The comparative series are a set of reviews I'll be publishing from now on. Feeling like having an enjoyable meal, I'll be ordering the same item from three to four different places for a constructive comparison... let's enjoy lunch and eat some burgers!
When talking about diners or simply places to have a good burger four brands come to mind. Surely Classic Burger the burger specialist, Roadster the king of casual diners, Crepaway the angus beef expert and Divvy the newbie proposing a blend of everything with a different approach; unfortunately I called & discovered that Divvy doesn't deliver... Let's have a cheese burger, accompanied with fries - which are difficult to get delivered fresh - and a soft drink.
- Roadster, LBP20,000, 29 minutes (Fries LBP5,500)
- Crepaway, LBP20,250, 42 minutes (Fries LBP5,500)
- Classic, LBP22,500, 42 minutes, Coca-Cola, fries are included in the price and a complementary coleslaw.
Packaging: carton packaging with some inspirational messages. The burger is wrapped in a paper and stuffed in a carton box. The three do it the same way.
The fries: the three are not worth ordering, fries are not made to be delivered... Roadster's are fried with their skin, mushy and far from being crunchy but at least tender and edible. Crepaway's are smaller in size, and hard, which doesn't make them enjoyable to eat at all. CBJ are left with their skin, way too salty, sprinkled with some orange spices and hard like Crepaway's. What makes Roadster better than the others is the closed carton packaging which preserves its heat, making them softer. Roadster best, Classic next and Crepaway comes last.
Bun: I love CBJ's signature bun. Didn't like the Roadster's new bun.
Soft drink: Coca-Cola for Classic and Pepsi for the two others.
Tasting the burgers:
- Classic has a bun with a hard shell, covered with a mix of seeds, meat, lettuce, cheddar cheese, tomato and pickles with a load of mayonnaise. As an overall taste, it's a good burger. Tender, juicy, balanced, fresh and not soggy.
- Roaster has a dry bun, sesame and black sesame on top, a sweet note that the ketchup provides, cheese and a thin meat you don't feel much. Bizarre flavors, meat is extremely dry, lettuce is too crunchy, bread is stale.
- Crepaway has too many onions, a bitter, over crunchy and unpleasant Romaine lettuce, a meat that's over cooked, too much ketchup, and a spongy bread. Finally, onions are disturbing.
- Tasting the burger, Classic wins by far, Crepaway follows and Roadster comes last.
Meat alone:
- Classic: good meat, juicy and well cooked.
- Crepaway: salty, very dry, and chewy. After note of saltiness is disturbing.
- Roadster: I'm not sure if it even falls in the meat category. Very dry and hard to chew.
- Classic is edible, Crepaway is bad, Roadster is unacceptable.
The burger delivery:
- Packaging /10: Roadster 9, Classic 9, Crepaway 9
- Bun /10: Roadster 4, Classic 8, Crepaway 6
- General taste /40: Roadster 10, Classic 30, Crepaway 19
- Value for Money /10: Roadster 7, Classic 7, Crepaway 7
- Meat quality /10: Roadster 3, Classic 7, Crepaway 5
- Ingredients of the burger /10: Roadster 7, Classic 8, Crepaway 6
- Fries /10: Roadster 5, Classic 4, Crepaway 3
Total: Roadster 45, Classic 73, Crepaway 55
Classic wins with a huge difference and is worth the additional LBP2,000.
Personal notes:
I'm really shocked with Roadster's quality, used to enjoy Crepaway's Angus more - if it's still angus beef - and was surprised by Classic's delivery which used to be soggy and watery. Honestly I wasn't expecting Classic to win and I'm happy about the results.
What to change:
- Roadster: revisit your meat supplier and the meat cooking time. The new bun is a flop. The sweet Heinz ketchup is not made to be used inside a burger.
- Crepaway: used to be better, meat used to be better, bun used to be better. Disappointed by such lack of quality.
- Classic: two thumbs up for the improvement. Remove LBP1,000 of the bill and rock the country with a 10/10 value for money.
Ordering a burger for delivery... now you know what to do!
