Last week we were invited to our local GBK’s grilwarming to celebrate the restaurant refurbishment. The new look is great really fresh & vibrant!
We felt very special being invited along as we saw this sign on the door!
Kate the assistant manager showed us around. I love the new decor especially the little window into the kitchen so you can see the chefs at work.
The use of the small garden space is really lovely. Kate told us that they decided to build on an idea from the original builders who left the window with just the fern. Adding in more plants & the lighting made a very dramatic view.
The clever design on the wall made me chuckle so I grabbed Kate & the managers for a picture!
I settled at a table with the boys & we perused the menu.
We made our choices & shortly after our meal arrived!
Karl & I were surprised when two plates of dips arrived. It turns out that Tris had asked for all the sauces as he couldn’t decide which to have.
One of the friendly staff members told us that they make all the dips & sauces for the burgers fresh in their kitchens each day which really shows in the taste!
The milkshakes were mouthwatering! I had vanilla, Karl chose Oreo & Tris selected malted chocolate.
Back to the burgers! In an effort to not completely ruin my good work so far with the wedding diet I went for a grilled chicken satay burger with alfalfa sprouts.
The burger was exquisite! The flavour of the satay sauce combined with the moist chicken & the crunchy sprouts is just wonderful. Just writing about it is making me hungry again. My chosen side dish was corn on the cob. It came with the butter on the side rather than slathered over it enabling me to make the decision that I didn’t need it as it was sweet & lovely just as it was.
Over to Karl for his review:
I decided to go with something a bit different than my usual choice of some-manner-of-beef-burger so I browsed the menu until I saw the Wild Boar and Bacon Burger.
The burger sounded ideal, I’ve always enjoyed the more complex flavour of boar but I had never tried it as a burger. I was surprised (mainly due to my having not read the menu properly) that the bacon wasn’t the usual topping but was actually an integral part of the burger. This was a great idea; pork-based food can often be greasy but they had managed to balance it so that it was moist without dripping in fat (now, don’t get me wrong, I love mopping up pork juice with the expert application of a chip as much as the next guy but it turns out that there’s a limit). The bacon added a firm saltiness which which offset the smooth texture and sweet, nutty taste of the boar perfectly. As we were leaving, I spoke to a waitress about my choice and she said that she showed her Frenchness by preferring the brioche bun and mustard mayo. I’ll have to try it next time; a sweet roll might just take the burger from great to perfect.
I have a weakness for properly-made onion rings and the serving that I chose as a side did not disappoint. The portion was generous as was the size of the individual rings; this was great because Tris’s tactic of ordering ALL THE SAUCES meant that I was able to go on a bit of a dipping frenzy.
Fried food? Salt? Sounds like I needed a drink. Another culinary weakness of mine is drinks that could easily be served as a desert - In steps the Oreo milkshake. Is was as good as I’ve had in some dedicated shake shops and really helped my inner 8-year-old enjoy the meal.
Tris also wrote up his thoughts:
For my burger, I chose the The Windsor. The beef for this burger comes from The Royal Farms in Windsor, which produce some of the finest beef in the UK.
I admit, my choice was initially swayed by the fact that it came in 8oz, rather than the GBK standard of 6, however after I tried it, I was impressed with how succulent the meat was, it really is worth trying before it goes!
When I went up to the desk to order, I was inspired to order some of the delicious speciality dips that GBK have. I was looking forward to basil mayo and blue cheese especially. I couldn’t decide between the 7 on the menu, so I ordered them all! Imagine our surprise when, in addition to the 7 I ordered, 7 more were delivered to us! Because I had ordered “All the dips, please”, the kitchen staff had given us every sauce they could find!
I love GBK, I would eat there everyday if the wedding diet would allow it!
We were so stuffed after the burgers we had no space left for dessert. Karl & I had coffees whilst Tris had a fresh mint tea that one of the lovely managers made for him.
We lingered over our meal for some considerable time as we had such an enjoyable evening. I think we shall be visiting Gourmet Burger Kitchen on treat night regularly!
Many thanks to the team at GBK Westbourne Grove for a fabulous night.
