The Burger Room Takeaway - Cowgate, Kirkintilloch, Glasgow

The Burger Room Takeaway, Cow Gate, Kirkintilloch, Glasgow

Last night we decided to try the new burger room in Kirkintilloch that everyone is talking about.. The burger room. This burger joint had over 1,000 likes on Facebook before they had even opened their doors to the general public – was this due to their parent restaurant’s reputation Ashoka, or was the small town of Kirkintilloch just excited to see something different?

We’ve been impressed with the photos the page has been posting – let’s just say their cocktails make our mouths water every time we see them.But we’ve not had time to actually go and enjoy the full Burger Room experience – and we were just too impatient to wait to try their food.

 Mrs Eats placed an order over the phone, and Mr Eats picked it up and brought it back. The smell when it arrived, almost smelt like a McDonalds, and it smelt delicious. Here’s what we thought:

Mr Eats: I ordered a Burger Room original ‘The Homer’, this came with a beef burger, pulled pork, macaroni & cheese with bacon bourbon jam (and the typical lettuce and tomato salad). The burger quality was really good, although the burger has lots of toppings, it was well balanced and wasn’t too messy to eat, which can be a problem with burgers! The brioche bun works really well with the burger, it creates a classic American feel. The jam didn’t come through that much, there was a hint of a barbeque sauce but I think that might have come from the pulled pork – so slightly disappointing as I’d have liked to taste it more. I would believe it if someone told me that the burgers were made as and when the order is taken, and not just from a stock pile.

 



I had a side of chips, which I really loved. They were an odd mix of crunchy but soft at the same time, a mix between chippy chips and baked oven chips – but a better version. Definitely the chips I like, and you can tell that they are made in house.

 

 



For the service when I went in, when said that I was there to pick up an order, the lady seemed confused, didn’t say anything and then walked away from me. In the 10-15 minute wait, I think every waiter in the place asked me if I was being served. This could possibly be down to the fact that they were pretty busy, or just being overly polite. When the order came, it had been ordered at least half an hour previously which you wouldn’t expect from a phone in order.

My meal came to a total of £8.45, which I think is slightly more than I would like to pay. But the burger is very good, that I would go again. From the pictures that I’ve seen on the facebook and from other facebook users, there was no quality lost to the look of the burger, just because it was a takeaway.

My 5 point sum up:

- Great food

- Too long of a wait for a phone order

- Well presented

- Simple, but effective menu

- Definitely would go again

Mrs Eats: I ordered the Western burger, which is basically a beef patty, with bacon, montery jack cheese and bbq sauce. I’m not a huge beef burger fan, but I don’t think you can go to a burger place and not try a beef burger to test them out! The hype has been unbelievable for such a small, local place – and I was interested to see if it would live up to it. And my oh my, it did. The burger was succulent and juicy, clearly a high quality, fresh piece of meat. The brioche bun added a really nice sweet taste to the burger, and stopped it from becoming overpowering and dry. My favourite type of bacon is really crispy and smoky– and this was it! The only problem was that there was only one piece, when I would have expected two or three. But that’s me being really picky! Again, once the cheese had been melted on to the bun, it was pretty much lost with the other flavours. But, a very very top notch burger!

 

 



The chips were not so much to my taste, very much like chippy chips, a wee bit soggy (this could have been caused by it being a takeaway), but still really nice. I don’t like too much salt or vinegar on my chips, and would have preferred to have had them with none so that I could add my own, but again, that’s me being really picky.

In terms of the menu, I like the simplistic options they’ve gone for. 4 beef burgers, 3 chicken burgers, a pulled pork burger and 2 vegetarian burgers, plus the option to add toppings such as chilli, cheese or onions. This keeps it simple for them to make fresh, but also the menu isn’t overpowering, but still lots of choice. The sides include onion rings, mac n cheese or chilli bowl, and you can also order wings, nachos and sundaes. (Although, not all these are available for takeaway). I feel like this is going to be a really popular place, and not just a short phase. The restaurant (judging by customers I’ve spoken to, and also from their Facebook page) has a very good vibe about it, with a licence to serve drink and cocktails (and oh my gosh, they look so good) and weekly movie nights, I think it will be hard for anyone to not get sucked into the atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to physically going to the restaurant!

My meal came to £7.95, which I think is good value for the type of meal you’re buying. It isn’t just a greasy, burger king, which can potentially cost a similar price! You’re paying for a high quality, delicious, authentic American meal.

