Upon request from a number of readers, today we are off to check out HANGOUT. This is a pretty new place in the University area (Msida). Indeed it opened its doors a few months back, in late 2016.
The place is modern and stylish and offers an excellent selection of burgers with a twist. One can select his favorite bread from 8 different varieties, choose a patty & fill from a long list, and add a preferred sauce. The possibilities are practically endless, which makes our visit even more exciting.
We are greeted by Jeff, a young & very enthusiastic man, who is one of the owners. Jeff is a very hands-on person, and he’s always around checking that everything is running smoothly and efficiently and that the customers are having the best experience possible. As a youth, Jeff had a lucrative business that had nothing to do with catering. He left that behind for his growing love for food. Jeff wanted to do things the right way up, so he found the best chefs on the island and started to train with them. Slicing onions and potatoes by day, and researching new recipes by night, Jeff began to lay out his biggest master plan to date. Fast forward a few years, and we now find him opening the doors of HANGOUT.
Apart from the customized burgers, HANGOUT has a few house specialties. We opted for the Pulled Pork burger. The patty is made from 170g of beef. The meat is sourced locally on a daily basis, so it’s fresh as it can be. It’s an 80/20 mix of protein/fat, which yields delicious results. Cheese and a substantial portion of pulled pork (also roasted in-house) go on top, with a dollop of BBQ sauce. If you like your burger well-sauced, you’re in for a real treat here! The burger is finalized with crispy onions, tomatoes, and lettuce. Everything goes into an olive-spiced Ciabatta (our choice of bread), which we get to know is specially made for HANGOUT by a local bakery.
It shows that the beef is daily fresh, as it’s very juicy and succulent. The overall BBQ flavor is to die for. As the burger is devoured, we move onto the fries. We have an excellent selection that ranges from sweet potatoes to fries with cheese, flavors, and spices. The fries are crispy and tasty as they can be. Perfect!
We asked Jeff how he’s managing the daily fresh part of the business because we know that it has its challenges. Indeed, it’s expected that the kitchen will run out of prime materials if a big group of customers suddenly turns up altogether… here we see Jeff run off to his suppliers and come back in record time, with bags full of meat and bread!
We bid farewell to HANGOUT… but not for long. Whenever #MALTAburgers smells good food, be sure that we will be back soon!
