BRGR.BRO (Slider Burgers) – Leicester

THIS RESTAURANT HAS NOW CLOSED!

Having reviewed the impressive smash burgers of Phat Buns last weekend, we return to Leicester this week to try out the miniature burgers of BRGR.BRO.

This 24-cover restaurant, like almost all the food joints on Evington Road, is HMC certified, and calls itself “the UK’s first slider specialist”.

With large signage, a grey colour scheme and bespoke tables, BRGR.BRO, while certainly offering single sliders, actually encourages the ordering of either its 2-slider box at £4.99, or the more adventurous 3-slider box for £6.99, with all burgers coming with skin-on fries.

Now here’s the thing – and any restaurateurs planning on introducing yet another Halal burger joint in London would do well to understand this point – what made us stand up and take notice of BRGR.BRO, is that the owners have at least tried to bring something new to what is otherwise an extremely saturated Halal burger sector.

While there are slider specialists, for instance, in Dubai, it’s taken the efforts of restaurateurs in Leicester, in this case the same people behind the hugely successful Chaiiwala franchise, to introduce something like this to UK’s Halal consumers.

Ice Cream Floats – Strawberry, Blueberry, Mango – £1.50 each

As part of their pursuit to be different, BRGR.BRO have also introduced what are known as Soda Ice Cream Floats – flavoured soda drinks, normally a quid each, that are topped with an ice cream float for an extra £0.50.

Premium Sodas, £1.00 each

The secret behind enjoying the Ice Cream Floats to their fullest we found, was to give them a good stir from time to time, since they tend to separate after while. In doing so, not only did we find them to be far more creamier, we also found the Mango Float (their most popular) to be the strongest flavoured of the three and the subtle blueberry to be the weakest.

As for the Premium Sodas, then while we couldn’t quite figure out what made them premium, the restaurant offers a good assortment of flavours.

Of the two, however, we’d recommend investing an extra 50 pence and going for the Ice Cream Floats, as we found these to go rather well with the burgers had below.

2 Slider Box – 2 sliders and skin-on fries, £5.15

Slider Box – Any two “gourmet sliders” served with crispy skin-on fries, £4.99.

• Step 1 – Choose your two buns: Brioche Bun, Charcoal Bun (add £0.25).
• Step 2 – Choose your two sliders: 100% Angus Beef, Grilled Flaming Hot Chicken, Grilled Original Chicken, Fish Fillet, Veggie.
• Step 3 – Upgrade (customise your sliders) – Beef Up Bro extra beef patty (£1.50), Nacho Cheese on Fries (£0.50), Corn Relish on Fries (£1.00), Soda (£1.00).

Grilled Flaming Hot Chicken with a Charcoal Bun

Let’s begin with this gorgeous looking specimen, which wasn’t just one of the best we’ve had in Leicester, thus making it the best one had at BRGR.BRO, but also one that’ll probably be shortlisted for our Best Burger of the Year award later next month!

Brioche Bun, Grilled Flaming Hot Chicken with Hash Brown

What made this Grilled Flaming Hot Chicken in a Charcoal Bun so impressive wasn’t just its execution, but also its unique flavour profile, with a beautifully succulent piece of poultry marinated in a semi-wet batter that was liberally coated in what one Lion described as crushed spicy Dorito crisps.

With a touch of heat lingering in the background, another Lion was also reminded of crisps, in this case the namesake: Monster Munch Flamin’ Hot, in his attempt at describing this slider’s sweet-cum-tangy flavour.

Although the charcoal bun was a more visually appealing choice against the chicken fillet’s orange coloured coating, we were also recommended to try this with the brioche bun along with the addition of a hash brown. Nevertheless, while we enjoyed the delicately toasted brioche bun, we did find the inclusion of the hash brown to be somewhat meaningless.

