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Gourmet Burger Kitchen, 41 Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1PN

Gourmet Burger Kitchen, 41 Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1PN

41 Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1PN

01892 617303

So much has been said about the humble burger, the global organisations that "provide" our addiction and the processes that take the patty to the counter from its cage, that the idea of a chain trying to provide something substantial and healthy to a similar market seems faintly ridiculous. For the parents who have reluctantly relented to the "Happy Meal", forking out the best part of seven quid for a hamburger, healthily produced or not, is going to be a bit of a struggle. So therein lies the problem. If I want some quick bland food fuel, do I shut my eyes and close down the information I already have to eat a Mac, or if I decide I want to spend a bit more cash, on something healthy, do I go the an upmarket burger bar?

I put my struggle on hold and took the junior agents to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen on the hill in Tunbridge Wells. There are around twenty or so combinations of burgers - meat comes from Aberdeen Angus herds - and prices hover around the six/seven quid mark. Its worth taking a small diversion here to talk about the "service", which has been pitched awkwardly between the go up and order from the counter Nando's style to I'll greet you and sit you down and introduce our burgers to you TGI Fridays style. The effect is a confusion between what you are supposed to do when, and, whether, in fact, you should go into the kitchen to cook it yourself.

We were greeted, sat down, given menus, then told to go to the counter and pay. The burgers were then brought to the table. This fucks you a bit if, as with my kids, they down their drink a few seconds after its put in front of them, because to get another drink you have to go through the rigmarole of going up to the counter again, ordering it and paying for it. The burgers themselves were very good, brought as standard medium, but not magnificent. Mine came with a sublime garlic mayo that had me burping garlic for days. Another huge failing is that each burger comes with salad and relish. The relish adds a cloying sweetness, so make sure you ask for it without.

If you must go for a posh burger this is as good as any, I will certainly be back, and a massive improvement on, in theory, competitor, the excerable Tootsies. M


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By m at 12/03/2007 - 12:27 | 2007 | Approved | Kent | Mexican/North American | Review | £££/$$$ | add new comment | 943 reads