Burger LAB

Now that is an interesting name. They are new and they are at the Bashundhara gate, close to HURDCO International School.
Their menu is as interesting as their name and they sound really good. You can go there for a BBQ radiation, or choose to get a spicy flame on or think about the BIG BANG. And if you like cheese and in the mood for a selfie, you certainly have the option to "SAY CHEESE".

The Daily Star is caught up writing articles on burger carts and joints these days, and so I thought, I might dig into a few too while the trend lasts. And i was lucky enough to check in there last night, just when they were taking snaps for the newspaper.

However, I didn't enjoy their burger.

I ordered what they call "BIG BANG". Yes, "BIG BANG", and it does not come with Sheldon Cooper's theories. It is a burger that has double patties, cheese, egg, jalapenos, pickle, mushroom, bacon and salami, garlic mayo and ketchup; wonder what was left. It is a big burger by height, that might ask you to have a very flexible jaw to allow you to open your mouth as wide as one to win you a Guinness Record. People who like to get their hands messy might enjoy this burger.
Apart from struggling to have a bite on the burger, I would not deny that there is a good balance in the taste. Bacon and salami give the chewy bite with the hint of garlic and sour pickles and jalapenos make a nice combo here. Egg has a full done yolk.

So what went wrong with this burger?
The patty is dry and does nothing to add to the taste. It just piles up in there and rests in for the sake of this burger to be called a beef burger or a chicken burger. What is worse is the after taste of burnt oil, and this taste stays the rest of day and often reminds the odd experience when burped. Needless to mention that this burger is a recipe for feeling bloated. It is clear why, when you look at their cooking process. The patties are soaking in oil in the pan when cooked.
The fillings would often slip and mushroom would win the race against others in dropping down. Bun are totally soggy (or swaggy may be according to them) half way through.

I don't understand why you need to be so generous and offer everything at the cost of the quality of your burger! When building up a burger like that, it is essential to keep in mind if you would eat that and feel good about it. You cannot go serve something that you don't feel right.

This was my second visit and I really wanted to write something good about them. It is a shame that they were disappointing again, even after a few pointers in my previous visit.

At George's Cafe in Uttara

I am kind of happy to come across a place that believes in homemade products.
They serve good buffalo wings, which are perfectly done, juicy and succulent on a tangy tomato sauce with a hint of herbs. The dish comes with an aoili. Aoili is pleasantly garlicy, but I find it unfair when an aoili like that is served with such a good sauce under the wings. The aoili masks the goodness of the sauce and renders it useless. Aoili here is totall unnecessary.
The George's Cafe Burger is just buttery in texture in the mouth with a few chunky bites. Taste is dominated by nutmeg though. Taste needs a little more balance here.
The Banana and Cream pie was excellent. Banana and cream are a good combo in a pie that had a perfect crust that doesnt break apart on slightest pressure.
Chocolate Milk Shake was a disapointment. It tasted like store bought cheap chocolate milk. The positive point here is that they use homemade icecream.
They also prepare their own ketchup and mayonnaise.

At Fish & Co.

After all the mixed reviews from all around I couldn’t resist the temptation to check in for lunch. I was quite curious about the new thing in the city and I think I should have come here earlier. Could have saved many from wasting their hard earned money probably.
I had a soup of the day and a platter.
Soup of the day was much like seafood chowder and it was okay. There was a distinct flavour of celery in the soup. Texture was creamy, and had a stingy serving of fish and carrots unlike real chowder. Honestly, the soup was a bit bland for me, but I think that leaves you the option of adding salt and pepper according to your preference. However, there was a major flaw in presentation. The plate was messy around the edges and that is not a restaurant quality service in my book.
The platter I asked for had grilled calamari, grilled prawns, white fish, chips and paella rice. Grilled calamari was slightly overdone, some being too charred and having a burnt flavour, otherwise a bit chewy (grilled calamari is chewy). Chips were not perfectly crispy, and for me, chips must be crispy on the outside. Grilled prawns were a bit creamy in texture, but I prefer the perfectly done crunchy and firm textured prawns with a softer bite inside. I expected the white fish to have a bit of a flavour, but it was plain and simply done fish on the pan. Rice was cooked perfectly to al dente, but bland for my taste buds. The whole meal had just one distinct flavour-CELERY. Rice tasted a bit different though, but lacked salt and pepper, so that you could add them according to your preference. There was nothing special about it. The meal didn’t seem to pack any real flavour, and so I had to ask for their garlic lemon butter sauce.

Garlic lemon butter sauce is my favourite thing with any seafood, and I demand it to be served right. The only thing that seemed totally perfect about that meal was the sauce. It wasn’t too garlicky, or too lemony, but with just the right amount of sour kick and the richness of butter complemented the sauce.

