ought it to yourself to try this burger!
