I haven’t been to Blues Kitchen before. I went there for a gig and dinner to be pleasantly surprised that they have burgers they are proud of and a rotating burger of the month menu. This of course meant a burger in my belly and a review for you. Sadly as I’m writing this review few weeks after, the burger is no longer accessible but I hope it rotates back so you can try it and I hope you get a general idea of the venue.

Price: £14.00

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How tasty is the Motherf*#$&r? – 8/10

Some how BBQ makes everything great but can it be too great?

The burger had:

  • Aged Beef Patty
  • Blue Cheese
  • House Bourbon Mayo
  • BBQ Pork Ribs
  • Onion Rings
  • Sesame Seed Brioche

I’m a sucker for good meat and cheese that fits it. The amazing taste of the BBQ pork ribs, the way they melted in your mouth, the strong typical BBQ flavour and the intensity of the blue cheese was delicious. I loved every single bite of that combination

But…

Although the taste was amazing I’m very specific about the balance of taste. If you say that something is in the recepie I better feel its taste and effect. And sadly I can’t really say that about the aged beef patty. Even though aged I couldn’t feel any of the beef flavour. It was simply extra meaty and the flavour of the BBQ ribs was overshadowing any other present taste. On the other hand that extra BBQ flavour had more content to spread on and compliment.

Another part of the burger that I found unsatisfying were the onion rings. I’m yet to taste onion rings that enchance a burger. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t make it worse by any means but they feel much more like a filler. This was the case with these onion rings. Yes they were there, yes they had a tasty batter on their own, but as typical of onion rings the taste of the onion is almost abolished. Next time make the batter more funky, fry it and put it in the burger and put grilled onions with it.

Mayo is a great sauce for any burger and I can’t complain that it didn’t suit the burger. But when the mayo is being branded as “bourbon mayo” I expect to get a slight whiff of it. It was more of a marketing thing than part of the recipe.

Last but not least the bun. As few times as they are I think the bun was part of the recipe this time (even though it was not put on the menu) simply because the sesame seeds compliment the entire BBQ taste very well.

All and all it was a very tasty experience with a lot of marketing stunts. I believe with a bit more plausible recipe and better execution, this burger can go for the 10.

Burger joint venue and overall experience? – 7/10

Blues Kitchen has a pretty amazing atmosphere I must say, especially for dinner. You get that cosy, leathery, cool looking environment. Great decor and live music which I believe is the most impactful part. They had a good selection of beers and the fries were quite nice, although there wasn’t anything spectacular.

Beer of choice: Sierra Nevada

For a sweet and meaty burger like this, I would go for the Sierra Nevada pale ale. It compliments the BBQ taste with its caramel notes yet the bitterness, in the end, is perfect to prepare you for your next bite.

Quirkiness level of the experience? – 6//10

Live blues music while enjoying a well-cooked BBQ meat in your burger, from a place popular with its BBQ, you don’t get that everywhere. I’m deffientley comming back to try some of their other burgers.