BBQ Pulled Pork Chilli Burger / Brie, Bacon & Red Onion Chutney Burger – The Roxy 171, Glasgow

This wasn’t our first visit to the Roxy. It was actually one of the first burgers we reviewed when we launched James vs. Burger last year and at the time, we arrived at the bar having completely forgotten our camera, hence the rubbish smart phone photo on our first review. What made this even more frustrating was the fact that we loved the burger and at the time, considered it to be one of the most underated burgers in the city. With that in mind, we decided to head back to try it again and see how it held up.

We won’t go into all of the details about the bar itself. For that, you can check out our previous review (just ignore the camera phone photos!). The menu hasn’t changed since our visit last year and the focus is still on burgers and pizzas. The selection is kept fairly small. There’s simply a beef burger or a veggie option along with a nice range of toppings to choose from. We opted for two beef burgers – one topped with pulled pork chilli and cheddar and the other with bacon, smoked brie and red onion chutney.

We were particularly excited about trying the pulled pork chilli topping as the Roxy recently won the award for best chilli at the Glasgow ‘Great Western Chilli Cook-Off’, organised by the good folks at Lupe Pintos Delicatessen.

From the Roxy’s website:

‘Using fresh local pork, we marinade in herbs, sugars and spices for at least 36 hours to allow the meat to soak up all the flavours before we slow roast for a good 4 – 6 hours on a low heat so the pork remains tender and moist before we start to pull it and blend it to make the West End’s best chilli’

Each burger was served on a toasted seeded bun with salad. Quite a lot of the time, you can find that the salad is something of an afterthought with many burgers; however, the salad on the burgers here is among the best we’ve had. I’ve got no idea what’s in the dressing that they use on it, but it’s delicious – I even picked up the bits that fell out of the bun while I was eating the burger and ate them at the end! The patty had a generous helping of cheese on top and the pulled pork chilli slightly spilled out over the side. The chilli was very interesting – imagine beef chilli con carne, but instead of beef mince, it’s pulled pork. It had a nice kick to it, without being overly hot, but with a slightly sweet hint from the barbecue sauce and sugar. The patty itself was well cooked, despite not quite as pink in the middle as the burgers on our previous visit. It was seasoned well and had quite a strong peppery-kick, which lingered long after each bite. It was quite messy due to the large amount of chilli on top, but the taste more than made up for that.

The second burger, again was served on the same toasted bun and was topped with smoked bacon, smoked brie and red onion chutney. The patty again was well cooked and well seasoned and had the same peppery aftertaste as the pulled pork burger, which actually worked well with the smoked bacon and smoked brie. Speaking of the brie, it was very strong and I’d say that it was without a doubt the most prominent flavour in the burger. If you like a burger with mild cheese, we’d recommend the cheddar instead.

The buns that the burgers were served in were nicely toasted and did a good job of holding everything together well. They did get a tad soggy towards the end, but didn’t actually break apart.

Interestingly, we completely forgot that the burgers don’t come served with fries here. Instead, you get a salad and a helping of potato salad on the side too. There’s no option to add fries at all and while this really isn’t an issue if your simply looking for a great burger, there’s not an option to add any sides at all. For £8.50 (more if you add any toppings), we felt that it was perhaps a little on the expensive side, especially for a burger on it’s own. The food itself is great, but if you are looking for the most bang for your buck, it’s not difficult to find a big burger with sides and toppings around the same price elsewhere in the West end. They do run a meal deal offer which is available all day, every day where you can get two main meals and a bottle of wine (or 4 pints) for £20, so if you’re going with someone else and you’re leaving the car at home, it’s probably a good deal to take advantage of.

We still stand by our original opinion that the burgers at the Roxy are perhaps the most underated in Glasgow. We don’t receive much in the way of photos or feedback on the bar from our readers, but we’d certainly recommend stopping by. We love that the burgers are made right at the bar so that you can see and hear them sizzle from your table and that so much care is put into the range of toppings on offer, especially the chilli. Even the salad on the burgers is great and a pulled pork sloppy joe caught our eye on the menu and will most definitely guarantee a return visit from us. Despite being a tad pricey, especially if you want a burger with a lot of toppings on it, or don’t take advantage of the meal deal, the Roxy gets a big thumbs up from us.

Price: £8.50 (toppings extra)

SUMMARY
+ Flavoursome patty.
+ Good range of toppings.
+ Excellent pulled pork chilli.
– A little pricey if you’re not taking advantage of the meal deal.
– Despite tasting good on it’s own, there’s something a little odd about potato salad as a side with a burger.

Have you tried this burger? Did you love it? If so, vote for it in the ‘Glasgow’s best burger’ award by clicking here.

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The Roxy 171
171 Great Western Road
Glasgow
G4 9AW
Phone: 0141 331 1901
Website: http://www.theroxy171.co.uk