A while ago, Ares found a burger store near his place and went on nagging for a month about it, saying that we should go have it on cheat day, but never got the chance to try it. Then, one day I went out with my friend to celebrate his birthday and boom! Ares went with his friend. I asked him what they had for dinner that day and he literally ignored the question. He didn't tell me until the next day when we were heading out to the store "so, actually I already had burgers with my friend yesterday."
Question: Cheat-eating (yes, that's a thing now) good food which breaks a food-pact (that's a thing now, too) and watching the next episode first without your binge-partner, which one is a more serious crime? I personally think both are a bit worse than backstabbing. Straight to the gallows!
Taipei American-Style Burger：Burgerholic –Menu
I didn't find a paper-copy or photo version of the menu either at the store or online, the entire menu is on the LED sign in the store, so I made one based on the pictures that I took. Because I love tables and spreadsheets, just let me Monica all over the place.
As shown in the picture, the store has a small and simple front, there are no seats and only offers take-out or delivery. We went on February 7th 2022, and the owner said that they have only been open for about 5 months. The owner is a culinary teacher, other than running private kitchens, he also has a few restaurants. The Temple Bistro next door is also affiliated with them. But because of the pandemic and relevant government policies (and people's dwindling desire to leave our couches and beds), take-out and delivery has become a rising trend. This led to him opening this American-style burger store with only take-out and no dine-in option, which actually fits in the modern lifestyle a lot more. You can find them on both Food Panda and Uber Eats. Without massive dine-in areas, they saved on rent, so the food is much cheaper than most American burger restaurants in Taipei, especially in comparison with the Instagrammable restaurants in the east and XinYi district.
Taipei American-Style Burger：Burgerholic –Burgers
Ares said that the first time he went, he saw the owner eating a burger and asked which one he was having. He also mentioned that the BBQ pulled pork seems pretty good. But the owner sneakily shook his head and told him to choose from no. 1–3. When I heard this story, I literally laughed out loud. Did the owner have truth serum in his burger? Wasn't he supposed to say that everything is good. How could we not go back after his brutally honest answer?
I liked both of the burgers we ordered. This is definitely not something that you can eat sitting in bed, sauce and juice starts dripping out of the burgers as soon as you pick them up. Definitely unlike the dry burgers from Salt & Stone. Ares said that he's happy that he finally got to eat a real burger. By the way, this is also the first time I ate a burger with both buns. Usually, I would remove one, not just to cut down on refined carbs, but also because most burgers are too dry, do not have enough sauce, and don't taste strong enough. Eating them with both sides of the bun feels kind of like eating unflavored cotton. But Burgerholic's patty is quite juicy. The buns are also toasted perfectly. They smelled great, were golden on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. Oops! I did it again. This was a serious cheat day.
I chose no.3 Peanut Butter Burger (NTD$150). One of the reasons I chose this because it is an undying classic and I can easily draw comparison with other burgers. I love peanut butter so I obviously liked the sweet and savory combination in this one. They were also quite generous with the peanut butter, enough to have some with every bite. This is much better than other burger stores in Taipei. I've tried the peanut butter burgers of several famous brunch places, and it felt more like they accidentally got peanut butter on the patty. However, the peanut butter was kind of concentrated on one side of my burger that day. I spread it across evenly on my own and it was delicious after that. But Ares likes to separate sweet and savory. This is a "special" burger in his mind and he didn't like it that much. He took a bite and asked me why it was sweet. Because... peanut butter!?
I think the bacon was cooked just right. Normally, I actually don't like crispy bacon, it feels like I'm chewing on plastic. I like soft bacon with the chewy meat texture. Burgerholic's bacon lands somewhere in between. The edges are slightly burnt and crispy but the center still retains the texture of what meat is supposed to feel like. I didn't have to rip through it like I do with most crispy bacon. That, along with the rich sauce and refreshing lettuce and tomato forms the perfect bite. Also, I usually have a problem with the texture of tomatoes, but I didn't detect the weird mushy tomato texture here at all.
All in all, I think it was pretty good. If you like peanut butter, you can give it a try. But I agree with Ares when he said that the other burgers are much worth trying, because this isn't a particularly unique burger. When he cheat-ate the day before, he's already tried no. 7 Jumbo (NTD$210), I didn't try this so I can only relay what Ares told me. But remember how he has limited food adjectives? Sorry, all he told me was it was good and there was a lot of meat. The owner says that no. 7 is actually the same as no. 1Classic Beef Burger(NTD$150) but with double the meat. And that you can actually get double the meat for extra charge with every burger. (I think it was an extra NTD$50 or NTD$60. Sorry, I have the memory span of a goldfish.)
Ares chose no.2 Multi-Meat Burger(NTD$195) this time. It has three types of meat: chicken, pork, and beef. It's so satisfying to bite into.
When Ares let me take a bite he said "THIS is a real burger!" and totally looked down on my choice. I chose it mainly because he said he hadn't had a peanut butter burger before! I thought I was being nice but apparently that was all in my head, cause I got made fun of again. Every time I order something different from him when we eat out, he would proudly state that he has a better eye when it comes to ordering food. Of course, it's also because we have different taste in food, I usually like what I order. Anyway, that's the end of my rant. I'm probably just still huffy puffy about the cheat-eating. Honestly, I'm so irritable lately, probably this soul-sucking weather. The other day, Ares said that I've been more fragile lately, too. Okay, back to burgers for real.
You can see from the picture that sauce and juice from the meat literally floods out around the burger. We couldn't move it for pictures at all. One of the most impressionable things about this burger is the gratifying texture of biting into a mouthful of meat. Mouth pleasure, check. The other is the thick chicken slices, because they were unexpectedly tender, unlike most chicken slices that are a but dry and flakey. For the pork, they used bacon, which I have already detailed above. The beef is the patty, of course. It's a firm bite bit it's tender and soft. I could also obviously taste the flavor of the beef.
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Taipei American-Style Burger：Burgerholic –Sides
We didn't want drinks that day so Ares ordered a side of fries. (I refuse to call them chips like on the original menu. Sorry, I can't. I'm not into British wording. Crisp is a texture not a food.) It's such a pity that I didn't take a photo of the fries alone because I loved them! You can only look at it by zooming into the blurred background of the cover photo. The fries are a bit thick, not like McDonald's fries, more similar to Moss Burger's fries. I don't like really crispy and hard fries, but I also don't like soggy fries that can't stand straight on it's own. I know, I'm annoying. But Burgerholic's fries achieved the golden crispy outside with a soft inside. The owner gave us a box of honey mustard that day because Ares said he didn't want ketchup. It wasn't Heinz honey mustard. It was honey mustard where you can actually see mustard seeds and taste the sweetness of the honey. It went perfectly with the fries. I'm not sure whether it was store bought or they made it themselves, but it has a similar consistency to the ones I make at home. (Update: The owner saw this blog post and confirmed that they make the honey mustard on their own.)
Taipei American-Style Burger：Burgerholic –Store Info
Store name: Burgerholic
Address: No.28, Jiaxin Street, Xinyi District (on the same side as the doggie street at the end of Tonghua night market, across the street in a small alley. If you are taking the MRT, the closest one is exit 2 of 101 station. It's about a 7-minute walk.)
Opening hours: Mon.–Sun. 10:30–20:30
Phone number: (02)2758-8850
Delivery platforms: Food Panda, Uber Eats
Instagram: burger_holic2828
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