Broken finger

It's been a while since my last report, mainly since there ain't been much to report about. But a couple of weeks ago I was in Antwerp for work again. Still in a celebratory mood after winning the Belgian Floorball Championship, I figured I'd go all in at Finger's to celebrate. Big mistake!

Where: Finger's, but I won't bother you with the address.
Burger: As I wanted to go big, I got myself a chicken burger to start with. Three bites in, I was ready to write it off completely, but then the tastes started working: the peppery sauce, the fresh tomato and the chicken itself. In the end, the soggy bun didn't even bother me that much, but I must say I'd hoped for crispy, not soft, batter.
Then it was time for the main act. Last time the Thumb burger was good with great potential. This time when I unwrapped, it looked worse than the year-old McD burger. The meat looked hard and the bun wet. I shouldn't have, but still hungry, I took a bite of it. Disgusting! The bread tasted like it looked and the meat was just all wrong: hard on the outside, uncooked on the inside. The sauce and the veggies didn't come through and after four bites I had to give up because of the extremely ill-cooked patty. I think it's time for the Thai working the grill at Finger's to focus on pad thais and curries instead. I hadn't been on the train to Brussels when eating, I would've told him so.
Drink: Coke
Side: Fries. At first I thought: these are so fresh, so crispy, just great. But once I'd eaten past the first third, they were just hard. Consistent with the rest of the meal.
Cost: €9,70. Rip-off!
Question: WTF? Where's the consistency? Next time I'll go to Starbucks instead (it's just around the corner anyway). A potentially great relationship had come to an abrupt end.

Happy thoughts

Can't really keep this link from a burger blog now can I? It's been all over the place, but I actually found it through Jeremy Piven's Twitter ("Thank you, Ari Gold!"): the year-old Happy Meal, still looking happy. http://www.babybites.info/2010/03/03/1-year-happy-meal/

Where: McD
Burger: Yes, it still looks like a burger
Drink: The cup seems empty
Side: Fresh fries
Cost: Priceless
Question: On which photo do the fries look better?

Fingers, Antwerp

I was in Antwerp for work today and managed to squeeze in a burger between meetings. A man's gotta eat, right? I remember going to this place a couple of years ago, when it was new, but it didn't leave a lasting impression then. Now it was perfectly placed for my lunch. The place itself looks like any franchise, but according to the website, there's just the one restaurant.

Where: Finger's Restaurant, near the central station of Antwerp
Burger: "Thumb". My first impression is that it looks real. As in different from all the plastic, right-off-the-conveyor-belt, identical looking excuses for burgers. The Thumb's got that authentic, hand-made character to it. Sinking my teeth into it, I also notice that the taste is genuine and good. Fresh greens, a nice, but small-ish patty, a great bun and to top it all off: a great sweet pink sauce, somewhere between ketchup and mayo, but with some spices to it. The burger was a real treat. Adding some more of that good fresh onion and perhaps another patty and we could be talking top marks here. Anyway, it lives up to its slogan as "Belgium's best grilled hamburgers"
Drink: A bottle of water. The shake-machine was out of order.
Side: Fries. Thin and perfectly salted. A little bit on the soft side, but the taste was great. Not to fatty, but still oily-tasting somehow. I like.
Cost: €5.95
Question:When do you open in Brussels?

Tonton Chami, Brussels

I found a newly opened burger joint near my work in downtown Brussels and figured I'd give it a shot today at lunch. Brussels and Belgium are pretty poor when it comes to burgers, no Burger King here, so new initiatives are more than welcome. The place looks really slick inside and the signs promised "burger & chicken", so I went for both. Unfortunately, the whole McD/KFC type of concept didn't work out.

Where: Tonton Chami, Brussels
Burger: Bacon Street without cheese, looked big on the photo, but small in the hand. The barbecue sauce was the only thing to it. The beef was OK cooked, but tasteless, same for the soft slab of bacon. Pity, as I thought the place had some potential. Still beats McD and Q***k though.
Drink: 50cl Coke, served in a plastic bottle.
Side: Fries, Mickey D-ish things with too much salt, and a pack of hot wings, which looked pretty awful, KFC-style. They tasted fine, but weren't hot at all. Disappointing.
Cost: 9.50€
Question: Where's the taste?

Prelude: BK @ MBK in BKK

Over lunch at a shopping mall in Bangkok, we started discussing how to make money from writing about something we enjoy. We also started discussing subjects to write on. Food was of course pretty obvious to us at that point, but we figured you'd need a niche to make it big, a specific area in which you can excell. Not expecting to become rich from it, the conversation led me to the idea that I should start a burger blog. I've had many great burgers while travelling - this is my way to remember them.

Where: Burger King at MBK shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand
Burger: Double whopper. Perfectly barbecued! In fact, it even convinced Wouter that Burger King's burgers are indeed the best of all the franchises.
Drink: Coke
Side: Onion rings. Again, the preparation was perfect. I was very impressed with the crunchiness and taste. Also, they looked nice.
Cost: 190 Bath
Question: What's with the pork? The served a lot of pork burgers at Burger King in Thailand, promoting the availability of all their burges with an optional pork patty instead of the beef. Weird.

Mike's, Chiangmai

My first entry is about the place where I had lunch yesterday. I'm keeping it short as I'm typing on my cell.

Where: Mike's Burgers in Chiangmai, Thailand
Burger: 150g beef on a toasted bun schmeared with mayo. The patty was a bit dry, but the taste could be improved by the help-yourself ketchup and mustard.
Drink: Ice with Pepsi
Side: Fries. Medium thick and varied in length, they were the highlight of the meal
Cost: 170 Bath