Today I got the chance to visit the new branch of Burger Lounge at Chalakuzhy Road, Trivandrum… This is my first visit to Burger Lounge as I had never been to the original branch… The place is located towards the Pattom side of the Chalakuzhy road and its like the second building or so as you enter the road from the Pattom side… The place looks quite modern especially from the outside with the inside being like the inside of any other fast food chain… Personally speaking of-course, I felt like they could’ve gone for furniture that was a bit more comfortable, but then again I guess like most fast food places, they are designed so that customers would be just comfortable enough to want to eat and leave asap once done 🙂
As I sat down, a number of menu flyers were found on each table and found a good variety of burgers, hotdogs and sandwiches along with a couple of side options… Each My table had 3 of these flyers and I saw mentioned that they provide free WiFi but based on previous experiences, I prefer using my cellular and so didn’t try using it… 🙂
Since this was the first time, I was indeed confused on which to go for… After some time of confusion, I finally chose to go with what they call as their Jumbo Cheese Burger and went for the Chicken version… Along with that I took their Saudi Shake… When giving the order, the server asked if I need extra sugar or just regular… Since I don’t like having too much sweetness, I opted for regular, which was barely sweet even for me… 🙂 The burger didn’t turn out to be as big as I hoped and so, went for what they call as their Fried Zinger Plate which I assumed was a side (apparently not as can be seen in the pic) and then since I found myself wanting another drink because of issues I’ll talk about later, I went for the light Cold Coffee and had it (which turned out to be good) instead…
They all came as shown in the above pics… I was initially served the Jumbo Cheese Burger and the Saudi Shake together… The Burger came wrapped in paper and held together with a toothpick… When I opened it up, I found the burger to consist of two thin Chicken Patties, Coleslaw, slices of Cucumber, a Fried Egg, Cheese, Ketchup and Mayonnaise sandwiched between two halves of a lightly toasted bun…
This is an incredibly different burger than what I have been used to and by different, I do indeed mean different and in no way bad… Why I say this is because, on my first bite, what I got reminded of was essentially the Shawarma… The bun tasted exactly like Kuboos… The Mayonnaise tasted exactly like the one i.e Lebanese Garlic Mayonnaise we get along with the Shawarma in most of the other places in Trivandrum… The Chicken Patty was essentially made like a cutlet ie, with potatoes as well and then fried, coated in a thin layer of breadcrumbs… It tasted just like the meat we get in a Shawarma and I guess they use the same Arabic spices for this… So, in short, felt like a Shawarma morphed in the form of a burger with Egg and a slice of Cheese 🙂 The only complaint I have is regarding the Patties because I personally don’t like the idea of putting in deep fried ones and if I am not mistaken, it felt like the patty had more potatoes than I would prefer… But anyways, no complains on the taste 🙂
Along with the burger, I got served the Saudi Shake… Essentially for those who may be unaware, a Saudi Shake is a milk shake made with Dates and Nuts (Cashews / Almonds / Peanuts)… It is a milkshake option that I like to have because of the Dates in them… It came as shown in the below pics…
Unfortunately I ended up unable to enjoy it this time and ended up abandoning it… First of all, the “regular” sweetness felt like not sweet at all… Also, I couldn’t detect even the slightest hint of any dates and it was loaded with ice blended into it that essentially what I was tasting ended up mostly being the taste of Ice… I tolerated it for about 1/5th of it and lost the patience with it… 🙁 I guess maybe it would’ve been tolerable with the extra sugar as it will have some sweetness to it rather than being bland…
Anyways, like I said before, since the Burger didn’t fill me up enough, I went for what they call Fried Zinger Plate, of-course assuming that its a side but clearly from the pics, its quite obvious that its really not so… 🙂 Essentially its small bite sized pieces of boneless Chicken fried in crispy batter (kind of like KFC but not tasting same) served on a plate as shown in the pic, along with French Fries, a Bun and some of their Garlic Mayonnaise…
Since I found the portion size to be too much for me, especially after having the Burger, I skipped the Bun and the French Fries (ultimately, just fried potatoes, right? 😀 )… I found the chicken to be cooked perfectly with the outside being just crispy… Seasoning however was minimal with the whole thing being not spicy at all… I think just basic salt and pepper seasoning… But still, I liked it because I liked the taste especially the combination of it with the Garlic Mayo and then Ketchup adding a whole new dimension to it…
As I mentioned earlier, I couldn’t tolerate the Saudi Shake they gave me and so, I ended up getting a Cold Coffee instead… It came as shown in the pics below:
This turned out to be good… Great rich taste of the Coffee with a slightly creamy milk… Fortunately, it didn’t have the ice overload and so no dilution of flavours… This time I asked them to go for the extra sugar instead of being “regular” and so, it was sweet but not too much, just what can be considered as “medium” level which is exactly how I like it… So, it felt good 🙂 However, as they served it, I noticed something strange… Would be great if anyone can explain it for me… Heres the video showing the same:
Anyways, ignoring the disastrous Saudi Shake, it was indeed a fine lunch option to have… I liked the Lebanese twist to the burgers which I hadn’t seen before ever… However, considering the health factors, I don’t recommend making this place a regular as things are quite oily here (as can be seen from the state of the wrapping paper in the pics) and so I would rather recommend the place as a once in a while indulgence… 🙂
