Craving a Burger Delivery: 4 Restaurants, 9 Burgers, 1 Verdict

Craving a burger?  You ask yourself: "Who serves the best burger you think? Where should I order my burger from today?" I took the liberty to try and get you the right answer. NGNO goes on a mission to find the best delivery burger - to help you find the tastiest or let's say the most complete burger to quench your craving on all levels.

Of course I chose to compare burgers delivered by the most popular burger providers in Beirut. Together with seven of my friends, we ordered 9 different burgers from 4 different restaurants and enjoyed two hours of tasting.

Roadster Diner ---- Crepaway ---- Classic Burger Joint ---- Deek Duke

Explanations:

1. My choice of restaurants, you might ask, miss names like Brgr Co and Let's Burger. I don't see Brgr Co. being a competitor with the above chosen places and since I was not too impressed with Let's Burger during my last visit, I decided to give them some time before judging them again...
2. This is a delivery comparison, I am sure that many burgers look different and are tastier in the restaurants
3. Many burgers are sold with French Fries while others are not. I had to give the prices with friees for all of them to provide an adequate comparison

The burgers ordered:

• Roadster Diner's Classic Burger
• Roadster Diner's Cheese at heart Burger
• Roadster Diner's Mushroom'N'Swiss Burger
• Crepaway's Spiel Mozzarella Burger
• Classic Burger Joint's Cheese Burger
• Classic Burger Joint's BBQ Burger
• Classic Burger Joint's Swiss 'N' Mushroom Burger
• Deek Duke's Duke Burger
• Deek Duke's Beef Press Burger

The Grading Criteria: (/100)

• The overall look of the burger
• Creativity of the product
• Proportionality of the ingredients inside the burger
• Sauce quality and taste
• Meat quality, cooking and seasoning
• Quality of grilling
• Freshness of the ingredients
• Portion size
• Bread taste and freshness
• Delivery packaging

Overall taste: (/100)

Let's Eat...

The Burgers details:

• Roadster Diner's Classic Burger: (Patty, sautéed onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and the classic sauce)

• Roadster Diner's Cheese at heart Burger: (Roadster special patty stuffed with Swiss cheese and topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, crispy chips sprinkles with the classic sauce)

• Roadster Diner's Mushroom'N'Swiss Burger: (Patty, grilled onions, Swiss cheese and Roadster mushroom sauce)

• Crepaway's Spiel Mozzarella Burger: (The legendary all-star burger! Spiel burger with a thick chunk of deep-fried mozzarella for extra measure)

• Classic Burger Joint's Cheese Burger: (Succulent charcoal grilled patty with lettuce, tomato, pickles & classic deli sauce and a double American cheddar cheese)

• Classic Burger Joint's BBQ Burger: (Juicy charcoal grilled patty with classic barbecue sauce, grilled onion, lettuce, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and mayo)

• Classic Burger Joint's Swiss 'N' Mushroom Burger: (The classic patty smothered with rich gravy, lettuce, fresh mushrooms, deli sauce and melted Swiss cheese)

• Deek Duke's Duke Burger: (Beef patty topped with grilled Halloumi, fresh mushrooms rocket leaves, mayo and DD’s cheese mix)

• Deek Duke's Beef Press Burger: (Grilled Beef Patty, breaded cheese mix, lettuce, tomato, pickles and Cocktail sauce)

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Tasting Notes:

After cutting each burger, checking the cooking adequacy of the meat and the freshness of ingredients, it was time to taste them one after the other. I would like to remind you that this comparison takes into consideration delivery timing as well as packaging presented. I definitely agree that the taste is better and the presentation is more appetizing when eaten in-house.

• Roadster Diner's Classic Burger: (Patty, sautéed onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and the classic sauce)
• The Classic burger tastes exactly like the Burger King Whopper. It has a commercial feel where tomatoes and ketchup are too prominent. The meat is over seasoned, having a spicy after taste and tasting like Worcester sauce. On the other hand the vegetables used are fresh, cut in small pieces and are easy to chew. Roadster's bread is very tasty and always fresh.

• Roadster Diner's Cheese at Heart Burger: (Roadster special patty stuffed with Swiss cheese and topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, crispy chips sprinkles with the classic sauce)
• The Cheese at Heart is an interesting burger. The mix of crunchy chips combined with the melting cheese filling is a tasty combination. The meat is thicker than the normal one. Having two kinds of cheese in one sandwich is a mistake; just like having two kinds of pasta in the same salad (Pasta and Cheese) also found on their menu. This burger is heavy.

• Roadster Diner's Mushroom'N'Swiss Burger: (Patty, grilled onions, Swiss cheese and roadster mushroom sauce)
• This is my least favorite burger at Roadster. Although the bread is tender, the mushrooms and meat are tasty and the melted Swiss cheese is good - it's a burger that feels too commercial. It looks weak. It's exactly like the one found at Hardee's. It needs something - an upscale some where.

