The Hot And Saucy Stag Burger

Take some meat. Mince it up. Add spices, herbs, flavourings, seasonings…or not, some prefer it au naturel. Put it in a bun. Add garnishes. Serve with chips.

THAT’S how you burger! How hard can it be?

Atlanta Café & Bar appear to have got their heads around this concept. Their offering is The Hot And Saucy Stag -  a venison burger with chilli, and my first “proper” burger of this Burger Wellington competition.

So how was it, I hear you ask? Well, it was good. Not great? Here’s what let it down: if anything, it was the burger that tried too hard. As well as the patty, the bun included apricot chutney, blue cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and red onion. This made the whole thing slippery and unstable, and the burger failed the “can you eat it with your hands?” test – there’s just too much going on in there! Flavourwise, there was also too much going on. Is it a cheeseburger? A chilli burger? Maybe a chutney burger? It’s all three.

God I’m hard to please!

That said, it was a tasty burger – good chilli, not overpowering with the cheese, but way too much chutney. The chips were crispy and served with tomato sauce and aioli, and I took the Garage Project Garagista beer match with it – you need a big flavoured beer to cope with all that’s happening between the buns. I awarded it 8/10, which is the highest I’ve given so far this year.

Onwards and upwards!