I have been travelling for the last month so you will see me catching up with burger reviews in the coming weeks! During my travels I visited Switzerland and I had a burger at Union Diner. A highly rated place in the centre of Basel.
I have always wondered how good the burger would be at a place with such an organic choice of ingredients. And let’s face it the Swiss know their beef. So I chose the most interesting recipe with the most unpronounceable name.

How tasty is the Motherf*#$&r? – 5/10

 

This burger didn’t go so well. I really like the idea of the recipe but things were not exactly right. This is a great example of quality meat and lack of substance

The burger had:

  • Beef Patty
  • Chruterchas
  • Sauerkraut
  • Fried Onions
  • Gherkins
  • Burger Sauce
  • Brioche

The patty was ok, but I was hoping for more. High quality and lightly salted the flavour was kind of there. The biggest issue was the cut and the fact it was way too lean. You want all that juicy flavourful fat in the middle of the burger. If I wanted steak I would have went for it. That quality of meat, with a better cut and a bit more salt and pepper would kill it!

The cheese was something I haven’t heard of or tried and I have to admit the Swiss did well on that front… unsurprisingly. It had a light nutty flavour and melted nicely on top of the burger. It was enough so that it was present in most of the bites and combined well with the rest of the ingredients.

Sadly the salad and the interesting part of the burger was the most disappointing. Sauerkraut is supposed to have a slight crunch and either acidic or acidic and sweet. This one was just sweet and kind of bland. The worst part is it wasn’t drained. That is ok when the juices are potent and full of flavour but that wasn’t the case. I have had worse for sure but this didn’t round up the experience, especially with a soggy bun. The pickles added a bit more of that kick that was missing from the sauerkraut I would have preferred a bit more crunch to them but tasty nonetheless. The fried onions and the classic burger sauce were ok and hinted that classic burger flavour but nothing special

Patty was great, spongey, springy and tasty. A bit more of a toast and a bit less of sauerkraut juice it would have been top notch!

Burger joint venue and overall experience? – 7/10

The burger joint was great. Good selection of burgers. Few good draft beers and absolutely great fries!! I loved them and I recommend them 100%!!

Quirkiness level of the experience? – 7/10

The recipe was interesting and I think with better execution the burger could have killed it.