Tasty burgers - no fast food (Gourmet Burger Kitchen in General)

Member Name: BumpyBump

Product:	Gourmet Burger Kitchen in General
Date:	04/11/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality burgers made of 100% beef

Disadvantages: Too much salad filling to bulk the burgers out

GBK has 49 branches all round the UK, but the one I have visited the most is the Brunswick Centre branch in London. GBK are one of a few companies recently who have tried to get burgers out of the "fast food" bracket and into the "burgers can mean quality" bracket

They only sell burgers, along with accompanying sides such as frieds, salads or coleslaw. The menu consists of 13 beef-based burgers, 4 chicken-based burgers, 5 vegetarian burgers, 3 specialty (chorizo or lamb), 1 buffalo burger, 1 boar and one Organic Moroccan lamb. They also sell 4 'small burgers' which I suppose is aimed at children or people who are after a lighter bite. All in all that is a pretty amazing selection. You can also add a choice of 'extras' (cheese, bacon, egg etc) for an additional price.

Prices start at £5.95 for your basic Beef Burger, and can go up to £9.95 for the Buffalo Burger. Fries are £2.75 but will serve two people. Salads range from £3 - £8 depending on if you have it as a side or a main. There are often 2-4-1 deals at GBK if you scout for them online. A deal they often offer is 'Two Burgers and One Fries for £10', which is prettty good really as you can save £7 or more by doing that, and the one portion of fries is more than enough for two people, especially when you consider how big the burger is.

The burgers themselves are lovely quality and not at all gristly. They are cooked as well done as you wish (they ask you when you order). They are generally piled high with filling and salad layers so you'll struggle to fit your mouth around it (I generally give up and just use a knife and fork, which does feel a bit wrong). I am of the opinion that they perhaps are a bit overgenerous with the salad filler purely to give the impression that you are getting more for your money (a trick that most food outlets try), but even when that is taken into consideration you are still getting a good-sized burger.

GBK is different from most restaurants in that you pay when you order, and then the food is brought out to you when ready. This is similar to the way fast food restaurants run though, so they haven't completely stepped away from that attachment. The benefit of this is that you then don't have to hang around trying to get someone's attention when you want to pay the bill. But the staff must hate that system as it makes it more difficult to leave a tip, although they do have a tip box near the till.

I have always found service to be perfectly adequate and the staff have always been most pleasant. It's not somewhere I would consider for a nice meal out, but is great for a decent work lunch.

Summary: A great place for a relatively quick and easy meal