Bunker states that burgers are what they do best, and with a fairly large and diverse menu, that’s quite a bold statement. The bar occupies a basement spot on Glasgow’s popular Bath street and as well as a wide range of burgers, also offers a gut-busting monster-sized ‘Bunker Buster Challenge’, similar to the burger challenge that can be found at Ad Lib. We weren’t in the mood for a 3lb burger, so we opted for a couple of regular menu items instead.
First up was the ‘Wise Guy’ burger, which consisted of a beef patty topped with Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella on a toasted bun for £9.95. Presentation-wise, I thought the burger looked incredibly flat and underwhelming. For the price, it was small and the bun reminded me of a crispy morning roll as opposed to a burger bun and was quite tough to chew. Both burgers were served on a wooden serving board with a basket of fries and relish.
Taste-wise, there wasn’t much to report. The was little Parma ham on the patty and it added nothing whatsoever to the flavour. The mozzarella was quite tasty, but you wouldn’t expect to pay near £10 for a blob of cheese that tasted just alright. The patty itself was actually quite well cooked and had a nice pink centre; however, it was fairly cold and wasn’t seasoned well, which negated how well it had been cooked in the first place.
The ‘Bandito’ is described on the menu as Bunker’s most wanted burger and as being topped with chopped chipotle chillies and pepper jack cheese. Instead, what we got was a burger topped with the smallest amount of cheese you could imagine and floods of barbecue sauce. In fact, there was so much barbecue sauce you could barely see any cheese on the burger and you couldn’t actually taste any of the ‘premium beef’ whatsoever. It was like eating a tough, crispy roll with some sauce on it along with some kind of generic meat – not a good quality burger, which is apparently what the bar does best.
I left Bunker with no desire to return. We had considered attempting their burger challenge; however, after this visit, we’re not so sure. The venue is appealing and it would most-definitely make for a nice spot for a few after-work beers, which is probably why it’s normally very busy. Occasionally, if you have a bad meal, the experience can often be saved with good staff service; however, the service that we received was minimal to non-existent. The staff only gave us one-word answers to any questions we asked and at one point, when I asked where the toilets were, the staff member pointed and said ‘there’ and proceeded to turn away again. Even when we paid our bill, the staff interaction was non-existent. Nobody expects staff to always be talkative and overly-friendly, but a little more than one word grumbles and not being made to feel like a nuisance for asking where the toilets are would have been nice.
Bad service and bad food to match. I was just relieved that when paying the bill, I noticed a sign that read ‘All food 50% off in January’ so we essentially got two burgers for the price of one. Paying near £10 for a burger of this quality is not something that I’d be keen to do.
Bunker’s menu claims that burgers are what they do best and for that reason we won’t be back. From this experience, I’d say that diet coke is what they do best as it was the only part of the hour that we spent there that was anywhere close to being enjoyable.
Price: £8.95 (Bandito) / £9.95 (Wise Guy)
SUMMARY
+ Wise Guy burger patty was well cooked; however, it was quite cold.
– Bandito burger patty was overcooked.
– Too much BBQ sauce on the Bandito, which drowned out any other flavours.
– No sign of chipotle chilli in the Bandito.
– Bun was quite hard.
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Bunker
199 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4HU
Phone: 0141 229 1427
Website: www.thebunkerbar.com
James vs. Burger 