Bacon Cheeseburger – Jacker De Viande, Glasgow

It seems like West Regent street has; overnight, transformed into one of Glasgow’s most happening bar & restaurant scenes with the likes of Burger Meats Bun, MEAT Bar and Bombay Kitchen all attracting hungry customers on a daily basis. It’s become the new burger hub of Glasgow and the list of venues keeps on getting bigger. Now you can add ‘Jacker De Viande’ (Meat Jacker) to that list. The new bar & restaurant situated at number 111 quietly opened its doors recently and while we hadn’t heard a lot of chatter or feedback on it from our readers, we decided to head along and check it out for ourselves.

As soon as you walk into the venue, you’ll immediately notice the artwork on the walls. Consisting of something that reminded me of every David Lynch film that I’ve ever seen crossed with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the walls and ceiling are decorated with surreal, blood-drenched characters and cool artwork. The basement venue really added to things and gave the restaurant a very underground, horror movie feel. I really enjoyed the artwork and the overall vibe of the restaurant, but the blood-soaked pig men on the walls may just give some of you nightmares! Jacker De Viande would be the perfect meeting spot for a pre/post-horror movie cinema trip, that’s for sure!

The menu consists of burgers, a couple of hot dogs, a few other mains and a wide selection of sides. I did notice the fish finger burger, which I considered; however, as it was our first visit, we decided on something a bit more meaty instead.

We opted for the bacon cheeseburger, a side of steak cheese fries and the curiously-titled ‘burger balls’. When we asked for the burger, we were asked how we wanted it cooked – always a great sign! We opted for medium. We were also asked how we wanted the steak that comes served with the fries cooked too. We requested medium rare.

The food came out all served on one massive serving tray, which I could see coming in handy when serving large groups. As we left, a table of 6 were just being served their food and seeing all of their burgers and sides all coming out on the one giant tray along with a massive roll of paper towels certainly looked very cool.

The bacon cheeseburger was very well presented, with a heap of shredded lettuce topping the whole thing. The bacon was thick, looked crispy and nicely folded with a generous amount of melted cheese on top. The whole thing was housed in a light bun, which snugly held all of its contents.

The beef was well-cooked, the salad crisp and the bacon had a slight crunch to it. The thick, melted cheddar, shredded lettuce and gherkins combined with the well-seasoned beef created that classic fast-food burger taste, but at a much higher quality than you’d find in most fast food burger joints in Glasgow. The clearly hand-formed, smashed-style beef patty was cooked just as we’d requested and was very succulent and juicy. The burger sauce, which was served on the side rather than on the burger itself, provided a nice tang, while the bacon added a touch of saltiness, which worked well with the juices from the beef. The gherkins were the perfect finishing touch on what was a fine example of just how a classic cheeseburger should be.

The bun was very, very soft – so lightly toasted that you’d barely notice it had been at all. It was as light as air and while it wasn’t as flavourful as some of the other burger buns that I’ve had in Glasgow, it certainly served it’s purpose of holding everything together well.

As well as the burger, we also ordered a side of ‘burger balls’, more out of curiosity than anything else. After I took one bite; however, I immediately wished that I hadn’t. These provided the only low-point of an otherwise excellent first experience at Jacker De Viande and were the only things that we didn’t finish.

Consisting of a beef meatball, stuffed with cheese which had been breaded and fried, I’m not so sure that I was expecting when we ordered them, but certainly not such a sharp contrast from the delicious, fresh-tasting burger that we’d just eaten. The meat used in these tasted bland, the cheese was runny and they actually resembled something you’d find in the frozen aisle of the supermarket more than food you’d expect in a restaurant.

The fries, layered with cheese, slices of steak, chillies, peppers and tomatoes were very good, although I’d have preferred a little more steak than we actually got. The pieces of steak were almost wafer thin and few and far between. I wasn’t expecting a lot of steak in a side dish, but considering the £6 price tag – just £2 less than the burger itself, I expected a little more than we got. What we did get; however, tasted excellent. We were asked how we wanted the steak cooked and it came medium-rare as requested. The vegetables were well cooked and seasoned, particularly the tomatoes which were delicious. The fries were crispy, without being too crunchy and there was just the right amount of cheese melted on the top without drowning out everything else on the plate.

After we had finished and as we were getting ready to leave, we were asked if we felt like dessert. Despite feeling quite full, I asked what was available and as soon as I heard the word ‘churros’, I knew I was sticking around at least a little while longer. For those who don’t know, a churro is a fried-dough pastry that’s served with warm dipping chocolate. I’m a big fan of the dish, but it’s hard to find good churros in Glasgow once you’ve tasted them in Spain. We opted to share them and thankfully so – as you can see from the picture below, these were massive! They were served warm, lightly coated in sugar and with a cup of warm, thick and super-rich dipping chocolate. These were easily the best churros that I’ve tasted outside of Spain and while we don’t normally review desserts on the blog, these were too good not to mention. I actually enjoyed them just as much as the burger, if not a little more! I hope these are a permanent addition to the menu at Jacker De Viande, as I’d definitely go back just for them alone.

Overall, our first Jacker De Viande experience was mostly a good one. A great burger, tasty side dish and one of the best desserts I’ve had in recent memory were only let down by the absolutely awful ‘burger balls’. Avoid these at all costs and you should have a great time here.

I’m looking forward to going back and seeing what these guys come up with in the future!

Price: Burger £8 / Steak Fries £6

SUMMARY
+ Burger was very well cooked.
+ Customers are given the option of how they’d like their burger cooked.
+ Good example of what a classic burger should taste like.
+ Steak fries were very good.
+ Good bun. Very light.
+ One of the best desserts I’ve had in Glasgow. You should go just for these alone.
– Burger Balls were terrible. Really, really awful. Avoid at all costs.
– Would have preferred a little more steak in the steak fries.

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Jacker De Viande
111 West Regent Street
Glasgow
G2 2RU
Telephone: 0141 243 2405
Website: www.jackerdeviande.co.uk

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