Hope Valley Chicken Bar

Name: Hope Valley Chicken Bar

Address: 1220 Grand Junction Rd. Hope Valley

Burger: "Burger with the lot"

Price: $n/a


I have to start this post by apologising for the lack of images. I lost them unfortunately, but will endeavour to get more (meaning I'll have to get another burger!). The Hope Valley Chicken Bar is your typical neighbourhood chicken joint. They sell chickens, fries (chips), hot dogs, burgers, chicken rolls, salads, seafood and a lot more. The food here, while not exactly healthy, seems to always be fresh, and very tasty. Their chicken rolls are amazing. But this isn't a chicken roll blog!

I've had quite a few of their burgers. They are very good. I order them with the lot. From the best of my recollection, the burgers come with: Beef pattie, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, egg (beetroot sometimes), bacon and a BBQ type sauce. They are huge, tasty and very satisfying!

Beef:
The meat is great. Good thickness, juicy and tasty. Not too many additions, allowing you to taste beefiness. Just the right amount for a burger this size.

Cheese:
The cheese is generally a simple cheddar, and is usually melted to a satisfactory point. Sometimes it's not quite melted enough. It has a good flavour though, and isn't too salty. The burger could do with another slice of cheese, but this is just my opinion - I love cheese. Perhaps a little too much.

Bun:
The bun is a standard sesame seed burger bun. It's sliced in half as usual, then toasted on the same cooking surface as the rest of the ingredients. This gives the bun extra flavour, and makes sure that none of the tasty grease goes to waste. The bun itself isn't brilliant, but the toasting gives it some extra points.

Extras: 
Where do I start? There is a good mixture of extras in this burger. This is the first burger reviewed which contains egg. The egg is fried, and placed towards the top of the burger. They're always well cooked, and add a little extra flavour to the burger. A good addition, but eggs don't go well with all burgers. The lettuce, tomato and onion are always very fresh, and add a good crunch to the burger. Beetroot is ok sometimes, but can be a bit too much. It's generally fresh, and not too strong though. The bacon is cooked well, and a generous amount is included (generally covering the entire pattie). Not the best bacon I've had, but it goes well with this burger.

Fries:
As this burger is from a chicken bar, it does not automatically come with fries. I get fries anyway. The Hope Valley Chicken Bar make great chips. I'm aware they come in frozen, in huge bags, but they are always cooked well. They are NOT cooked in the same oil as the fish - a VERY important point. I hate seafood, and cannot eat fries which have a fishy taste. The staff are happy to cook your fries to order (extra crispy, soggy etc.). I generally just opt for the standard cooking time, as they are usually a bit soggy, with a few smaller, crunchy fries in the mix. Great tasting fries, if not a bit oily.

Meat 

 

Cheese

Bun    

Extras

Fries

This burger is great. There are a lot of similar places around Adelaide, but I've not visited them all (yet). This burger gets a very high rating, due to a great balance of fresh ingredients, and its traditional, simple construction, taking it to the top of the rankings. The only thing bad about getting a burger from here - choosing between it, and amazing chicken roll they make! Go pick a burger up, they are located at: 1220 Grand Junction Rd. Hope Valley (shopping center).     

Total:

3.7

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Lindy's (I think!), New York City

I'm not too sure how we ended up here, but I think it was after walking down from the American Natural History Museum (which was awesome by the way!). I wasn't too hungry, but obviously can never refuse a burger. Unfortunately, there is no menu available online, but the image is fairly clear. The burger was served open. I like this, it allows you to easily configure the burger the way you want. I opted for bacon (I usually do), and this was placed on the melted, yellow American cheese, which was on top of the pattie and one half of the bun. On the other half of the bun was fresh lettuce, average tomato, and white onion. There was also a pickle spear separate, but I ate that first. I can't remember what the sauce was, but I remember it being decent.

Although I can't recall the exact price, I do remember that it wasn't cheap ($18-20US). We were in Times Square though, so one can't complain too much.

