Food I'd Like to Eat: Burger Edition

It's August 27th, again - same as every year. Dates in months...dates in months never change.

But hey! It's National Burger Day in the UK!

As an American, eating burgers is a God-given right of mine. On my way out of the country I was given a badge that allows me to consume red meat of any quantity without receiving concerned looks from the staff, if shown to the maitre d'. Unfortunately, that badge also disqualifies me from participating in any burger-based food challenges while overseas. Anyway, I eat a lot of burgers is what I'm getting at.

My favorite burger in the whole of London? Burger Bear, of course. I haven't made it over to the Magic Roundabout yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I had a grizzly bear burger about once a week when I first started working near Old Street, I had to cut myself off because I was starting to grow a beard, but they're the best. Bacon jam, Holy F*ck Hot sauce - tasty stuff. Check him out when you're in London!

This isn't about my favorite burgers that I have eaten, however - this is about burgers that I have yet to try, but would like to. Here we go!

Tony's Bodacious Bacon Cheeseburger, Max & Erma's
This is truly bodacious. Like, radical rashers. Here is what's inside:
"Creamy roasted garlic cheese spread, smoked bacon marmalade, even more smoked bacon with lettuce on a toasted brioche bun."
Hubba hubba. Garlic, cheese, bacon,marmalade, beef. This has some of my favorite components on it. Garlic is a flavor that doesn't often get paired with burgers, but I see no reason why it shouldn't be. This burger is available at Max & Erma's, a restaurant that specializes in burgers & big bathtubs full of ice cream sundae fixin's. It should come as no surprise that this was the place I ate every year for my birthday growing up. I wouldn't hear of any other place. I may have been not into this as a kid, but now? Give it, give it, give it! With a side of bathtub sundae, please.

image taken from BrandEating (check them out for awesome US food news)

All Day Brunch Burger, Applebee's
Burgers for breakfast? Alliteration at Applebee's? Like...love? This burger includes:
"Seared in with bacon & onions, piled high with fried egg, crispy hash browns, American cheese, and ketchup."
Is that brunch? I mean, yeah, kinda. I'm not sure what it means that the bacon & onions are 'seared in', does that mean they're integrated into the mince, or they're all just fried up on the same grill? If anyone knows exactly what they might mean, let me know. While I think brunch usually trends towards sweets rather than savories, I'm really glad they didn't do that with this burger. Like, imagine if they tried to Monte Cristo this with some powdered sugar or jam? Hard pass. As it is, nothing to dislike - all the best bits of a classic American breakfast, minus the sausage. Hey, Applebee's...add sausage.

Kuro Shogun Burger, Burger King JP
Can you believe it's been about 3 years since the first black bun burger was released from Burger King Japan? I've still not tried one, and I would like to. The bun is infused with charcoal, giving it the trademark color and perhaps, I can guess, a more smokey and burnt flavor. Or, no additional flavor whatsoever.  It's also topped with:
"Grilled eggplant and 'hashed sauce', which is apparently made with squid ink, wine, garlic, and tomato." Sounds like it would be a bit like Hayashi demi-glace, a pretty popular accompaniment to beef in Japan. I can also see some black cheese - no idea if that's special, or just colored cheese. Either way, nice!

picture mooched from UmamiBurger on Twitter...they have no press page :(

Umami Burger, Umami Burger
This one was quite trendy when it came out years ago, and I think I missed the boat on it being a real hot property, but I still think it sounds delicious. It's topped with:
"parmesan frico, shiitake mushroom, roasted tomato, caramelized onions, Umami house ketchup" I think the parmesan frico is like a baked wafer of parmesan, and the rest of it is self-explanatory. The whole deal with this burger is that it's supposed to be completely representative of the 5th taste, umami. It's just kinda super-savory, is the real basic idea. I'm a big fan of the rich flavors of umami, so everything to do with this burger is of interest to me. It's a small chain, and I'm surprised it hasn't made it over to the UK yet to be honest. Maybe after the dust has settled on Shake Shack? They do lots of interesting burgers, including a Korean barbecue inspired one.

Sriracha Steakburger, Steak 'n' Shake
Steak 'n' Shake really reminds me of home - they're headquartered in Indiana, so there were always tons of them when I was growing up. As a teenager me and all my friends hung out in any number of their locations, eating teeny tiny thin li'l fries dipped in unctuous neon cheese food & drinking incredibly thick shakes. They didn't do a lot of weird flavors when I was growing up, but lately they've really expanded their choices - especially with shakes!  Anyway, I'm talking about this burger right now, which is topped with:
"Two slices pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, crispy onions and plenty of authentic Sriracha sauce."
I hope the Sriracha sauce trend never ends, because it's delicious and I'm enjoying how much it's getting integrated into my life. I love a nice hot hamburger, and this one certainly fits the bill. The vinegary sweetness present in the jalapeno & Sriracha probably will keep this from being too hot, and it'll instead be palatably sour with some heat.

So, any burgers I missed that I really should know about? I'm always on the look out for interesting hamburgers!