• Crepaway's Spiel Mozzarella Burger: (The legendary all-star burger! Spiel burger with a thick chunk of deep-fried mozzarella for extra measure)
• Out of the 9 burgers tried, this is the biggest winner in my books. The finest meat of all in the simplest bread bun. You feel and taste the real bread without any kind of add-on like sesame seeds. It's a pure authentic simple piece of bread, nothing like that found at the supermarkets. Imagine a thick piece of breaded Mozzarella on a juicy premium piece of angus beef meat. The Mozzarella is a bit too oily, it has to be dried out of its oil before delivery. More than one small piece of tomato should be added, or at least put a big round piece rather than the small slice which looks stingy.

• Classic Burger Joint's Cheese Burger: (Succulent charcoal grilled patty with lettuce, tomato, pickles & classic deli sauce and a double American cheddar cheese)
• Classic Burger Joint has the biggest meat of all. A big piece of meat that's too thin though. It's the thinnest I've tried today. Some like it that way but others prefer it thicker and juicier. The thinner it is, the dryer it feels. Classic Burger Joint's bun is too fluffy and has too many gas bubbles inside making it too absorbent to anything liquid - like the sauces. It is the tastiest bun of all to be enjoyed in-house. This burger is surely not a delivery one as it reaches your home soaked in sauce.

• Classic Burger Joint's BBQ Burger: (Juicy charcoal grilled patty with classic barbecue sauce, grilled onion, lettuce, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and mayo)
• The BBQ burger contains too much sauce and the meat has crunchy bites inside. Salt is too prominent. I couldn't eat more than two bites. I felt I was eating a soup burger.

• Classic Burger Joint's Swiss 'N' Mushroom Burger: (The classic patty smothered with rich gravy, lettuce, fresh mushrooms, deli sauce and melted Swiss cheese)
• Not my favorite for sure. Fresh raw mushrooms used crunches under your teeth. I surely wouldn't use fresh mushrooms in a burger. Swiss mushroom sauce should be more liquid and juicy, melting under your teeth with the softness of the meat.

• Deek Duke's Duke Burger: (Beef patty topped with grilled Halloumi, fresh mushrooms rocket leaves, mayo and DD’s cheese mix)
• A square bun? I don't find it appetizing at all, especially that the meat is still round. Trying to make something special is overwhelming at Deek Duke. A square bun, a special Halloumi burger, rocket leaves... Too much! Halloumi cheese slides under your teeth before reaching the juicy meat.

• Deek Duke's Beef Press Burger: (Grilled Beef Patty, breaded cheese mix, lettuce, tomato, pickles and cocktail sauce)
• Just look at the picture, it says a lot. The green middle part of the tomato slice is not removed. It's unpleasant to crunch on. The cheese mix is too heavy. It's like eating cheese fondue in a burger. The ingredients are not proportionally mixed. The cheese should be thinner and wider, and personally, I would remove the yellow cheese from it that has a bitter taste.

The Grades:

The Results:

Conclusion:

All four diners follow international professional standards trying to create the best burger:

1. The meat has the same size as the bun or 1/2cm smaller
2. Prunelle produces the bun for all with a different recipe unique for each
3. The bread is close to premium American standards
4. All ingredients used are fresh and prepared the same day
5. The meat used is on average 140g
6. All over cook the meat to please all kinds of customers and not having to go into grilling details

I would personally change:

• Make Classic Burger's bread smaller and meat thicker
• The meat should be burnt less at Classic Burger Joint
• Classic Burger's meat is one of the fattiest used, to the extent it crunches under your teeth
• I wouldn't use fresh mushrooms in a burger
• Crepaway's mozzarella should be less oily
• Add an additional piece of tomato in the Spiel Mozzarella at Crepaway
• Roadster is as tasty as the others but feels the most commercial.
• Deek Duke's sophistication is too annoying. Some people like it simple
• Deek Duke's square bun? Not a good idea. It doesn't even look squarish and the meat is still round.
• I would make the four cheese breaded piece in Deek Duke's press larger and thinner

The Ultimate Best Burger:

1. Burger bun from Classic Burger Joint
2. Meat from Crepaway
3. Mozzarella cheese from Crepaway
4. Lettuce from Roadster
5. Cocktail sauce from Roadster

Honestly, tonight, I was not impressed! Comparing burgers all together revealed details we usually don't notice. You'll enjoy one, alone, with all its pluses and forgetting the minuses, but when you put all nine together one next to the other, your palate analyses beyond the ordinary. With prices going higher every year to reach an average of 17,000L.L for a simple burger, some improvements have to be done.