Pound For Pound

It's been a good few days now in the United States for the Junk Food Connoisseur and his friends. We've been eating things such as bagels, Papa John's pizza to the more luxurious item of oysters in Boston. It's been a pleasant stay in Boston, walking the Freedom Trail and completing the 294 steps up Bunker Hill (to help stir up an appetite).

Yesterday we ventured on to Washington DC, the next stop on our tour of America. Having been in the country a couple of days it was probably considered a crime that we still hadn't consumed a burger yet. Well....clearly this needed addressing! Prior to watching the NHL game between the Washington Capitals vs Florida Panthers we stumbled into Fuddruckers. It was more a case of indecisiveness and there were hungry mouths to feed.

The first thing that comes to mind when scanning the menu is that the smallest sized burger is a 1/3 pounder with the largest weighing in at an entire pound. Had any doubts I was in America beforehand? No questions now surely! I've opted to start slow and chose a 1/3 pound Inferno burger consisting of jalapenos, caramelised onions and Pepper Jack cheese. You're even asked how you want the burger cooked! 

There's quite a considerable wait because the burger is cooked the way you want it and this time is also proportional to the size of the burger. The estimated cooking time of a pound burger is 15 minutes meaning a hungry man has to be a very patient one too.

There is a salad and sauce section upon receiving your burger that is entirely self-serve. I love my burgers fully loaded and put on plenty of lettuce, tomatoes and onions....oh and yet more jalapenos too! I do wonder how I would have managed to fit a whole pounder in my mouth with the salad.

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My burger was consumed within minutes and my only regret now is not opting for a larger burger. Next time I'll know better but as any good fighter knows, you start at a weight you're comfortable in and work your way up to heavyweight champion of the world!

The "Gourmet" Burger?

I met up with some of my poker buddies for our usual lunch at Wetherspoon's yesterday. It's difficult to find an establishment within a 10 minutes walk from each of our respective offices. However, a year ago we all settled on the local Wetherspoons and continued to visit their regularly. If you think our choice of location was bad, we continue to order the same meal and sit at the same table (if vacant).

I know most of you reading this with be shuddering at the thought of dining in a Wetherspoon's. Who could blame you? You're usually greeted at the entrance by the groupie of smokers sat outside but yesterday there was a big waft of weed lingering in the air. It was considerably more populated than usual too, perhaps everyone had collected their benefits that morning? Anyway enough about the surroundings and those occupying the space and on to the so-called fine dining experience.

The meal arrived after a 30 minute wait, surely it doesn't take that long to defrost and grill a burger right? The burger itself was slightly dry and definitely didn't warrant the gourmet tag, maybe I should consider trying the regular in future to compare. The chips and onion rings can never be faulted but we all know we've had better...and worse.

Now gourmet is defined as a connoisseur of food and drink but this word seems to be appended to far too many products to add value to it nowadays. What makes this burger a gourmet burger? Is it the 2 extra onion rings within it? A stick pierced through the burger? Rashers of bacon? The fact it's served on a rectangular dish as opposed to a round one? Maybe it's for the more pretentious folk like myself who can't or won't go to GBK but need some form of substitute? OK, maybe they got me there!

Despite my criticism, it's still a step up from Mcdonald's. However, it must only be a matter of time until we're seeing the McGourmet on billboards and television adverts. I know that I'll probably end up ordering this again next time.