New Menu from The Burger Joint

Last week Rich and I were invited to the launch of the new Burger Joint menu. The Burger Joint is a bit of a Bristol institution.  Born in 2009 on Cotham Hill in a tiny restaurant with about 20 covers, owner Dan Bekhradnia and his team serve up create your own burgers with a choice of about 30 toppings. This proved hugely popular and soon Dan was looking for a larger venue, so when Planet Pizza vacated their Whiteladies premises it proved to be kismet. Fast forward  to 2017 and you can find branches in Bedminster and Fishponds. 

To keep up with the increasing trend of people moving over to vegetarian and vegan diets and choices the Burger Joint has refreshed their menu with some new vegetarian and vegan picks. You can also find some new hardshakes, alcoholic milkshakes, I first came across these at The Diner in London several years ago. There are some suggested combinations, but Dan encourages people to make up their own from their selection of ice cream and spirits. I chose vanilla, salted caramel and dark rum and very tasty it was too, not too thick so it doesn’t fill you up too much before your burger.

As well as the pre-existing veggie joint and the, much celebrated, mushroom with garlic and herb burgers, veggies and vegans can now order the vegan joint or the gluten free beetroot and feta burger. There is also the addition of vegan cheese to top your burgers with as well as over 10 meat free toppings. We got to sample the new beetroot and feta burger patties and I have to say they were excellent. Full of flavour the chopped basil really added something special. I think it would surprise meat eaters everywhere. I think adding these as a falafel optional side dish would be a winner because having to choose between the patty options is just too difficult.

beetroot and feta burgers

Another key item added to the menu is the truffle and Parmesan fries. I had my eyes on these from the off and Dan brought out dishes of these to share between pairs. I am not normally much of a fry person, more a chunky chip girl. Fries can be limp and flavourless, this was not the case here. Crisp golden fries with a good grating of Parmesan and a dash of truffle flavour coming through. Rich and I were fans and these disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

Once sampling of some of the new items had finished we were encouraged to tick our orders on one of the Burger Joint tick box forms.  I tend to have a standard order which is the beef burger topped with brie, blue cheese and chilli con carne, it’s tried and tested and remains to be creamy, spicy and messy all in one bite. However I thought I should try some different toppings, so I went all veggie with my toppings but sticking with the beef. So guacamole, roasted peppers and the newly added smoked Applewood cheddar crowned my Ruby and White sourced patty.

I am never disappointed when I go to the Burger Joint and this night was no exception. Dan knows his burgers and you will always leave feeling full. Unlike many burger places one side is included in the price so you can choose between a saintly salad, fairly sensible sweet potato chips or go full out with onion rings, as well as the normal fries you’d expect from a burger place. Like Dan and his staff who have welcomed so many Bristolians already, the new menu makes room for veggies and vegans alike to feel more at home. So if you’ve not paid a visit to one of the Burger Joints in a while, go check it out, and take your veggie friends with you. To check out the new options head to their website.

Sunday Burgers at The Burger Joint

Sunday was on the whole pretty sunny, for once. We decided meat was definitely on the cards for lunch, so we meandered around the Triangle and up to Whiteladies til we reached The Burger Joint on Cotham Hill. We have been here on a number of occasions but not since we started the blog.

Always given a superbly warm welcome in The Burger Joint by the ever present and very bubbly waitress, whom has been working there each time we've gone in and always remembers us. She makes it feel like popping out to a friend's for a spot of lunch rather than being at just a restaurant, cannot express how uber she is.

The soft drinks come with free refills and I can tell you from past experience the banoffee milkshake that uber waitress(TM) said she'd experimented in creating herself is definitely worth sampling, although it is not on the menu. Their other milkshakes are awesome as well but tough to get through if you also have a full sized burger, though thankfully they are not as thick and massive as the Rocatillo's milkshake monsters. Seeing as elderflower is my current flavour of the month I went for the elderflower and mint presse, you won't get anything more refreshing on a hot day, fact.

This time I decide to go for something a little different and chose the pork, sage and apple burger whilst Rich went for his usual peri chicken burger but with some different toppings. The great thing about The Burger Joint is that you can have 3 toppings for the bargain price of £1.80 so you can load your burger up with whatever crazy combinations you want.  I went for brie, sliced chorizo and onion rings with mine and Rich went for swiss cheese, peppers and jalapeños.

Pork, sage and apple burger

Pork, sage and apple burger with fries

The pork burger was absolutely delicious, it was moist, they don't stint on the toppings either. There was a nice couple of hunks of brie melted inside. The onion rings I took out and ate separately, probably the best onion rings I've ever sampled they were light, crispy and well flavoured. They buy all their meat from Ruby and White and you can really taste the high quality even in minced pork, it was so meaty and full of flavour. What is also good about their burgers is that they use sourdough buns which feel very light but really hold together better than any bun I've had so far. Despite the hugeness and juicy nature of these burgers the buns did not disintegrate even towards the end.

Generally I prefer a thicker chip rather than fries however with the size of the burgers it is wise to opt for fries because the chips are so chunky they become pretty filling fairly quickly. Although the pork burger was amazing I prefer their standard beef burgers but I was definitely glad I tried something different.

Peri Chicken Burger

Peri Burger Close up

Rich declared his peri burger to be delicious and the chilli's nice and piquant to compliment the chicken and cheese. I can't name a better burger in the city especially one you can get with 3 toppings, 1 side included and two dips for under £10 and with a good soundtrack to eat to, always good music in here. We were definitely two stuffed and happy customers. The plates speak for themselves...

Looking forward to seeing The Burger Joint when it moves to it's new Whiteladies location in about a month, though will miss the very light and airy venue quite a bit. But these guys deserve every success. Go Burgers! For more info and a peak at the menu check out their website