In the past year or two, we received regular requests to cover big-eater burgers. We’ve searched all over the rock, even in nooks and corners and mostly found standard burgers, that have been multi-pattied into lengthy towers of meat, with little to no burger-design purpose, other than that of quenching never-ending appetites.
So we decided to do it the #MALTAbugers way, and create our own! We aimed to create an irresistible and scrumptiously monstrous burger, that no burger lover would shy from! If you love to play with your burger-meat and tag along with your friends for a fun night out, read on because this is something you will want to experience and re-create first-hand.
So beware, get ready to surrender your diet plans, as there’s a new breed of culinary-enhanced burgers on the rise… Welcome to “Off The Menu”
Our plan was totally flawless: We would hit an established restaurant that offered hefty burgers and had a 5-star food selection to top-off the burger and create a new Behemoth Burger, by combining the burger with other food elements. And there was only one place in town where we could do that… Henry J. Beans at the Corinthia Hotel in St. George’s Bay. Hank’s has been operating in Malta since 1995, so they know more than a thing or two when it comes to burger building. Their burgers are nicknamed as Legendary, so we expect nothing less than the name implies. Hank’s have been honing all kind of comfort food for more than 22 years. They are backed up by a 5-star hotel infrastructure, which pushes the expectations towards the cutting edge of food-o-rama. And that’s another reason why we’re starting our Behemoth Burger journey here, and not elsewhere. If an establishment should have a great burger, this should be it.
Meet the first, in a series of Behemoth Burgers: A Full Throttle bacon burger, stuffed with a dose of smoking BBQ Ribs! Can we manage to eat it all?
The Full Throttle is a flagship burger at Hank’s. It’s made from two minced beef patties. Each patty is 230gr and made from back ramp meat, which is just lightly seasoned with no additional knick-knacks. A good cut of meat should provide all the necessary flavour and the guys at Hank’s have just put that in perfect practice. Upon the first bite, the juice starts flowing like a rumbling volcano, with each bite yielding a full beef aroma. This patty boasts lavish and earthy tones that create that urging craveability from the first bite until the last. The juices stay mostly within the patty from start to finish, maintaining a respectable texture. Seasoning is on point, and the char is not only a visual consideration but a palatable bonus too. And best of all, you get two beef patties, conceiving the illusion of a never-ending munching pleasure! The Full Throttle has so far passed the meat test with flying colours.
Sauteed mushrooms and grilled back bacon go on top of the patty. We are talking hunger-quenching portions here. Chef Eric has skillfully accomplished a good crisp on the bacon, and he better do, as we’re no fans of limp, unloved, and quickly-done bacon. The mushroom and bacon hill is kept together with a thickness of Emmental cheese, that is as seductive as melted cheese could ever be on a burger. This Swiss cheese has a buttery, mildly sharp and slightly nutty taste, and is a right pair with the rest of the ingredients.
The burger comes in two halves because Hank says that due to its jumbo size, it could prove challenging to bite it off! Each portion is served on the half side of a sesame bun, that despite its looks, is able to withstand all the weight of the content without a glitch and without breaking up after 10 seconds. This is because the seed-studded bun has a good density. It’s also spread with a mustard mayonnaise.
A generous amount of salad leaves, tomatoes, yellow peppers, lettuce and carrot sticks join the party on the plate. If vegetation is your thing, then you will love these crispy and crunchilicious greens. You also get dabs of Hank’s house dressing to tang the palate up. We know that many meat-lovers tend to remove vegetables from their burgers, and this has put into motion a new trend of vegetable-less meat burgers. We won’t do that here and will put in as many vegetables as possible in our Behemoth.
There’s more on the plate. This wouldn’t be a Full Throttle without a portion of beer battered onion rings. The onion rings are thick, meaty, crunchy, and golden crisped. They hold their shape and have the proper look and feel of full-onion flavour. We will use them to crown our creation. The plate is also packed with steakhouse fries and coleslaw.
That’s the Full Throttle burger for you. But to us, this is only a starting point. Once we’ve assembled both halves of the Full Throttle, with a good amount of vegetables in the middle, and onions rings steak-knifed on the very top, we’re moving into a piquant territory and putting in a whole half portion of bbq ribs. These ribs have been smoked Chicago-style, and are smothered in Hank’s own BBQ sauce recipe. They are slow cooked for long hours in the Smokehouse, where they come out beautifully glazed and ready to be racked! They are fall-off-the-bone delicious and are covered with some of the most fully-flavoured BBQ sauce we’ve tasted on ribs. The sauce should compliment the meat, not make the meat, and that’s exactly what happens here. They are meltingly tender, and it takes no time to knife off the meat, and splice it into the burger! These ribs definitely add an element of primal experience to the Behemoth Burger.
And this is the end of our burger story… that is, we ate it all to the incredulous stares of the Chef. Whilst many burgers with ribs have come and gone, most only piqued in either the beef patty or the short rib. This one hits the jackpot from every conceivable corner and fulfills that furtive need to gormandize on heaps of quality meat at once. We’ve hit our daily consumption of protein, so Mission accomplished!