My five point sum up:

 - Delicious burger

 - Good price

 - Diverse, not overpowering menu

- Very good social marketing (creates a buzz)

- Would definitely go again

 

Have you been to The Burger Room? What about it's parent restaurant Ashoka? Let us know!

 

Thanks for reading, and remember... Enjoy your meal

 

Mister and Missus Eats x

 

If you have any suggestions, please comment below or email

mister.missus.eats@gmail.com!

A Little Taste of Italy - Elmbank Street, Glasgow

Mister and Missus Eats Logging On.

Yesterday we had tickets to the theatre, so on a whim, we chose an Italian restaurant not far from the show. This was ‘A Little Taste of Italy Ristorante Teatro’. We chose this based on an offer that appeared on 5pm, which is a discount site that is really handy for deals on eating out. It was one of the first ones that came up and the menu looked quite nice. (See link below for menu.)

A Little Taste of Italy Ristorante Teatro is a small Italian restaurant, just round the corner from the King’s Theatre, in between Sauchiehall Street and Bath Street, in Glasgow. The restaurant is said to hold 60 people with a free private function room available.

When we arrived outside, it was a cute little bistro style Italian, that was situated downstairs. We were looking at the menu and realised that the deal that was on 5pm, wasn’t actually that good of a deal after we saw the other ones that were advertised. We had a voucher for a 2 course pre theatre meal, including a bottle of wine per couple for £16.95pp, whereas outside they were advertising the same deal for £12.95pp. This seemed a little bit odd, but we went inside anyway and abandoned the 5pm voucher. To confuse things a little more, we actually ended up going for a 3 course pre theatre meal with tea, coffee and champagne cocktails for £19.95pp as Missus doesn’t drink wine, and we were both starvin’ marvin’ by the time we got there so 3 courses sounded perfect.

So, what did Mister think?

I never like going into a restaurant when we are the first people there, but I guess that’s not the owner’s fault. It’s just the feeling of being watched, and having the waiters being over involved and too nice.  I don’t know how I feel about places that are downstairs and not being able to look out of the windows, for lack of a better word it’s a concern for me. But once we got in and sat down the lights were dimmed and the music was turned up, there was a nicer vibe to it. I didn’t like getting served by what looks to be a manager or owner, as I think they try too hard. But onto the food…

The menu was quite good, a lot of choices, but for starters I ordered the Pate Della Casa (Chicken Liver Pate, Toasted Bread, Mango Chutney and Rocket Salad). I know it’s only Pate but it arrived quickly, which was great. It’s quite hard to get Pate wrong, so I don’t have many faults to say except there could have been better bread to pate ratio, as the last few bites were just pate with a hint of bread. I can’t recall ever having Mango Chutney with Pate before, but I would have it again if it tasted as good as it did then. Excluding the bread portion, it was a very nice starter.

Again, for my main, I went for a simple dish of Spaghetti Carbonara (Pancetta and fresh cream). I only have two faults with the main, and that’s that the portion was a little small for me, and that it might have been nice to have had the bacon cooked through the pasta instead of thrown on top at the end.  The carbonara was cooked well and the sauce was lovely and creamy – if the portion was a little bigger, this would have been a perfect main. 

Before I forget… when we first arrived at the restaurant, we got an appetiser of bread, flavoured oil and olives. It didn’t go down too well, I’d have preferred some balsamic vinegar instead of the oil, and I don’t like olives.

Onto the dessert! I ordered the Rich Italian Chocolate Pot with Amaretti, not being a lover of coffee I was disappointed that the dessert was actually coffee flavoured. I was expecting a chocolate mousse pot, and ended up being a sort of.. unset, gloopy, coffee flavoured chocolate syrup. Instead of the one, tiny amaretti biscuit, it would’ve been far nice if it’d been crushed and sprinkled on top.

Half way through the main course, a man walked in with a guitar. I genuinely just thought it was a customer with a guitar, until he sat down and started to tune it  in the seat opposite us. If anyone has heard a guitarist tuning up, this isn’t a pleasant sound! (The guitarist in me was shouting.. buy some nylon strings!!!). It was very off putting and a very uneasy feeling, whilst you’ve got the Italian opera songs playing from the speaker in one ear and the tuning guitar man in the other. Once he got warmed up, and actually started playing though, he was quite good. Although, it was still a little awkward, and I’d have preferred it if he’d have been on the other side of the room.