Burger full of bacony goodness at Lindy's NYC

Meat:

The meat had a really good outer layer, crisp but not too burnt. It was a little over-done and dry for my liking inside, but still tasted fairly good. It was a little too lean also, but I'm guessing they cooked it on the same griddle/surface as the bacon etc., giving it a good flavour. Good, not great. 

Score: 3/5

Cheese:

The cheese was very yellow, and melty. I love this. The flavour was somewhat dull however - disappointing. It was still ok though. The bacon on top caused it to melt more once it arrived at the table. Good, but I'd prefer more of a cheesey experience.

Score: 3/5

Bun:

The bun was ok. It was rather soft, and tasted good. Soft buns allow the grease to soak into it, but if they are too soft, this causes them to fall apart. I got most of the way through the burger before this started to be an issue. As usual, the bun did it's job, but was nothing spectacular. 

Score: 3/5

Extras:

The extras (lettuce, tomato, white onion) were fairly fresh. The tomato was almost perfect, but slightly soft for me. The lettuce was nice and crisp (adding crunch to the burger) and the onion was not overwhelming. There was too much for me however. The extras were the standard burger fair, but done well.

Score: 3.5/5

Fries:

The fries were cooked for too long. They were too greasy also (yes, there is such a thing!). They did taste good though, but were over-salted. The decent flavour helped to redeem the otherwise average fries. Still, they were nothing brilliant.

Score: 3/5

Considering the dining options available in Times Square, I probably wouldn't rush back here (if I could find it). It was a solid burger, but didn't had that "wow" factor. It's not terrible though, so it's worth checking out!

Total score: 14.5/25

(Decent, worth a shot.)

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Fatburger - Vancouver, Canada

I had heard about Fatburger a while back, and read that they were similar to In n' Out burger. I found one in downtown Vancouver, and had to eat there.

I ordered the King XXL with bacon and cheese. The burger contained 2 meat patties, 3 pieces of american cheese (melty!), applewood smoked bacon, tomato, lettuce and "special sauce".

King XXL with bacon and cheese

The burger was amazing - one of the best I've had. The beef was cooked medium, the cheese melted perfectly, and the lettuce/tomato were fresh. The bun was great also.

Meat:
The patties were perfectly cooked - still pink on the inside. They were moist and tasted great. There was very little added to the patties, most likely just salt and pepper.

Score: 4.5/5


Cheese:
Cheese is an optional extra on burgers at Fatburger. A burger isn't a burger without cheese though! I had 3 slices of yellow, salty, melty American cheese. The closest I've found here in Australia is processed cheese (ie: Kraft Singles), but it's not quite the same. The cheese melted perfectly, and had a mild but great taste.

Score: 4/5


Bun:
The bun was soft (fresh) and a good size. It wasn't too big that you couldn't taste anything else, and also wasn't so small that after a few bites, your hands are covered in meat and cheese grease. There's not much that can usually be said about a bun - but this one was pretty good.

Score: 4.5/5


Extras:
As mentioned at the start of this post, the burger came with tomato and lettuce, and I added smoked bacon. The bacon was perfectly cooked, and was very crispy. The smoked flavour wasn't over-powering, it was great. The tomato and lettuce were surprisingly fresh (I hate soft, mealy tomato), and added a good crunch to the burger.

Score: 4/5

Chili Cheese Fries

Fries: 
I decided to try something a little different at Fatburger. Throughout North America, chili cheese fries are common. They generally consist of fries, american cheese, and chili (minced meat, tomato, chili, beans, spices). I had tried chili cheese fries before, part of the reason I decided to have some more! The fries here were great. Cooked well, and tasty. The chili and cheese went perfectly with the fries. All it really needed was bacon! Really can't fault these, a nice change from the standard fries.

Score: 5/5




There is no question that I would go to Fatburger again. The prices are very reasonable (especially compared to burgers in Australia), however the cost of the airfare changes that. It's hard to say how the burgers here compare to In n' Out burger. Regardless, they are fantastic.

Total score: 22/25

(Brilliant, go now!)

ABB.

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