Recently, as part of American National Burger month, Bread Meats Bread decided to create three special menu items over three weeks, each one being their own tribute to an iconic American burger. The first was their own take on In-N-Out Burger’s secret menu ‘Animal Style’ classic and you can read our recent review of that HERE.
As in our previous review, we won’t go into any details of Bread Meats Bread as a venue, as we’ve reviewed it several times before, which you can read HERE and HERE. The only thing that we’re focusing on here is the burger itself.
This burger was Bread Meats Bread’s tribute to the Black Label burger from the Minetta Tavern in New York City, which Nigella Lawson told James vs. Burger was her favourite burger ever! You can read our review of the original NYC version from Minetta Tavern HERE.
The burger consisted of a dry-aged rib-eye and brisket blend patty, which was simply topped with caramelised onions and served on a brioche bun, just as it is in the US. There’s no sauce, no cheese, nothing. You could add that stuff if you wanted to, but we wouldn’t have recommended it.
Presentation-wise, everything was kept simple. The salad was served on the side and the caramelised onions dripped from the edge of the bun. We ordered ours with a side of sweet potato fries, which were served in a separate bowl.
The patty delivered a deep, robust flavour with a peppery aftertaste. It was a good quality piece of meat and as mentioned before, it thankfully came with no other toppings other than the onions. Cheese, sauces, pickles or any other topping would have detracted from the overall taste, we felt.
It was served medium and while I’d have perhaps preferred it a little more pink on the inside, it was still a well-cooked and juicy burger. It was slightly bigger than the standard Bread Meats Bread patties too and came a little charred on the outside.
The caramelised onions were; in fact, my favourite part of the whole dish because they added so much to the overall flavour of the burger. These were cooked perfectly, thick and gooey in texture with an intense sweet kick that wasn’t over the top. It just all worked well together.
While we loved the simplicity of the burger, we can appreciate that the lack of toppings won’t be for everyone. Many, understandably, can’t imagine having a burger without cheese and usually, that includes us! Here; however, we felt that the caramelised onions added enough flavour, without overpowering the flavour of beef. I’m sure that the staff wouldn’t have flat-out refused any paying customer cheese on the burger, but there are plenty of other options of the menu for that.
The sweet potato fries were, as usual, excellent. Bread Meats Bread have certainly improved them dramatically, when you compare them to how they were back when the place first opened. Back then, they were soggy and fell apart when poked with a fork. Now, they’re crispy and soft on the inside and still probably the best sweet potato fries in Glasgow.
We didn’t get a chance to sample the sliders that Bread Meats Bread had on the menu during the second week of their burger tribute run, but did the Black Label top the California special tribute that they did in week one? We’d have to say yes, but only slightly. As they were very different burgers, it’s tough to compare them. The California special was a big, dirty, cheese-soaked plate of indulgence whereas this was extremely simple, but delivered big in terms of flavour. Nowadays, we tend to favour simple, classic burgers over messy options with too many ingredients and out of the two tribute specials, the Black Label gets our vote as being the best. While it didn’t beat the Minetta Tavern original, it was a very good effort that we’d love to see on the menu again.
Price: £10 (fries extra)
SUMMARY
+ Well-cooked.
+ Simple
+ Caramelised onions were fantastic.
+ Good quality.
– The simplicity and lack of toppings may not be for everyone.
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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Bread Meats Bread
104 St. Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5UB
Website: www.breadmeatsbread.co.uk/
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