One thing Exeter doesn’t lack is a wide variety of places to eat. From national chain restaurants to independent cafes the city is never short of somewhere nice, new and interesting to satisfy your appetite.
Joining this ever expanding list is new burger restaurant Burger Fest. The recently opened restaurant is situated on Bartholomew Street East, near the Catacombs, making it close enough to get to from the town centre but slightly removed from the increasingly hectic crowds there.
Now you may be thinking that Exeter already has a long list of places where you can dine on a gourmet burger, satisfying your craving for chargrilled meat and homemade fries, and you’d be right. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one more, especially when their approach to burgers is to take the classic and add their own twist making them into something just a little bit different.
It’s not just the burgers that are a little bit different. The restaurant itself goes against expectations by featuring a table tennis table and a Sega megadrive room to keep you entertained while you wait for your food, whilst the seats are made from old beer kegs to create a unique decor which contributes to the very cool vibe that Burger Fest emanates.
Now, full disclosure here, I’m a massive fan of burgers, so any excuse to try a new restaurant that specialises in burgers is going to excite me. The only downside with this is that sometimes the anticipation is better than the food itself. Not so with Burger Fest. When my wife and I went there a couple of weeks ago I had already spent many happy minutes trawling through their menu looking for the perfect combination of flavours. In the end we chose the S’aul Good Man and the Dirty South burgers (£7 each), a portion of Skin on fries (£2.50), Onion rings (£2.50) and Slaw (£2). For drinks we both opted for homemade milkshakes were which delicious.
The burgers were cooked to perfection with the outsides charred ever so slightly and the middle just bordering on pink. These great looking and fantastic tasting pair of burgers were also beautifully complemented by the sides. It’s become more and more common to see sides sold separately when buying a burger and this can be a little annoying when the sides that are served are bland, add nothing to the meal and are overpriced. But at Burger Fest, that’s not the case. With the fries and onion rings crisp, dry, and well seasoned and the slaw adding a delicious creamy crunch to the meal.
All in all Burger Fest manages to hold its own in a city with a lot of meaty competition. Offering a slightly different dining experience by taking the humble burger and adding various different flavours and ingredients to it, plus a unique restaurant environment, Burger Fest really is well worth a visit.
By Steve Fothergill
The Old Malthouse, Bartholomew Street East, Exeter, EX4 3BG T:01392 498181
Visit BurgerFest online at: www.burger-fest.co.uk
