‘Ruby’s Classic Burger’ Review
Ruby Rain
The Ruby Burger was presented in a straightforward no nonsense manner promoting nothing but classic charred character. With a uniformly shaped patty it had clearly been manufactured down to the inch to fit a likewise designed bun.
Selecting a chain restaurant would undoubtedly lead to examples of a copy and paste culture, yet RT made it work for both them and the burger resulting in a perfect (albeit defaulted) meat to bun ratio. Wet salad arranged under the meat however did no favours for the bottom bun and left it’s counterpart a bafflingly flaky contradiction.
Wrestling the first bite with enough food to keep busy was accomplished thanks to a good sized chunk of meat, but it was soon clear that the at first inviting char was mere facade; a superficial afterthought add-on rather than consequence of genuine grilling. In fairness there were unquestionably bites that offered a little more texture and variety in taste, but most of the patty crust fell short of escaping a soft finish.
RT’s Classic could have done with a good degree less of special whatever-sauce smeared between beef and leaf, but the texture of the patty was pleasingly without worry, gristle or strife.The burger was certainly not intended for anyone averse to juice when a light squeeze had the patty flowing like a flooded fjord, but at the vanguard toughing the torrent was a definite taste of cow dressed for the evening in spot on seasoning. Medium levels were bizarrely lost until three quarters through the burger, when finally the perfect pink began to shine through the downpour. This rendered the Taunt Test useless with a race to finish a burger that illogically, improved as it was consumed.
The final bite was satisfaction mixed with regret that it was over. With hat and coat it set out to deliver everything it had been created for, accomplishing all without a grumble. Not a flawless effort and hopefully still aways from the best Hong Kong has to offer, ‘Ruby’s Classic Burger’ has still earned a spot on the burgerank as well as the Benchmark seal of approval. Considering the aforementioned nature of a pre-fashioned, Ford Model T style burger, where exactly all the juice and taste came from is a mystery, and surely one any burger pilgrim would happily continue to try solving.
~ Pilgrim Mage
‘Smokehouse Burger’ Review
They Aren’t Straws!
Being a chain restaurant, I was dubious about the quality of Ruby Tuesday’s burgers. Primarily, I was concerned with whether they would just be an upmarket, overpriced Mickey D’s. Still, the Smokehouse Burger, with a plethora of enticing accouterments sounded rather delicious. So was it?
Well, first things first, let me tell you what the Smokehouse burger includes: Cheese, Bacon, Salad Stuff, Pickles, BBQ Sauce, Other Sauces, some crispy Onion Ring type things that look like fried onion blossom sheddings, and of course the Patty.
The patty was hearty, nicely grilled, and not overwhelmed by the supremely sized and rather tasty bun. The burger felty hefty in my hands, and gave me a great sense of bewilderment about how to put it in my mouth, and accomplishment when I finally managed.
A few munches yielded a fair bit of meat-juice leakage, but I do not mind getting a bit messy for the sake of good cow. The patty tasted nice (with all the placid beige connotations that come with that word) and there was patchy pink evidence that it had been cooked medium (though how it was only in patches I do not know).
The burger, with all the added ‘Smokehouse’ stuff tasted great. The bits and pieces all complemented each other well, and it was easy to pick out the flavours of everything listed on the menu. The ‘crisp onion straws’ (their bizarre choice of words, I’d have called them ‘onion-y bits’) were delicious, and the thick cut pickles were awesome if you are indeed a fan of pickles, which I am. My derisory prejudice about this burger being McDonalds 2.0 was proving to be gratefully unfounded.
I administered the Taunt Test and found myself instantly thinking about my next bite, like some crazed junkie desperate for another beef injection (heh). I tried to distract myself with the chips on my plate, but was soon jumping back into bed with this sultry smokehouse temptress. Sod the chips, and my mixed metaphors! This burger was tasty.
After a while though, the sauces and salad and cheese and pickles and bacon and and and became one overwhelming, homogenous, defining though hard to define taste. Like a movie extra jumping around in the background of a Scarlett Johansson nudie scene, it was trying to distract me from the only reason I was there in the first place.
Still, I would definitely eat this burger again. In fact, I am bequeathing RT’s Smokehouse Burger with my first ever Benchmark Brand!
It ruffles my anti-establishmentarian feathers to know that my first Benchmark seal of approval is going to a burger from a chain restaurant. However, while there are things about this burger that could be improved (e.g. upgrading the patty from ‘nice’ to ‘exceptional’), and while I am hoping that this isn’t the best burger Hong Kong has to offer, it is the best burger on the quest so far (a grave indictment of the quality of individual burger restaurants in Hong Kong that we Pilgrims have tried).
Onwards we quest,
~ Pilgrim Pickles
Hong Kong Burger Quest 