Where to find the best gourmet burgers in the UAE

The National -- What’s not to like about a good burger? A well-made burger – juicy, hot off the grill and boasting the perfect ratio of sauce and cheese to high quality burger patty and buttery brioche burger bun, is the quintessential comfort food. Perhaps fashion model Gigi Hadid put it best: “I always say: ‘Eat clean to stay fit, eat a burger to stay sane’.”

It seems everywhere you go now across the UAE, there’s a new burger joint – some fancy, some plain – and all serving a humble sandwich that is aiming to recreate the staple.

The last two years have seen an explosion of both independent, stand-alone purveyors of posh patties and innovative insides, as well as the spread of internationally loved burger chains – stalwart favourites like Five Guys, Burger Fuel, Fatburger, Elevation Burger, CaliBurger, Burger Joint, Max Burger and more.

In the past few years, burgers have become a very widespread phenomenon. We now have limitless number of burger restaurants, which personally brings me joy as a burger lover. Burgers are easy to handle, very delicious if freshly made and can have many kinds of flavours.

Then there are all the homegrown burgers that have exploded on to the scene in food trucks, burger joints and gourmet restaurants across the Emirates. The fact is, this classic sandwich has even become a regular staple on upmarket restaurants’ menus too.

THE LONGEST BURGER IN DUBAI

So what’s behind our obsession with the burger? Juan Pablo Dominguez Lopez, the Chef de Cuisine at Graze Gastro Grill and the Graze B Burger Garden in La Ville Hotel and Suites in Dubai’s City Walk, says the answer is pretty simple.

“It’s fun,” he says. “People love eating burgers, and nowadays you can find endless creations by experienced chefs – and all have a special touch. It’s fun! Even the most popular fast food restaurants have now added special ingredients that give a special ‘added value’ to burgers. The burger is also a great quick lunch option, you have your vegetables, sauce, cheese and protein, nicely layered inside a bun that you can enjoy in a few bites.”

Recently, Lopez created the Half Metre Surprise burger, which might quite possibly be the longest burger in Dubai, and contains everything from the usual suspects – premium beef patties, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles – to particular additions like chimichurri mayo, Cheddar and Gruyère cheeses, guacamole, barbecue sauce and beef bacon.

“Dubai is a city where you can find the most rare and extravagant products in the market. I have seen the black nun burger, the Burj Khalifa burger, the gold burger, but I’ve never seen an XL burger,” says Lopez.

So he went ahead and created one. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that finishing a burger that size could make for a popular social media post.

ABU DHABI FAVOURITES

Just over a year old, Burger28 has fast become an Abu Dhabi favourite, with a branch near Umm Al Emarat park and another in Mohammed Bin Zayed City. More Burger28 joints will be opening in all the other emirates, promises founder Alexander E Debare because people just can’t seem to get enough of burgers. “The better burger market has seen rapid growth in almost every major city around the world in the past six to eight years,” he points out. “It was only a matter of time before it would hit the UAE.”

And now that it has, Debare’s trick is to add a local touch to his brand. “Burger28 is a contemporary burger joint inspired by local Emirati habits, so we incorporated several quirky Emirati touches in our brand,” he says.

But the list doesn’t stop there. There is the variations on offer at Secret Cafe, Ketchup & Mustard, U Turn, Egg Shack, Soldier Burger, Graffiti Burger and Firefly Burger, and highly recommends the breakfast burger at Mandolin Cafe and the chicken burger at Cone House.

SHE BURGER                            

According to Shaikha Eissa, the young Emirati founder of the newly-opened She Burger in Dar Al Wasl Mall in Dubai, is “who doesn’t like burgers”, really? No one is opposed to a good burger. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, even stopped by last weekend for a burger with friends.

Long before She Burger opened its doors, Eissa says was cooking her burgers in her kitchen at home, and soon, accumulated a steady customer base with many stopping by her home to pick up their burgers.

“I focus on every single detail of every product I use. I ask myself, how soft is the bun, how good is the beef, how great are my sauces, what do people want in a burger? It’s all important.”

And though She Burger might be a favourite in Dubai, the burger options are endless.

Lopez is of the same mindset when it comes to introducing a burger to a fine-dining menu.

“For me, street food has taken its place in the fine-dining scene,” he explains. “Dishes like tacos, Asian noodles, pizza, is what people love – and this makes us, the chefs, think and reinvent the ‘fine dining way to eat street food’.

“There are dozens of high quality products, such as foie gras, veal, truffle, aged cheese, aged beef, etc to play with, and that makes creating burgers more fun.”

Burgers can be classified into three categories: street food-type burgers, gourmet burgers that have become all the rage, and fine dining options.

For Lopez, a burger is only as good as the quality of its ingredients. “For me, the secret is to produce everything in-house; this way you can control flavour, and add secret ingredients to the bread or beef patty to make your burger stand out from the crowd.”