Five Guys Burger and Fries

I first came across Five Guys Burger and Fries while on holiday in America a couple of years ago. Someone had told me to try it and when I did it instantly rose to the top of my fast food burger list! 

Ever since I hoped they'd open in the UK. Just a few months later I find that they are doing, under the simpler name of "Five Guys". 

Five Guys started out as a father and his 4 sons (thus Five Guys) in Virginia, USA, as his sons didn't want to go to college. They quickly became the fastest expanding company within the USA serving 100% ground beef burgers with a choice of unlimited free toppings, and fresh fries. 
Five Guys have been in the media over the years for famously declining to deliver to President Obama, who then had to go down and collect his order himself.

Also because of a certain, very popular, funny video review on Youtube by Dayumdrops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGkHRa64sDY


Having expanded throughout the USA and Canada, I suppose it was only a matter of time before they ventured into the UK. 

In July 2013 they opened their first restaurant in the UK, in Covent Garden. I'd visited that restaurant while I was in London not long after it opened, but longed for a restaurant around Manchester. 

My prayers were soon answered when they opened an outlet in the Trafford Centre. They then continued to expand throughout the UK and continue to open new restaurants almost monthly. 
Their most recent restaurant is located in Ashton-Under-Lyne. This being as close as one will get to my front door, I headed down there on opening day to feature Five Guys in the Meat Memoirs. 

Five Guys Ashton-Under-Lyne

Five Guys is in essence, a fast food restaurant. There's no avoiding that fact. 

Inside it's a combination of reds and whites with their trademark tiled walls with 5 rows of red tiles (to represent the Five Guys). The walls are covered in quotations taken from reviews and newspapers describing Five Guys as "heaven in a brown paper bag," and "the best burger you've eaten in your whole life." We'll be the judge of that though....

"The best burger you've ever eaten in your whole life"

The queue system is formed from fresh sacks of potatoes and the odd box of peanuts which are free to try. This is worth noting for those with a peanut allergy. The restaurant locations have peanuts open to pick up while you queue, this isn't the case in their shopping center locations.

Queue system formed from sacks of fresh potatoes

Free Peanuts while you wait

After queuing, when you reach the till, you place an order using the menu overhead.

Five Guys Menu

There's the option of burgers or little burger. Little burgers are single burgers, while "normal" burgers are all double patties. The price varies on whether you opt for the little burgers or normal ones, and then whether you opt for cheeseburger, bacon burger, or the most expensive bacon cheeseburgers. 

There are also similar combinations of hot dogs. Or for the vegetarians, there's a veggie sandwich option. 

There is then a list of 15 additional toppings and sauces which you can pick from at no additional cost so you can have as few or as many as you like.

To accompany the burger, you can order a side of fries. Fries are ordered in "small," "medium," or "large" portions. A large portion is designed to feed 4 people, a small portion is suitable for a person eating alone. These are available in normal or coated with cajuan spices. 

Then for a drink you have the choice of water or lager. Or some of the Five Guys stores, like Ashton, are now offering milkshakes with 10 different flavours to choose from and all of which you can mix together no extra cost. You can also add bacon to your milkshake if you wish for no added cost! As this was the first Five Guys store we'd been to offering milkshakes, we would be trying one of these. 

Or, you can choose to be given an empty Coca-Cola cup to take to the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines as many times as you like. We'll get to these machines soon....


I placed my order. There are a few options you can't see on the menu overhead, but are available if you ask. You can be given an extra patty for an additional £2. If you wish you can order extra bacon and/or extra cheese to your burger/sandwich/hot dog for free also. 

I therefore ordered a bacon cheeseburger (£8.75), with an extra patty (+£2.00) and topped it with, extra bacon, extra cheese, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms and Bar-B-Q sauce. 
I accompanied this with a side of medium fries (£4.00) to share with my partner, and a milkshake (£4.75).
For the milkshake I combined chocolate, Oreo and bacon. I wanted to see how they included bacon in a milkshake so had to throw that in there. 

To say this probably should have been a chocolate overload it wasn't too bad. The milkshake was thick with large chunks of Oreo and bacon to be found throughout, although they did settle at the bottom after a while. The chocolate flavour wasn't too overpowering and the addition of bacon pieces worked a lot better than I thought it would. The bacon adds a savory hit every now and again to compliment the sweet milkshake flavours. 

