Eating Out: Handmade Burger Co.

Jun 30 2011 By Ben Spencer

The Homemade Burger Co.

Address: Silverburn, Tel: 881 8780,

Web: www.handmadeburger.co.uk

IN an industry where some restaurants seem to compete to have the most pretentious and bizarre sounding names, it's refreshing to find a place that does exactly what it says on the tin.

You don't have to be Einstein to work out that the main dish at Handmade Burger Co is likely to come between two pieces of bread.

The restaurant is among several others in the food area of Silverburn. It's a bright and fresh place to eat with a view of a pleasant water fountain.

The ordering system seems to straddle a full-on restaurant and a fast-food place. Diners are shown to a table by staff but they can then pop up at their leisure to a nearby counter to place their order.

The food is then brought over when it's freshly prepared.

Menus are also kept simple - dividing the burgers on offer into the different filling types of beef, chicken, lamb, fish and vegetarian.

There are then a series of toppings to choose from, boasting ingredients as varied as avocado, pesto and apple chutney.

I decided to spice things up with a Mexican salsa burger (£6.95). This was a beef patty with Mexican salsa, avocado, mayonnaise and salad.

My dining companion selected a more traditional choice - a barbecue relish, mature cheddar cheese and bacon beef burger (£7.85).

A friend of mine always insists that the best test of a good restaurant is to sample their burgers. If they prepare these simpler dishes well, then you can expect the rest of the menu to be equally good, he reasons.

Well, the burgers at Handmade Burger Co more than met this test.

Prepared from traditionally reared 100 per cent prime Scotch beef, freshly handmade and served in sour dough buns, they were simply mouth-watering.

I enjoyed the spice of my burger while the tangy barbecue sauce on my dining companion's plate was a real highlight. In between bites of burger, we both tucked into moreish double-fried chips (£2.95) and a bowl of crisp onion rings (£2.70).

We also both enjoyed glasses of traditional Victorian lemonade (£2.25) and a rich chocolate icecream milkshake (£3.35).

Yes, this restaurant may do exactly what it promises, but it does so extremely well.