Secret Menu Burgers: The Triple Bubba / The Duke – Buddy’s BBQ & Burgers, Glasgow

It’s hard to think of a food outlet in Glasgow that received more attention and got people talking as much as Buddy’s BBQ & Burgers did when it launched last year and went viral among hungry Glaswegians looking for the next great place to eat. It’s also hard to think of a place that has polarised opinion as much as Buddy’s has. You see, Buddy’s is a very small takeaway-only establishment based in Shawlands on the south side of the city and became so popular when it opened, that people were having to line up along the street for the food. We received reports of people waiting up to an hour for pulled pork and burgers. Some people hated the wait times and the fact that a lot of the food was often sold out, others loved it and felt that it only served as an indication of the quality of what was on offer. People have written to us saying that they wouldn’t go back again, others have told us that they now make several trips per week because the food is that good. Whatever you think, it’s hard to deny that Buddy’s has quickly established itself as one of Glasgow’s most talked about burger joints.

We won’t go into a description of Buddy’s itself or talk about the location, simply because this is our third visit there for burgers. If you want to read our thoughts on the venue, service and other non-food related aspects of Buddy’s, you can find our previous reviews here and here. All we will say is that this was our third visit to Buddy’s and we’ve yet to have a bad experience. For those who aren’t aware, you can also now call ahead and pre-order food to collect at a specific time to avoid any long queues.

We decided to make a third visit to Buddy’s after hearing about a ‘secret’ menu that is nowhere to be found when you pop in to the takeaway. Fans of Buddy’s are well aware of this alternative menu and have been discussing it in depth on their Facebook page. We managed to find out a little more about the two burgers that feature on the secret menu – the ‘Duke’ and the ‘Bubba’, so we decided to place an order and check them out for ourselves.

The Bubba consists of two beef patties topped with American cheese, pulled pork and coleslaw; however, because we were feeling a little crazy, we decided to go a step further and asked if we could customise it a little. We decided to make it a TRIPLE BUBBA, consisting of three (yes, three!) beef patties topped with American cheese, coleslaw, lashings of American mustard, salad and burger sauce on a toasted bun. I had a chuckle to myself when collecting the food, as I overheard one staff member comment “this thing’s like a baby” as he put everything into a bag. I don’t think that even that comment could prepare us for what was about to come…

Unwrapping the triple bubba, a mouth-watering moment in itself, revealed what can only be described as one of the biggest, messiest, most fantastic looking burgers we have ever seen. Presentation-wise, it reminded us of a cross between the burgers from In-N-Out and Almost Famous. The melted American cheese between each patty was just visible and the pulled pork and coleslaw spilled out of the top half, almost as if the burger was leaving a messy trail behind. Taste-wise, this is easily the best burger that we’ve had from Buddy’s. Each thin patty was nicely seasoned and had a distinct chargrilled finish. The American cheese, burger sauce and mustard gave it a real fast food quality and brought back fond memories of trips to Five Guys burger in New York City. Those things alone would have been enough for us to recommend it; however, it didn’t end there. The pulled pork was smokey, tender and added a whole other dimension to the overall taste. One minute I felt like I was eating one of the best fast food burgers ever and the next minute, the full-bodied pork took over to remind me that this wasn’t the type of burger that you could just pick up at any fast food joint or takeaway – this was in a class of it’s own. It took around 0.03 seconds for us to decide that this is easily the best takeaway burger in Glasgow. Granted, in terms of takeaway, there’s no real competition, but we simply can’t imagine finding a better fast food burger in Glasgow than this anytime soon.

But wait! We weren’t done. We still had a Duke to unwrap! The Duke consists of two beef patties topped with cheese, bacon, onion rings, barbecue sauce and pulled pork. Presentation-wise it was every bit as impressive as the triple bubba. Much like the Western burger that we’d eaten at Buddy’s previously, the melted cheese, which was near liquified, combined with the barbecue sauce, created a fantastic gloopy texture which coated the two patties and the bacon added a satisfying smokey crunch. Combined with the delicious pulled pork, this burger was barbecue heaven. The sauce oozed from each side of the bun and out on to the plate with each bite, resulting in a messy, satisfying experience. If that wasn’t enough, there were also a couple of sneaky onion rings in there to finish things off. Trust us when we say that this burger contained enough sauce and grease to float a battleship and we loved each and every bite of it!

Each burger came on a toasted bun. They aren’t the fanciest buns in the world, but considering how big these monsters are, they did a great job of keeping everything together without disintegrating. They tasted pretty good too!

We also had Buddy’s cajun fries with our burgers and had them with a tub of their homemade chipotle mayo. For those who don’t know, we absolutely love chipotle and it was only after we’d finished the burgers and started on the fries/sauce, that we realised that the only thing that could have made the Duke burger even better than it was would have been the addition of that chipotle sauce. Combined with all of that barbecue, pulled pork and cheese, it would have been pretty fantastic. There’s always next time….

As we’ve already mentioned, these are by far the best things we’ve ever eaten at Buddy’s. What was rather worrying was that despite being so big, they were both scarily easy to eat. This was our third visit to Buddy’s and each one has been better than the last. Remember, you won’t see these burgers on the menu in the shop, but ask about the secret menu and then be sure to order up a triple bubba. And yes, it has to be a triple! It may not be the easiest place to get to, especially if you’re living in the city or even further away from the south side, but we can’t recommend these two burgers highly enough. They’re slightly more expensive than the regular menu items, but when you consider the size (the bubba was a pound of meat) and the quality of the food, both are good value for money.

Pure and utter burger filth, in the most positive, mouth-watering sense imaginable.

Price: Burger £9 or £11 as a meal deal with drink & side.

SUMMARY
+ Great patties,
+ Absolutely huge
+ Flavours work extremely well together
+ For a burger of this size, the bun did a good job of not disintegrating and falling apart
– We would have loved the chipotle sauce to have been on the Duke burger, but perhaps that is an addition we’ll make next time.

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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Buddy’s BBQ & Burgers
44 Skirving Street
Glasgow
G41 3AJ
Telephone: 0141 632 5417
Website: http://www.facebook.com/BuddysBBQandBurgers