I will not be returning to this place though. Food wasn’t worth my money, but I probably could have gone back for second tasting. The reason I wouldn’t bother doing that is their service. I would not pay a single paisa here for the service I received. They are ignorant of guest’s preferences. I had to shout out loud at one point to call them. They wouldn’t confirm me when I changed my order and I wasn’t sure about what was coming to the table. I had to ask for tissue papers several times before the request reached their ears. They pushed my chair countless times as they rushed across and I don’t appreciate that when I am dining. In shot, they would show themselves to busy for you making you feel like an uninvited guest to their store. That for me is the worst kind of service in any kind of restaurant. The guest is the boss in here and in Bangladesh guests love to be pampered.

At Meat Lovers

It’s Meat Lovers this time.
After reading about them in many online food discussion groups on facebook,I decided to check in couple of nights ago, 26th September to be exact. I wonder why they became popular despite serving food that is below par. Is it that I have a problem with my palates? Or that place had a bad service that night? Grilled sandwich looked greasy. It looked the least appetizing. Taste was horrible. Using sweet sauce was a major error in this culinary adventure.
The place has a messy surrounding and the interior is a bit shabby too. It just became worse when my eyes and nose started to get irritated by the smoke. So you sit in front of a gas grill that is probably never to be used and a big cylinder in your sight, with watering eyes and a disturbing odour of smoke. It seemed like all the food is actually grilled in an electric grilling machine.
Menu design and the options of food just added to their misery. I couldn’t understand the difference between pepperoni sandwich and grilled sandwich, because even after promising roasted beef the grilled sandwich actually had pepperoni inside. And the pictures of chicken wings with chilly sauce were even worse where the sauce looked like splash of burnt red oil around the chicken.
My grilled sandwich was served on tissue paper, which is not the right way to serve. It didn’t take long for the tissue paper to stick to the sandwich, and that is why you shouldn’t serve food on tissue paper like that. I want to enjoy my time eating a sandwich when I am paying for it in a fast food shop, and definitely not waste my time trying to get rid of the tissue paper from the bread.
Bread was crispy but looked horrible. Pepperoni slices inside were topped with generous portions of mozzarella, but the choice of sauce killed it. Processed meat being the major meat inside a sandwich just takes all the fun away. You can prepare them at home for a cost much lower than what you would pay to eat this sandwich at Meat Lovers. Curly fries were interesting and tasted okay, but nothing special. They were anything but crispy.
I don’t bother telling about the details of texture here cause there was nothing prepared right then. Everything is store bought and assembled. This is a cheap way to serve guests in a place,which by its name promises meaty delights.

Paparoti

At Charcoal Steak House

It was nearly 10:30p.m., time for them to close and I stood right there in front of the gate knowing little about their closing hour. However, they greeted me in and I was happily seated for my first ever experience of the steak there.
I didn’t like the dark interior. A fine dine restaurant should have little more light than that and I should be able to see my food clearly. The photos tell you how dark it was there.
I was suggested the T-bone steak, but I always enjoyed a good sirloin and went for the Surf and Turf so that I could check the chef’s skills in cooking fish too. My steak always has to be medium or medium rare. This time I asked for medium rare.
The wait was ten minutes long. I can’t say they made a picture on the plate and the presentation leaves much to be desired. Steak seemed to be cooked unevenly. Till the middle half from my side, it seemed overdone, with a pinkish centre, but then at the farthest edge it was just seared and raw inside, which in a chef’s term is called bleu.
That reminds me, I forgot to take a snap of that. I was too busy eating. 
The steak had a hint of pineapple. Pineapple juice must have been added to tenderize the meat. Sirloin, if done right, needs no tenderizer.
The cream and pepper sauce on top of the steak was grainy and felt like sand in the mouth. It was a plain simple sauce, probably made with roux, caramelized meat bits in the pan and the juice extracted from the steak. 
Shrimps were cooked to perfection. 
Fish fillet was overdone and dry. I didn't enjoy that.
Blanched vegetable was bland. Mashed potato was a bit too sweet for me and the texture was slightly lumpy and too gluey for my preference. I like the mash to be thick, smooth and creamy.
It was an average meal and I was looking for more flavours. The whole point of dining in a restaurant is not to feel like at home. I was looking for the smoky flavour, which wasn't there. My guess would be, they didn't allow the charcoal grill to heat up properly in every corner and prepared the meal in a rush.
Front of the house, however, was excellent. 
The meal seemed reasonably charged if I go for the size but certainly did not meet my expectations in terms of taste of a pricy meal like that.
I am not sure if my meal was like that because they were preparing to leave, or do they serve like that always. I might have to try again in a month to find out.

The Cart Company

No, you are not drunk! It is just the photographic effect there in my photo. And you can find the "Drunken Noodles" at TCC (not TLC).
The newly opened "The Cart Company" is an interesting addition to the food industry. It gives a village kind of feel to you offering food from different cuisines.
However, I didn't find the food that great.
I was there with a friend and we shared the "Drunken Noodles". It was a bit too garlicky and there was noting Thai about it. The noodles didn't even have the sunny side egg on top as promised.
The whole preparation gave me the idea that the chef is not well trained, probably has been washing dishes previously and learnt to cook the see-and-do way ( I admit those are harsh words, but I certainly hate it when there is a bad service). Honestly it was much like a dish prepared at home charged with a price of that in a restaurant. I wish I could say something in their favour.