Love a good burger and a cold beer? Look no further than this fantastic Belfast burger shack for both.
You really can’t beat a good burger, but it’s pretty amazing how many places there are that promise to serve you a delicious one and end up falling flat. Either the patty isn’t cooked well enough, or the burger’s been nuked with too much grease, we’ve had more lacklustre burgers than good ones.
Bunsen is one such establishment that claims it has perfected the classic American hamburger. With locations open in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast, we took it upon ourselves to test their claim once and for all. Check out our review of Bunsen below.
The burger
When we were seated by our waitress, we were each handed, face-down, what we thought was a business card. It was the same shape and size you would expect a business card to be. We flipped it over, expecting to find a promotional list of Bunsen’s social media pages, but were pretty impressed to see that the ‘business card’ was actually their menu.
Yep. Their menu was that tiny. This made a couple of people in our group give an unsure “Oh,” as they realised what it was. They had expected Bunsen to be more of an American diner than what it is: a straightforward Belfast burger shack.
You only really have two options: a hamburger or a cheeseburger, plus a small selection of toppings. I went for the cheeseburger with a topping of lettuce and onions.
Your burger arrives, wrapped in paper, on a little silver tray with a basket of fries, adding to the overall American feel. We were worried they would taste processed, as if they had been run along a factory belt and quickly wrapped in paper to serve to hungry customers. But we were wrong about this — they were delicious.
The cheese was gooey and warm, and the burger patty tasted fresh and home-made. The only complaint we had was that those of us who ordered the lettuce as a topping thought it was a little soggy. But other than that, it was a toothsome meal that left all of us seriously impressed.
The fries
Oh my God, the fries! Yes. We can confirm they were incredible. They’ve probably taken a collective 40 years from our lifespans, but we don’t care. Could we eat another five portions of them right now? Yes, yes we could.
You have the option of choosing from the regular hand-cut fries (our recommendation), shoestring fries, or the sweet potato fries. I’ve personally never been a fan of sweet potato, but those of us who ordered them were incredibly complimentary of their taste.
The fries are quite salty, so be sure you have a cold beverage to drink. We’re going to quickly move on to the next section because our mouths are watering just thinking about those fries, and a damp keyboard is not what we want.
Drinks
No review of Bunsen is complete without mentioning their drink choices. Two of us went for Bunsen’s strawberry milkshake, and the rest went for either Corona or Peroni. They also have a small selection of wines to choose from, if that’s more to your taste.
The milkshakes deserve a special shout out; they had a strong strawberry taste to them (always a good sign if you’re ordering a strawberry milkshake) without being overpowering or tasting too sweet.
Vegetarian option
Now, we know what you’re thinking — something along the lines of how can a straightforward burger shack serve vegetarian food? Well, this review of Bunsen can’t end without mentioning their vegetarian grilled cheese sandwich. We didn’t order it, but going by the cheese used on their burgers, we’re pretty sure it’s good.
Service
We had no complaints with our service, it was efficient, and the staff were helpful to bring us more condiments and drinks when we requested them. They accommodated our large group by dutifully putting tables together for us.
Price
Bunsen’s hamburgers are priced at £5.95, and their cheeseburgers are £6.75, with an extra £2 added if you want a double patty. Fries are £2.50 and the sweet potato version is £3.95. Milkshakes are also £3.95.
The overall individual price for my meal came to just under £15, which I felt was more than acceptable.
Overall
Overall, this Belfast burger shack was impressive, and it’s somewhere we would wholeheartedly recommend for a meal with a large group of friends.
Address: 6-8 Hill St, Belfast BT1 2ED
