Take a quick look around the Curler’s Rest and you’d probably never know that before becoming a quality gastropub, it was the bar of choice for many nearby Glasgow students, who were looking to purge on cheap burgers and £1 pints. Fast forward a few years and Curler’s has since built a reputation as one of the best places to visit for good quality pub food in Glasgow. Admittedly, we’d never eaten there until now, but after hearing so many good things about the food, we decided to head to the west end and give it a try.
Inside, the Curler’s Rest has a grand, yet cozy, intimate feel. The bar is huge and there’s plenty of places to grab a seat, including an upstairs area. One of the first things I noticed was the awesome beer selection on offer. Blue Moon, Erdinger, Sierra Nevada and Brooklyn were just a few of the many options available. After grabbing a couple of ice cold Blue Moon’s, we went to find a hidden-away table at the back of the bar.
There’s a few burgers to choose from on the menu and in addition to the regular options, there was also a specials menu lamb burger option. We went for the lamb burger special and the pork & chorizo cheeseburger from the regular menu.
The pork & chorizo cheeseburger consisted of a pork and chorizo patty topped with caramelized red onion and cheddar cheese (£1 extra) on a toasted brioche bun. The patty; thankfully, had the chorizo through the pork itself as opposed to simply layered on top and was incredibly juicy. The pork had a nice, full flavour and the chorizo provided a subtle, tangy smokiness at the end. The cheese added some texture and the caramelized onion provided a lovely sweet burst of flavour which washed away the full-bodied flavour of the pork and chorizo. There was a lot going on here, but it worked well.
The only issue with the patty being so juicy was that the bun didn’t really hold it all together well. As you’ll probably know, we’re big fans of the brioche bun, but this one just couldn’t really handle its contents well. The bottom half of the bun on the pork burger was also over-toasted to the point where it was quite hard and the top began to disintegrate as we got to the end of the burger. Overall, a very messy burger but the flavours certainly went a long way in making up for it! The burger was also served with a sauce that almost resembled the stuff you’d find on a big mac – very tasty indeed.
The lamb patty came topped with jalapeno tzatziki and served on the same brioche bun as the pork & chorizo burger. It was also served with fries and onion rings. The patty, despite being a good size and having a nice, robust flavour, was a little on the dry side. The tzatziki; however, made up for this as there was plenty of it on the bun – not so much that it drowned out the other flavours, but enough that it helped mask the fact that the meat was a bit dry. The lamb patty; thankfully, didn’t contain any hint of mint, which a lot of lamb burgers seem to these days and the tzatziki was some of the best we’ve tasted – and we’re not normally great fans of it.
Again, the bun didn’t last long and began to fall apart after a few bites. Perhaps there was simply too much of the tzatziki on the burger, which made the bun a little soggy after a while. Still, we got our hands messy and finished both burgers fairly quickly!
The onion rings that came with the lamb burger were very good – not too greasy and clearly homemade with a very nice crunch. I’m not a fan of onion rings on a burger at all and thankfully, these were served on the side to enjoy – especially when dipped in that burger sauce!
Both burgers came served with skinny fries, which were decent enough but no different to the standard skinny fries you’d find in loads of other Glasgow bars or restaurants. They weren’t overly-salty, which was a good thing.
Overall, the Curler’s Rest was a pretty good burger experience. I’ll certainly be back in to sample more of the excellent beer selection and to try some other items on the menu, which caught my eye. At £30 for two burgers and a half-pint of beer, it’s certainly not the cheapest place to eat but the pork & chorizo burger and the great beer selection is definitely worth sampling!
Price: Pork & Chorizo Burger £10.25 (£1 extra with cheese), Lamb Burger £10.25
SUMMARY
+ Pork & Chorizo burger was very juicy
+ Good range of flavour
+ Chorizo through the patty rather than on top.
+ Jalapeño tzatziki was delicious, even if there was a bit too much of it on the bun.
+ Great, homemade onion rings with the lamb burger.
– Lamb patty was a bit dry.
– Pork & Chorizo bun was over-toasted and quite hard on the bottom.
– A bit on the expensive side.
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The Curler’s Rest
256-260 Byres Road
Glasgow
G12 8SH
Phone: 0141 341 0737
Website: http://www.thecurlersrestglasgow.co.uk/
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