While my partner accompanied her order with a Coca-Cola drink from the Freestyle machines.

After placing your order you're given a receipt and wait at the other end of the counter for your order number to be called. The preparation area is totally open so you can see your burger being created while you wait.  

Or you can go fill your drinks cup while you wait. This will quickly pass the time when you discover the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines! 
These machines have a touch screen face, and contain over 100 different Coca-Cola products, for you to choose from, and mix together until your heart's content. 
You'll often find people standing here just trying all the different flavours of drinks that you can't find elsewhere. 

Coca Cole Freestyle Machine

We couldn't list all the drinks here but to give you some idea, if you choose "Coca-Cola" you're then taken to another screen to choose 7 different flavours of Coca-Cola. This is then the case for Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta... etc. etc. 

Different Coca-Cola products to choose from

Different Flavours of Coca-Cola

And you can return to the Freestyle machine as many times as you like as long as you keep the cup! 

Five Guys Milkshake (£4.75) and refillable Coca-Cola Freestyle cup (£2.50)

By the time you've finished playing with the Freestyle drinks machine your order will probably be ready. 

When you go to collect it you'll be handed your brown, un-branded paper bag (which won't be folded over as Five Guys believe the burger and fries should be allowed to breathe). 

Brown Paper Bag of mystery

Opening the bag you may wonder where your burger is and why you've been given a bag of fries. Five Guys add an additional portion of fries to your bag to accompany the sized cup portion you may be expecting. This is why you they recommend you order a small portion for one person. Beneath the fries though you'll see a foil wrapped package containing your burger. 

Inside the grease soaked paper bag

The potatoes are never frozen and are shipped in and cut in store, then cooked in 100% peanut oil. This gives them a different taste to the fries you find anywhere else. Although, for those, like me, who aren't a fan of peanuts, rest assured, the peanut oil gives no taste of peanut to the fries. Instead it gives a less greasy sweeter taste to them.

Fresh potatoes - cut daily

The fries are well seasoned with the perfect amount of salt. They could be a little crunchier though. 
We ordered a side of the cajuan spices to mix them up a bit. This spice adds a slight kick to the fries if you prefer a bit of a spicier hit to your fries. 

After sampling the fries it was time to dig out the burger.

Foil Wrapped Burger

The foil wrapping has to be pried away from the burger as the melted cheese clings onto it. As you unwrap the foil, some of the toppings fall away as they're finally released. 
Although the foil keeps the burger as hot as possible, it does squash it quite a bit meaning it isn't that aesthetically pleasing. 

Bacon Cheeseburger (£8.75) plus extra patty (+£2.00).
Toppings (free) - Extra cheese, extra bacon, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, Bar-B-Q sauce

Taking a bite of the fallen piece of bacon before biting into the burger, the bacon is some of the crispiest I've had on a burger, without it being overcooked. Really gives a great crunch.

But now, on to the burger. 

The first bite reveals a soft juicy burger which perhaps didn't need the extra cheese slices. 
The ground meat patties are clearly better than those you normally find in fast food restaurants, but obviously they're not sized like some of the chuck steak patties you'd find in other restaurant burgers. They taste great though! The burger overall has a slight sweet flavour to it, although I'm not sure if this comes from the patties, the bread, or the toppings. 

3 patties coated in soft melted cheese slices with onions and mushrooms

The bread buns are obviously fresh but this doesn't really help them out as they aren't able to contain the burger contents without falling apart. The fact that they come out of the foil wrapping a bit squashed, and locked in with all the moisture probably doesn't help. 

The onions and mushrooms were cut in large chunks and provided great backup flavours. While the portion of Bar-B-Q sauce was subtle enough to add an extra flavour without drowning out the taste of the meat, cheese, bacon and bread. 

After finishing your burger I guarantee you'll have a few fries you've missed at the bottom of your paper bag, so go looking in there! 

Fries remaining at the bottom of the bag

Conclusion

Five Guys is clearly pushing its expansion throughout the UK with no less than 28 restaurants now available throughout the UK, and more coming. They always seem to be busy. Perhaps because many people haven't heard of them and want to give them a try, or may be everyone thinks similar to me, that this is one of the better fast food meals out there. 

The burgers taste fantastic, much better than you'd expect at any other fast food restaurant, and the fries are like no others! 

