Burger Selection – Trio Cafe, Burnside, Glasgow

Most of the burgers we review are found in cafes, bars or restaurants in Glasgow City Centre and if you ask most people where to get a great burger in Glasgow, chances are they’ll point you in the direction of somewhere between the city centre and the west end. We wanted to find out if it was possible to find any great burgers locally, so we decided to check out a little cafe not too far from James vs Burger headquarters for this review after receiving positive feedback on it via our Twitter and Facebook pages.

The Trio Cafe is located in Burnside – a residential district in Rutherglen which borders with Cambuslang. For those ever looking to make the trip, both Rutherglen and Burnside train stations are just a few short stops from Glasgow Central, making it an easy journey. The Trio Cafe is located right next to Burnside train station on Stonelaw Road – the main street that runs through the area. As we walked in, the first thing that hit me was how small it was. The cafe’s website makes it look like quite a small, charming little venue but I was surprised to see that it was infact smaller than my living room and big enough to seat only around 14 or 15 people maximum. We paid a visit late in the afternoon so we had the choice of sitting wherever we wanted. We sat down near the door/windows since it was one of those rare days in Glasgow where the sun had decided to come out, had a look at the menu and went straight to the burger section.

There were four choices of burger on the menu: a plain hamburger, bacon and cheese burger, blue cheese burger and a chilli burger. Since there were three of us, we decided to ditch the plain hamburger and try out the other three.

From the moment I stepped inside the Trio Cafe, I really wanted to like it. I had been sent very positive feedback through Facebook and Twitter and the owner couldn’t have been friendlier when taking our orders and seating us. I wanted to find a local burger gem and be able to know that not all of the best burgers in town were located in the city centre or west end. Unfortunately, the burgers fell a little flat and left all three of us feeling rather indifferent. The patties themselves seemed to be seasoned with wholegrain mustard, which is normally a good thing, however they were all rather dry and and any seasoning was no longer evident when I took my first bite. When I cut into my burger, I noticed a nice hint of pink in the middle – normally the sign of a perfectly cooked patty, however I was left a little disappointed because of how dry it was. It was almost as if it had been cooked and then dried out before being served. The bun that the burgers were served on was a standard, no-frills bun that you could buy in any supermarket and when served up, there was so salad, sauce or dressing on them whatsoever which didn’t help the already dry patty. As I bit into my burger, the only thing that I could taste was the blue cheese on top, which was absolutely outstanding. I love blue cheese on a burger and the way that the intense flavour of the cheese merges with the juicy beef patty, however on this occasion all I could taste was blue cheese. Similarly, our friend who opted for the chilli con carne burger commented that all she could taste was the shaved parmesan cheese topping and that the patty and chilli con carne were both flavourless and dry. The burgers also came served with fries and a side salad.

As previously stated, I really wanted to like Trio. The friendly service and wide selection of food make it a great addition to the Rutherglen/Burnside area which is sorely lacking in good food establishments, however Trio falls short when it comes to it’s burgers. Aside from the delicious cheese that was served as burger toppings, we all found the food rather bland. I can’t comment on any of the other food on the menu and as previously mentioned, we’ve had great feedback and reviews sent to us, however at just short of £9 for a burger and fries, it’s no cheaper than a far tastier, better quality city center alternative.

Price: £7.95 (£6.95 for plain & vegetarian burgers)

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Trio Cafe Restaurant
286 Stonelaw Road
Burnside
Glasgow
G73 3RP
Phone: 0141 647 5892
Website: http://www.trioburnside.com/