‘Anthony’s Burger’ Review
A Sai Kung Showdown
With a “YEEHAW!” and a “‘Murica F**k Yeah!” To Anthony’s Ranch we quested. Not a far distance for the Pilgrims, who chose to conquer more of Sai Kung’s beefy offerings before venturing on.
There is only one burger option available at A-Ranch* so, except for how you like your beef cooked (medium you heathens), you take the burger as it comes. No messing around. ‘Murica and such!
Anthony’s Burger w/cheese
Anthony’s Burger arrived with prudent preparation. The burger lay open on the plate, making salad removal nice and easy, with a pickle and jalapeno off to the side, available as accentuation for those who wanted to indulge in a bit of burger-based pick’n’mix.
The bun was toasted a beautiful golden brown, with just a slight crisp to it, and the delectable taste of melted butter bursting through several bites.
The patty, cooked to a meticulous medium, exuded a nice char-grilled aura. The meat was moist but not overly greasy, and best of all, actually tasted of beef! (thanks to some proper seasoning).
Initial impressions were good.
As the meal wore on, and my burger diminished, a few faults did become evident. The burger was quite small for the bun it was trying to house itself in, looking like a hobbit wearing wizards robes, and for all the char-grilled taste, there was little to no crust on the burger.
Despite my (perhaps nitpick-y) criticisms, the Taunt Test proved positive. I shoved the burger down my throat quicker than Speedy Gonzalez can yell “Andale Andale”, with little regard for the plethora of accompaniments that came with it, and a plethora there was too!
Pickles, Jalapenos, Standard Salady Bits, Coleslaw, and (…skinny…) Fries made sure that, burger aside, we left Anthony’s Ranch feeling properly full.
When we did finally leave, bellies blessed with beef, it was apparent that a good meal had been had by all, and we definitely didn’t leave thinking that we’d wasted our money.
However, the minor fault of a minor patty meant that my full stomach was thanks to the peripherals and not the main attraction.
Ultimately, ‘Anthony’s Burger’ is good, but not great. Certainly not great enough for the Pilgrims. And so the quest for the best goes on!
[* well, technically two; Anthony’s Burger is a smaller, ‘lunch’ version of the normal menu’s ‘Bigger Burger’]
~ Pilgrim Pickles
Straight and Simple
A Texan ensemble touched down. The burger off-centre to accommodate a slew of distractions to play with, it’s vegetables placed away from the melted cheese for a mess-free removal.
Burger meat was seasoned decently without much interference from ‘creative’ spicing, blessedly leaving beef to shine. Cooked nicely to medium the juices flowed evenly within the burger, condemning only trace drippings to the plate. Exterior was grilled to a pleasant charred flavour, yet oddly lent neither crisp nor crunch to the texture.
Decisions
Biting into the bun was chewing on a cloud; supremely soft, it needed no mayo or ‘special sauce’ to disguise dryness, allowing the meat to do most of the footwork. But footwork it was, and with the generous amount of bread given a larger patty would have been impossible to refuse. There is a definite line drawn (somewhere) stating that meat served on any plate must constitute at least 30% of said plate.
Inclusion of fries triggered a natural pause for the Taunt Test, and to impressive results. Perhaps it was the relatively small burger size but with negligible time settled down, the burger was promptly dispatched.
It took a good deal of thought when positioning ‘Anthony’s Burger’ on The Burgerank, and in honesty The Benchmark sits higher for overall satisfaction. It would however be irresponsible to turn away once through Anthony’s doors, where you should go enjoy a simple, straight, American Burger.
TL:DR – Glad to have eaten it, happy the best is still out there.
~ Pilgrim Mage
Hong Kong Burger Quest 