2 Slider Box – 2 sliders and Nacho Cheese on Fries, £5.49

While you can read about the Nacho Cheese on Fries below, this box came with a Veggie patty in a Brioche Bun and the Grilled Original Chicken in a Brioche Bun (so that we might compare it to the above Flaming Hot).

Veggie with a Brioche Bun

A simple Veggie slider in a bioche bun, which had a soft potato patty, with a lightly crispy exterior, that was covered in a sweet and sour sauce.

Although it could have done with a bit more seasoning, according to one Lion, this turned out to be a good alterative to the meat based ones we tried on the day.

Grilled Original Chicken with a Brioche Bun

Another straightforward slider, but one which, again, was well made, with the fillet of chicken not only cooked to perfection, but covered in plenty of good peri peri sauce. It just goes to show that less can, sometimes, be more.

100% Angus Beef (x2) with a Brioche Bun

Despite the two patties being relatively succulent, not only was the Angus beef underseasoned, with the sauce failing to atone for things, but was also a tad chewy, making this slider quite underwhelming.

Disappointing really given how appetising it looked, with all that soft and gooey American cheese.

Fish Fillet with a Brioche Bun

Yes; we know what you’re thinking: “Well, how did it compare to McD’s Filet-O-Fish?”

The answer is, that this was far better than what we were expecting (and far better than the last attempt we had at Slam Burger in London’s Walthamstow).

While the fillet of fish certainly looked the part, being light, crispy and golden, it wasn’t quite as flaky, moist and tender as McD’s.

And though the cheese could have been slightly more melted, the tartar sauce had a tangy edge to it, making this a good attempt of the famous fish fillet.

Grilled Chicken Salad, £4.50

This is worth recommending for the price alone, especially given its size. What we had here was plenty of grilled chicken doused in a tantalising chilli-citrus sauce, with enough crispy lettuce, red onions, beetroot and jalapenos to have us munching through this right till the end.

Flaming hot fries with cheese, £2.00

These semi-soaked flaming hot fries had a good level of heat to them, though nothing unbearable; and were drizzled in a fairly diluted cheese sauce. Decent without being anything special.

Nacho fries with cheese, salsa and jalapenos, £4.00

We weren’t sure about mixing nachos and fries. For us, it’s either one or the other, especially when the condiments added are traditionally paired with the former rather than the latter.

In any case, your average nachos placed atop crispy fries, with plenty of the aformentioned insipid cheese sauce, a fair amount of jalapenos, but not nearly enough of the salsa given the ratio of nachos and chips.

Corny Fries, £2.50

For us, however, these Corny Fries are the sides to get, with the unique combination of the heat from the chilli seasoning and the sweetness of mango and sweet corn sauce making these crispy fries an enjoyable eat.

Mozzarella Sticks, £2.00

Standard Mozzarella Sticks which weren’t at all bad, turning out crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the in, and containing hot cheese that was soft, stringy and mildly flavoured.

Buffalo Chicken Bites, £2.00

Dainty little mouthfuls that managed, despite being covered in plenty of relatively sticky buffalo sauce, to retain some crispiness while also having a good bite to em.

Sticky Chicken Bites, £2.00

Pleasant balls of crispy chicken bites which weren’t so much sticky as they were chewy.

Classic Pancake with maple syrup. Additional Toppings: Oreo and Hershey’s or Lotus, Biscoff & Caramel (+£1.00), £4.50

When you have freshly made scotch pancakes as good as these, with two variety of toppings (for review purposes), you know you’re onto a winner.

These were expertly made, being light and airy, and unabashedly topped with plenty of crushed Oreo and Hershey’s, alongside Lotus, Biscoff & Caramel. Honestly; we simply couldn’t pick a winner between the two!

Softee in a cup, £1.00

Nothing to complain about here, with a cup full of quality vanilla ice cream mixed in with swirls of indulgent chocolate sauce, and topped with crushed Oreos.

Truth be told though, if you’re going to go with any dessert, it has to be the pancakes above.