The Big Mackie Burger / The Smokey Juan – Broadcast, Glasgow

As one of Glasgow most-loved gig venues and friendly bars, the Captain’s Rest has been sorely missed by many since it’s closure; however, the team behind the bar have returned with it’s successor – Broadcast, located on the busy Sauchiehall street – they’ve even kept the long-running ‘Captain’s Quiz Night’ going, that was popular among regulars at the Captain’s Rest. Sporting a very raw, industrial Brooklyn warehouse look with low hanging piping and bare brick walls, it’s certainly a lot more stylish than it’s predecessor. With gigs and shows taking place almost every night, Broadcast is another welcome addition to Glasgow’s already strong list of music and comedy venues.

The bar has been open since late 2012; however, until just a couple of days prior to writing this review, we had no idea that it even existed and it wasn’t until stumbling past it on the way to Bath street, that we noticed it right next door to Nice N Sleazy.

The menu at Broadcast, which has been constructed by ‘Toner’s Kitchen’ as shown above, consists of a large selection of burgers, pizzas, wraps and other pub fare. All burgers and pizzas are part of a 2-4-1 offer every day of the week and there’s a really large selection of food for vegetarians too, which really impressed us. As you can see from the photo above, there’s a full menu page of meat-free burger options.

We really liked the fact that the menu boasts, in detail, exactly how the patties are made and where the meat is sourced from.

We went for the Big Mackie and Smokey Jaun burgers and opted for the ‘big fries’ to share for an extra £3.

The Big Mackie (pictured above) consists of 6oz beef patty topped with lettuce, roast garlic aioli, sweet & spicy chilli tomato jam, bacon, Monterey Jack cheese and sticky balsamic onions.

The burger was presented well, with the Jack cheese oozing from the bun and all of the contents fitting nicely within the bread. The burgers weren’t too big and the patty had a nice chargrilled look. Taste-wise, there was nothing really bad about the burger; however, the patty itself was under seasoned and didn’t really stand out from the rest of the flavours that were packed into the bun. The tomato chilli jam was fantastic, as was the garlic aioli and the sticky balsamic onions provided a nice zesty finish. The charred bun was light, didn’t fall apart and was the perfect size for the patties and toppings. This was actually a good, solid burger and if the patty had just been seasoned a little more, it could have very well been a great burger. The patty was; unfortunately, just a bit of a non-entity in terms of flavour.

The Smokey Juan consists of another 6oz patty topped with lettuce, chipotle mayo, sweet and spicy chilli tomato jam, chorizo and Monterey Jack cheese. As most of you know, we’re chipotle-mad here at JVB and fortunately, it seems to feature quite heavily on Broadcast’s menu. This burger was similar to the Big Mackie, in that everything was well prepared and the various toppings worked well together; however, the patty wasn’t seasoned enough. We even cut some of the patty and ate it without any bun or topping just to test if the toppings could have possibly been drowning out the flavour. While the patties were fairly juicy, there was just something missing here. Again, the chilli jam and monterey jack were both generously melted over the Smokey Juan and the chipotle mayo oozed from the sides, which we loved. I’d have preferred a little more chorizo, as it was slightly lost here, but did pair well with the chipotle. The bun, again, was well toasted and served it’s purpose of holding the contents together well.

Both burgers were decent, but a little more seasoning in the patties could make them great.

We also opted for the ‘big fries’ to share. The burgers here are served 2-4-1 and don’t come with sides. The fries were good and for £3 extra, provided more than enough for two people to share. In fact, there was probably enough on the plate for three or four people to dig into. Again, we ordered some chipotle mayo and rather shamefully, ate them all, even after our burgers.

Overall, we quite enjoyed our first visit to Broadcast. Unfortunately, the patties were let down slightly by simply not being very well-seasoned, but we’re keeping in mind that the bar is still in it’s infancy and will obviously continue to improve. The 2-4-1 offer is great if you’re going with friends and we like the idea of big side plates to share. The staff were extremely friendly and we were impressed with the menu and how well it caters to many tastes, including it’s huge veggie burger selection. It may not quite reach the heights of the food at Cocktail & Burger or Nice N Sleazy/MeatHammer Ltd, but Broadcast is a welcome new addition to Sauchiehall street and Glasgow’s already booming burger scene and we are looking forward to seeing what they come up with in the future.

Price: £9.45 (2-4-1), ‘big fries’ to share £3 extra

SUMMARY
+ Good bun.
+ Tomato chilli jam was great.
+ Good selection of burgers and a huge vegetarian selection.
+ Buy one, get one free.
– Not enough chorizo on the Smokey Juan.
– Patty was under seasoned.

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Broadcast
427 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
G2 3LG
Phone: 0141 332 7304
Website: http://www.broadcastglasgow.com