The use of fresh, unfrozen ingredients helps create a much better meal. 

However, all this comes at a price, which I personally think is the part that's going to put people off. A meal consisting of a bacon cheese burger, medium fries and a refillable drink will set you back over £15.00. I shouldn't compare it to the USA Five Guys, but the same meal over there cost me little over £10, which I thought was worth it, while the extra £5-£6 is a very premium price for fast food. There again, you could argue that this is premium fast food. When you can pick up a bigger steak patty in a broiche bun with fries at a sit down restaurant elsewhere for the same price though, you start to consider if Five Guys carries too high a premium price. 

I admit it's better than any other fast food available in the UK though, and when you consider some meals at the likes of Burger King may cost you in the region of £9, the extra five or six pounds for Five Guys for a better, fresher meal becomes more justifiable...just. 

Personally, Five Guys brings a flashback to having a great time in the USA. I enjoy the taste and easily consider it the best tasting fast food in the UK, and so I will definitely be back to Five Guys. 

However, I can understand why some people would be put off by the price before they even place their order. 

If the burger and fries are too pricey though, I'd recommend popping in just to try the Coca-Cola Freestyle drinks machines. I think I've only seen these in one other establishment in the UK, and for a refillable drink with almost every Coca-cola product ever created available, £2.50 isn't too bad! 

Meat Rating: 4/10 as much as I love it, the price kills it. 

Money for Meat: Paid in Full

Filthy Cow

Before I get into this latest review an apology for the lack of posts recently. Unfortunately the Meat camera went missing and so left me out of action for a while. It has been replaced and so we're back!! 

And where better to start than with Manchester's latest burger restaurant? 

http://www.filthyfood.co.uk/

A Filthy Cow (note heels)

Filthy Cow opened just less than a month ago and I've been keen to check it out since then. 
The restaurant idea was thought up and put together by 23 year old Jordan Gallimore, with the idea to make great burgers, not burgers that are piled high with everything imagineable. From the preview photos she released on the website prior to opening the interior looked very intriguing, but now it's open I had to go down and see how it looked for myself and more importantly how the burgers were. 

The restaurant is located just a couple of streets away from the busy Albert Square and so is in a prime location, and not too far to walk if you're craving a Filthy Cow burger after shopping. 

Walking up Tib Lane the bright yellow cow sign hanging above the door lets you know where to aim for. As you get closer the yellow intensity increases as the sign is accompanied by a yellow neon cow in the window. The shop front isn't huge but the attention is drawn with the bright colours. 

Filthy Cow shop front

Inside it's a little darker with a more industrial feel about it. Exposed ducting systems, dim lighting, rustic woodwork and lots of steel. There's seating at the ground floor and first floor, with the ground floor seating mostly in little booths (each named after a cow). There are some booths at first floor but there are a lot more traditional tables and chairs up here. I have to admit I didn't use the restroom facilities but I imagine these were located on the third floor as I didn't see them at ground floor or first floor. 

There are more neon cows, with the odd flash of udder. Naughty! And graffiti slogans on the walls. 

Filthy Secret

Show me your udders

An invitation you can't turn down

Entering the shop we were warmly approached and the process of how they take orders and serve food was explained. We then opted for the booth at the first floor with the bright pink cow with various kinky toys strapped to it. Fun and quirky. 

Probably the most Filthy Cow in the restaurant

Filthy Cow Menu

Browsing the menu on the table there was a choice of 5 different burgers, all of which contain a single patty and 1 of these is the vegetarian option. There is a special burger which can been seen from the special board above the serving station. There are sides of fries, onion rings or slaw. There are a couple of dessert options, then drinks including IPA, beers, ciders, soft drinks or milkshakes. 

The menu's are designed to be filled in and handed in at the service point at the back of the ground floor. With no pens available I thought it just as easy to read my order to the staff at the counter. Once you have placed your order you are given a buzzer and return to your table. You then have to go back to the service point to collect your food. For what seems like a proper restaurant I had expected a little more service, however without requesting the staff said they would bring our food over as it was quiet. This is a very fast food-esque for what I had imagined as more of a traditional restaurant type of meal. 
Condiments can be picked up at the side of the service point from an aptly shaped shelving system.

