The continuous Burger quest!

I love food. And everything about it. And so does the world I think. Once my Facebook status read “Life is all about good food” and it got about 20 ‘likes’ within a minute. So ya well, i’m sure you get the point. Food is something everyone is fond of. And I thought why not write about it! I mean i’ve been planning to write about my great quest for Burgers in Delhi for a while. So I thought I’d just get to it.

I didn’t think much of a ‘Burger’ when I first chomped into one at Nirula’s as a 6 year old something. I don’t remember much of it. But the fact that I preferred to eat the equally non-dynamic plain cheese pizza of Nirula’s in the early 90’s must’ve have meant that the Burger didn’t ride too high on taste back then.

Neither did I think much of ‘Hamburgers’ when I digged into Big Mac’s and Whoppers as a teenager. 

Only when I moved back to India, did I realise what I was missing. We had burgers alright. Only the choice of meat between the bun would either be a) Chicken b) Aaloo (Potato). Since the inclusion of pork or beef in our meals is usually considered blasphemous to us ‘religiously emotionally sentimentally touchy’ Indians, no one dared serve a nice juicy ground beef patty with bacon on top.

Even when McDonalds marched into the market with great pomp akin to Ajay Devgan’s entry in ‘Phool aur Kaatein’ in post liberalization India, they didn’t dare serve their heroic ‘Big Mac’ in fear of alienating their mass customers. Heck, I don’t blame them. KFC had been bashed a couple o years before by extremist bums who didn’t get toffees as kids. So in a bid to play safe (which they still do) they decided to stick to Aaloo, Paneer and Chicken. They even converted the Maharaja Mac from Lamb to Chicken to remove any ambiguity regarding meat.

Anyway, for me, it was more about food than faith. And thus began my quest for the ultimate burger in Delhi. Though, I have to say my quest did start at quite a time because I saw an explosion of food chains making their entry. TGIF, Beningans, Ruby Tuesday and the likes all opened shop which typically served all American Food. Boy I was happy! But boy was I in for a disappointment! Even these guys played safe. Only chicken! Ultimate ho hum!

I chose to stick to McDonald’s McChicken. It’s their only decent fair along with the Fillet-o-Fish and now exterminated Veg Surprise. Although I’d like to make a special mention to Wimpy’s. This now almost run down burger chain in Delhi serves pretty good spicy chicken and lamb burgers. Trust me. It better than half the nonsense that’s served in town on account of Burgers.

Then entered Hard Rock Cafe. And in bla-zing style!! In their awesome menu with the SOB, BBQ Bacon, Legendary 10 oz burgers they had em all. Good ol Angus Beef with choice of a million toppings including Bacon! Woohoo! Dunno how they did it. But here was finally someone who had the stones to serve a Burger like it should be.

Suddenly everything changed. All those playing safe earlier suddenly had the choice of Beef patty available in their menu’s. Boy was I a kid in Disneyland! Now the burger choices we ultimate!

Hardrock’s burgers are pretty cool if you can chomp in a mouthful. The ingredients are fresh and loaded and you get a million flavours if you’re having something like the Legendary Burger. TGIF does a pretty decent job too only I feel their patty is sorta thick which makes it an inconvenience to munch. But if you’re looking bang for buck, then I would definitely suggest going to Chilli’s. You don’t have to ponder much, just go in for their classic cheeseburger and you’ll be blessed! :P

Now, finally Delhi - the food capital of India truly deserves its title. I can get a decent burger.

Having said that, despite the complexities and varieties of taste and ingredients in multiple outlets, you’ll still find me happily munching away on a McDonalds McChicken burger with fries. Burp!

Hmmm.....Drooooool...