Burgers have a new address: 'Mano' in Bourj Hammoud. Mano, the famous Soujok eatery, has opened a new burger place which has been rocking the advertising scene as well as social media platforms. So, I said to myself, let's have a burger in Bourj Hammoud...
An open kitchen preparing eight different burgers, with the special option being mushroom. A square space with a high ceiling and on two levels, with a dining space and two serving counters. Order, pay, sit and wait to be called. On one side white ceramic tiles, on the other "love" painted in red. Grey tiles cover the floor and a dozen posters tell the story of their famous burger... I was excited to try it!
Tasting the burger:
- The Local burger: you get what you pay for, a burger as good as it should be for the LBP5,000 paid! A fresh bun, fluffy enough like bread you buy for home, crunchy coleslaw, ketchup and fries. Exactly like the burger I used to eat after school - and that's 20 years ago... A thin patty that's elastic and strongly spiced the Armenian way. Burgers have evolved... however this one is from a previous era!
- A Soujok Burger called 'The Mano': a prominent bun stuffed with pickles, tomato, iceberg lettuce and their signature sauce. A strong Soujok in patty form... you have to be a fan of intensely spiced Soujok to like it. I would make the bun less thick or at least warm it to be smoother on the palate.
- The classic cheese: the same thick and unpleasant bread, acidic Lebanese-style pickles, tomatoes, melted cheese, iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese and cocktail sauce. Relatively good quality for the LBP6,000 paid but couldn't say more than that. Nothing special about it, not the best meat - rubbery and compacted - thick bread, too many spices.
- Mushroom: bread, again that bread... the below part is way too thick for a burger! I can understand the thick bread for this burger to be filling but it destroys the enjoyment. Couldn't tell there was any mushroom until the third bite.
- Fries: excellent fries, crunchy, nicely salty, well cooked. The best thing this diner has to offer.
My opinion:
- Create something unique and special: the burger I had today is like one we used to eat at home before the current burger evolution... or an unsuccessful copy of a wannabe CBJ!
- Lighten up the bread, steam it or heat it before serving.
- Too many spices on the patty! Some have to be reduced.
- Patty... that ground beef condensed together like a steak; cheap but fair enough for the price paid.
When you see all that advertising, you expect to eat a proper Burger. It doesn't live up to all the marketing and advertising around town... not my kind of burgers.