Condiments stand

I had opted for the Filthy Beat burger (£7.50), a beef patty, bacon, cheese, filthy sauce, and the usual salads (lettuce, gherkins, tomato). To accompany it I ordered fries, onion rings and a chocolate milkshake (as I'm a big kid at heart!). 

It wasn't long after returning to our booth that our drinks arrived. The chocolate milkshake I think topped the chocolate scales for any milkshake I've ever had. If anything it was too chocolaty. The sweet taste was good with the savory burgers but the chocolate overwhelmed me. My partner had opted for the vanilla milkshake which she assured me was much better. 

Filthy Cow Milkshakes (£4.50)

The food followed not much later. Tightly wrapped paper parcels of food that looked a lot larger than we were expecting for single patty burgers. 

Wrapped Filthy Burger

Unwrapping the burger was exposed what seemed like an encased explosion of cheese, lettuce and sauce all stuck to the wrapper. In the centre was an excellent looking burger though with a decent thick patty, melted cheeses, crispy bacon and lots of filthy sauce. 

Filthy Burger (£7.50)

Biting into the burger was a delight. The meat was soft, pink and juicy. Probably one of the best lightly done patties that I've had. Not too rare but not overdone either. The filthy sauce had a generic burger sauce taste about it, but with a hint of extra mustard and additional peppery tang. The salad was as fresh as you could get and added a cool hit. The bacon was possibly my favourite bit. Really crunchy without being over done and a great smoky taste to it. So far I was highly impressed. 

Manchester's Pinkest Patty? The Filthy Burger topped with crispy bacon, cheese, filthy sauce and salad (£7.50)

Tucking into the fries (£2.50), they had a nice light crunch to them, and were heavily salted but flavoured with just the right amount of Rosemary. 

Despite how great the fries were the onion rings were my favourite side order (£2.50). They had a darker colour to onion rings you find in most restaurants, and were heavily seasoned with salt and Rosemary herbs. The fried coating was extremely crisp and the seasoning created an incredible taste! Finishing them off I wish my stomach had room for another batch but alas, I was full. 

Onion Rings £2.50

Conculsion

Unfortunately there are some fairly extensive roadworks going on very close by which is hindering the view up Tib Lane and probably not helping draw a crowd to Filthy Cow. This and because Filthy Cow is new it's still trying to make it's presence known meant it was fairly quiet the afternoon we visited. With food this good though it shouldn't take long until the place is full. Jordan has obviously put a lot of hard work not only into the restaurant but into taking the time to perfect her menu. 

The patties may be the best cooked that I've had Manchester. The burgers are simple yet effective and make for an excellent meal. The sides orders are generous in portion size and compliment the main burgers well. The meal is reasonably priced at around £15 for a side, a drink, and one of the larger burgers. They're priced well with other burger restaurants in Manchester. However, the lack of service I think is a bit of a let down. Granted on this visit our food was brought to our table, I think this is worth noting that it's definitely priced at the premium end if fast food is their aim. But then if Filthy Cow is branding itself as a "fast food" restaurant then it's making premium fast food that can warrant the price.

The only other criticism I have is of the chocolate milkshake. To me it was just too rich with chocolate. This may be how some people like their milkshakes but everyone I dined with tried it and agreed it was too much. So next time I return I'd personally opt for a different drink. 

I will be returning though as this simple burger has jumped up into my list of go-to places in Manchester. I'm salivating at the thought of another of Filthy Cow's juicy patties. Fingers crossed the word gets spread about Filthy Cow and the roadworks are finished soon so that the restaurant becomes more obvious. 

@filthycowuk

Filthy Cow Facebook

Meat Rating: 8/10

Money for Meat: Voucher exchanged for burger, sides and drink paid in full





  

Shake Shack

A weekend in London provided the opportunity for the meat memoirs to search out and sample the best burgers the capital has to offer. 

First stop was Shake Shack in Covent Garden (https://www.shakeshack.com/location/london-covent-garden/). 

Shake Shack

Shake Shack is a popular and large American chain of restaurants which opened their first UK store in Covent Garden last summer. As the name suggests their speciality is burgers and milkshakes with a huge menu of various shakes, concretes (frozen custard), and ice creams. Along side these they also offer regular drinks, hot dogs and even snacks for your dog if you're bringing your pooch along too.

Since opening Shake Shack UK has had mixed reviews so it's time for the meat memoirs to weigh in. 