The price was too expensive for what we actually got. I wouldn’t mind paying that price we paid (£56.61) for the same meal, if it was a bit better. It annoys me when places automatically add on a service charge, especially when they don’t deserve it (carrying on reading Missus’ experience to find out why..).

Here’s my 5 point sum up:

- Too small

- Too expensive for what we actually got

- Awkward atmosphere

- Food tasted nice

- Wouldn’t go back

Here’s what Missus thought:

I thought the restaurant was so adorable when we first went in. Tables dotted around the room, soft Italian music playing, and when we first sat down at the table, the lights were dimmed. We were the first people there, which was a little off putting, as I couldn’t help thinking.. well, it’s a nice enough place, why isn’t it packed? We were given the menus, and after sussing out which menu we were going to choose from  the 4 (?!) we were given, we ordered. After, another couple came in, and even though were must have been roughly 30 other tables free, they were sat within touching distance of us. The lady asked to be moved as it was too cramped with no privacy, and the manager said that no other tables were set up, but he went and sorted that and they were moved. I excused myself from the table and went to find the bathroom, only to be met with an absolutely tiny space with a toilet that was filthy. This had already set the mood of the night for me, but I put it to the back of my mind. We also heard a lot of shouting coming from the kitchen in between ordering our meals.

For starter, I ordered the Uovo Su Pane (Poached egg, parma ham, dolcelatte cheese on garlic bread). The presentation was really nice, and was surrounded by a rocket salad and some sort of sauce around the plate (later realising that this must have been the Dolcelatte cheese, as that was nowhere else..). The poached egg was beautifully cooked, as soon as I cut into it the yolk covered the bread – lovely. The taste was really nice, a light saltiness from the ‘parma ham’, which actually was a thin gammon slice. The bread was really crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, clearly homemade – but not garlic bread, which I’m actually relieved as I don’t know how that would have tasted, but if it said it was there, it should have been. But overall, a really nice starter, I really enjoyed it.

I ordered the Pollo Alla Pepe (Breast of Chicken with Black Pepper, Brandy, Fresh Cream, Chicken Stock, Demi Glace). The main thing that really annoyed me to start off with, was the fact that that is all it was. Two halved chicken breasts, in a black pepper corn sauce. No sides, no salad, no potatoes. I had ordered a side of chips already, thankfully, but I was really disappointed – why would you serve that as a main with not even a simple salad to accompany it? After looking at the menu online, it does say that it should come with a ‘Piccolo Mash’, but again, it was not there. But to review the food that I did actually get, it was an unseasoned chicken breast, with a cream sauce over the top. The black pepper corns weren’t crushed enough, so in one bite it would be all peppery, and the next bite there would be none. Then the unthinkable happened.. I found a hair on my plate. It was a short black hair, when both myself and Mister have fairly long hair. I am really touchy over the hygiene in my food, and I’m easily put off, and that just made me feel really ill so I stopped eating it. When the waitress came over, she apologised and said that they would provide a free liquor for the both of us. This again annoyed me, because I don’t like liquor’s and I hadn’t been asked if I did – so it was abit of a waste. Very disappointed at the main.

The dessert I got was the same as Mister, a Rich Italian Chocolate Pot with Amaretti. At this point, I just wanted to leave but I tried it anyway. It was okay, despite it clearly being a coffee based dessert which it didn’t state – and they had put so much icing sugar on top of the dessert that it had made the chocolate lumpy. This was served which a ‘champagne cocktail’, which was just a glass of champagne. I gave this to Mister, and they also brought over our two free Bailey’s, (notice how they didn’t offer what kind of liquor it was that we got free), and I again gave this to Mister. It did make me feel better however, that the man across from us also complained about his starter, the Calamari was apparently rubbery and disgusting – they replaced that for him.

All the food came out very fast, which whilst good, it makes me wonder whether it had been sitting around in the kitchen all day – and it makes it hard to believe that the meals are all made fresh. The actual meal came to £51.60, but after the service charge it was £56.61, and if we had have been paying with cash, I would have just left the £51.60 as I really don’t think they deserve any sort of tip after the service they provided. The meal was definitely too expensive for what we paid, we could have had a Nandos, and I would have thoroughly enjoyed myself more.

My five point sum up:

- Unhygienic

- Bland food

- No customer service

- Too expensive

- Would not go again

 

What’s your thoughts if you’ve ever been here?

Thanks for reading, and remember… Enjoy your meal

Mister and Missus Eats x

 

If you have any reccomendations, please comment below or email us at mister.missus.eats@gmail.com!