ROOHA

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

I don't really understand this whole 'kitchen' business. Don't get me wrong, I know what a kitchen is - I'm not an idiot, I just don't understand why these big franchises think that the idea of eating in one seems to alluring. Would I eat in my own kitchen? Probably not, it seems slightly lazy, suggestive of being so incredibly greedy that I was unable to make it to the living room or dining room table before consuming my food. Still, here we were, at the gourmet burger kitchen. As this was to celebrate my vegetarian sister's birthday, it seemed like an odd choice.

There were a lot of problems, the place was just cold - not just physically, but it was decorated like an art gallery. There should have been old American number plates and road signs on the wall, and red and white chequered table clothes, a massive glasses of coke with loads of ice. None of that was there, drinks only came bottled in small sizes, you had to order everything at the counter, there were no table clothes. You had to order chips seperately. They'd just gotten the whole concept completely wrong.

Taking on the burger market is a pretty big ask. People like burgers, if you disect your average student, they're 30% beef, and 3% ketchup (that may not be true). My point is, people have a large basis for comparison, so if you intend to charge £12 for a burger and chips, it'd better be good. I ordered mine with bacon and avocado, which I wasn't particularly confident about. It turned up

The sesame bun was cold, and seemed a little bit stale. My scepticism over the avocado proved to be entirely justified, it just didn't work.

I thought overall that the chain's pettiness was its main downfall. They only needed to look across the road to Nando's to see how these sort of places can work if marketed properly. Chips should have been included and should condiments, drinks should have been bigger and refillable, and it should all have come on one plate rather some absurd form of burger tapas. It's ludicrous penny pinching to charge for condiments which would have cost the restaurant peanuts, but charging for them just creates

Verdict: Extremely disappointing, paying a heavy price for being overpriced and average in an oversaturated market. Not the worst burger I've ever had, but then I could have been to Burger King three times for the price.