Shake Shack

Even after a year of being open there's a lot of hype around this store as it is the only one in the UK. Arriving mid-Friday afternoon hoping to avoid any lunch time rush there was still a queue out of the door. Joining the queue I was handed a menu to read from so you're ready to order when you reach the till. 

The menu is fairly simple in terms of food. Burger or hot dog, with optional fries or cheese fries on the side. All burgers are available as double or singles with options to add additional cheese or bacon if desired.  

All the burger options seem very similar and don't seem to offer much selection. There's a 

• Plain cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato (£4.75 single / £7.75 double)
• Shack Burger, a cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato with Shacksauce (£5.00 single / £8.00 double)
• SmokeShack, cheeseburger with smoked bacon and chopped pepper topped with Shacksauce (£7.00 single / £10.00 double)
• Shroomburger (v), fried mushroom filled with cheese and topped with lettuce, tomato and Shacksauce (£5.25) 
• Shack Stack, a combination of a cheeseburger and a shroom burger (£8.00)

Menu

There's a bit more variation in the hot dogs but the meat memoirs are here to try the burgers.

Selecting a drink wasn't too easy with a huge selection of milkshakes and frozen custards to choose from. With shakes being part of their name it was hoped that their milkshakes would be the speciality so I selected a strawberry milkshake. 

The queue moved quite quickly into the very small, exposed brickwork shop. The menu fills the wall behind you but it's not very easy to stand back and take in within such a small shop. It makes sense why they give you a menu while you wait. 

Kitchen Area

Wall Menu

Wall Menu

Placed my order for a SmokeShack and an optional cheesy fries, and the strawberry milkshake to wash it down. Handed over the money and in return you receive a device which flashes and vibrates when your meal is ready, as you usually get in some restaurants to inform you that your table is ready. 

After this the process of finding a seat and collecting the food was a little complicated. With a couple of people or a group it might be easier as there isn't a lot of seating for the Shake Shack due to its location, so when a table becomes free one of you could grab the table and the other get the food. On my own I couldn't do both. So wasn't sure what to do. In the end I opted for a table when one finally became free then once my buzzer sounded to inform me that my food was ready a member of staff kindly offered to get my food for me. Food is collected from a window in the side of the kitchen which is clearly labelled. 

There seemed to be a lot of people waiting for a table, it's not very clear that there's seating to both sides of the shop and within the shop next door which is available to customers. 

Seating to the front of the store

Once I received my food I was a little underwhelmed by the sizes of the portions. The burger didn't look very big, and the milkshake came in quite a small cup. 

Order

Fries first as they looked tempting. The liquid cheese on top looked great and the crinkle cut fries were unexpected. The cheese is soft runny american style cheese, and the heavily salted fries have a great crunch to them. 

Cheese Fries (£3.75)

After all the salt on those, a slurp of shake was needed. The milkshake is so thick the straw is almost useless. Putting "shakes" in their name you expect the milkshake to be outstanding but the flavour wasn't really strong enough and it tasted more like ice-cream than anything else. Rather disappointing for £5.00.

Strawberry Milkshake (£5.00)

Finally, onto the burger. 

The small size was obvious before even unwrapping the burger. Open the paper to find the thin meat patty within a cheap style bun, and topped with a cheap cheese slice, much like you'd get at McDonalds. The chopped peppers and Shakesauce (Shake Shacks own burger sauce) added a bit of extra flavour but nothing else really stood out. The taste of the bacon was none existent. 

Smoke Shack burger (£7.00)

Conclusion

Overall Shake Shack was very disappointing. If their popularity is ongoing due to word of mouth I don't know how its gone on so long serving small portions like this for these prices. The meat is decent enough quality but the patty sizes are no bigger than many other fast food outlets. The milkshakes are more like ice-cream which adds to the disappointment, especially for the small sizes of the cups. The cheesy fries were the best part of the meal.

For the price there's much better food to be had in London. I'd read a lot of reviews about poor customer service prior to visiting Shake Shack. I have to say the staff on my visit were very friendly and helpful so I have no criticisms there. Shack Shack are obviously busy though and there's obviously a market for these American chains within the UK. Having tried it once though I can't say I'll be back for more next time I'm in London. 

@shakeshackUK

Meat rating; 3/10

Money for meat; Paid in Full