Second time around….

Out and about in Croydon recently on a sunny, Sunday afternoon, when the lunch bells started ringing. I knew exactly where to go – Local Burger Co. This was the second place I visited and reviewed almost 2 years ago, so I was excited to be going back to see if it was as good as I remembered.

Now, anyone who follows these reviews regularly will know that my tastes have grown, and changed over the last 2 years. That’s not to say that I’m about to start throwing beetroot into my burgers – let’s not get ridiculous, but I have certainly become a fan of things that I never thought I would have in a burger. Therefore, returning to this place, I was keen to see how it stacked up.

Despite wanting to order “the big burger” again that I had last time, I wanted to have something different, so I ordered the “Beef, Bacon & Cheese” burger which came with premium beef patty, maple glazed bacon, American cheddar, lettuce, tomato, mayo and ketchup. I liked that they asked how the beef should be cooked, and I ordered it medium. However, the story doesn’t end there. Given I was so hungry and keen to throw them a test, I decided to add a second patty, extra cheese and fried, corn crumbed chicken breast fillet!

This burger was huge and looked amazing!! Standing taller than a beer bottle, the steak knife stabbed down the middle of it was barely holding this beast together, with the 2 pieces of chicken literally falling out of the burger. I wasn’t sure where to start, but I picked it up and started my attack. Basically the first few bites were just eating one of the pieces of chicken sticking out, then it was easier to start making some serious progress. The chicken tasted good but was a little over cooked and too crispy for me. The order of ingredients was all over the place too with lettuce on the top and tomato on the bottom – huh?! The worst thing was that a lot of the bacon was burnt on the ends, and it took over the taste of the entire burger. The bun didn’t hold up well at all either, with the bottom ripping within a few bites – although, I did super size the burger and add another patty and chicken, so it’s hard to know if the bun was built for that kind of pressure. The best part was actually the meat – it tasted really, really good and the cheese was on point too!

The other thing that I really liked, was the chocolate milkshake I had to wash it all down or should I say thick shake!? Awesome! Chips were just chips and nothing special.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience, and potentially because going in, my expectations were high. Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh, because the patty was really good, and I did decide to alter the menu by adding a few extras, but then I think a tasty burger should be able to “roll with the punches” so to speak and hold up under any conditions!