Photo of
September 30, 2014
Burgers as far as the eye can see...
Burgers as far as the eye can see…

Meathammer took down first place at Glasgow’s Best Burger competition, held last night in Ad Lib on Ingram Street.

[Paul O'Rourke, aka Mr Meathammer, with the trophy.][3]
Paul O’Rourke, aka Mr Meathammer, with the trophy.

Held for the fourth time, the event attracted a meaty nineteen entrants and showcased both the inventive and, frankly, fruitloop tendencies of Glasgow’s best burger brains.

Innovative ingredients

With ingredients ranging from rabbit and tobacco onions to Maryhill billy chilli from The Blue Chair, the competition was as innovative as it was fierce.

Just as much thought and care had gone into the names as the actual burgers.

From Roastit Bubbly Jock’s Hippity Hop rabbit burger to BRGR’s Barbie Meet (Meats?) Ken, a playful sense of humour blunted the edge of the chefs’ steely determination to be named top dog.

The five judges, including the 5pm Dining blog, each chewed over a sample of all nineteen burgers, marking them out of ten for the buns, patties, flavour and presentation.

Close scores

Incredibly, three burgers all emerged with exactly the same score and tied for second.

Here are the full results:

1st Meathammer with The Love Bite, available at Nice ‘n’ Sleazy + The Record Factory

2nd El Perro Negro with the Top Dog; Roastit Bubbly Jocks with Hippity Hop and Bread Meats Bread with the Wolf of St Vincent Street

3rd Burger Meats Bun with the Double Deluxe

The blog had a quick chat with Paul O’Rourke, the man who cooked the winning Meathammer Love Bite. Cooking burgers at Nice ‘n’ Sleazy for a little over two years, Paul has been in the burger game for the best part of a decade.

The Love Bite burger from Meathammer.
The Love Bite burger from Meathammer.

‘With so many great places like Bread Meats Bread and Burger Meats Bun popping up, I’m just really pleased to have been given the prize,’ he said. ‘We make pretty much everything from scratch from the Hawaiian buns to the bacon peanut butter and, of course, the burger patties which are seasoned with bone marrow. For our char grilled pickled onions, we char grill them first and then pickle them which gives them a sort of blackened flavour.’

[Ad Lib: scene of the crime.][11]
Ad Lib: scene of the crime.

What makes a Love Bite?

Here is what goes into The Love Bite from Meathammer:

Handmade Hawaiian bun, bacon peanut butter, chilli jam, char grilled pickled onion, candied Parma ham, buffalo hot sauce a patty made with chuck, short rib and bone marrow.

Congratulations to all the winners. Better luck next time to all the other entrants and now we’re off to lie down in a darkened room.

Although we may go to the doc’s and get our cholesterol level looked at first. I swear, I close my eyes and I see burgers…