The Halloumi Burger @ Burgista (Siirgista) Bros

The juices of creativity and innovation were in full flow over at Burgista Bros this month.

Chris Large had lit the fire and was going vegetarian for his ‘Chef’s Burger of the Month’ with halloumi cheese, red peppers, aubergines, courgettes and basil pesto being added to the cauldron.

But, had he pulled this one off as he’s done with previous attempts (The Australian and Duck Me), or was this a case of double, double toil and trouble?

What we can say is that the Lions were not nearly as unanimous on this one as they have been with the previous two.

Although one Lion found it to be “interesting” and the other “very good”, what was agreed upon was that it was a difficult eat.

To clarify, let’s compare Burgista’s to a similar halloumi burger we had over at Band of Burgers very recently, for which we had very high praise.

The main difference between the two was that whilst the former was grilled on a flat plate, the latter was grilled on a rib-top; and therein lied the big difference texturally speaking. It seems like the cooking of such ingredients on a rib-top grill drew out much of the oil and water from the cheese and vegetables than it evidently did via the flat plate. As such, BoB’s version was far less wet, if at all, than Burgista’s, with the halloumi cheese having taken on that beautiful, deep char grilled taste and texture when properly grilled.

Our recommendation is that once you have The Halloumi in BOTH hands, don’t let go until you’ve finished, and make it snappy too. And whatever you do, don’t even think about removing it from its paper bag, unless you enjoy a wet table top that is.

Tastewise though, then the addition of basil pesto gave this burger an entirely different taste which, we suspect, might split the crowd. Basil pesto is one of those ingredients that’s Marmite in nature, particularly when added to a burger – you’ll either love it or find it “interesting”.

In terms of innovation though, it’s not something you’ll find anywhere else. And with such a unique taste to it, we’d recommend it all the way.

Any burger that stands out from the crowd in a good way is always worth trying in our view.

Available until the end of May!