Burger bonding

Burger bonding

By SHAWN RODGERS
A burger with fries (illustrative) (photo credit: Shawn Rodgers)
A burger with fries (illustrative)
(photo credit: Shawn Rodgers)
If you have ever eaten a big, juicy, tender South African hamburger, then you know how missed something like a good hamburger can be from an otherwise fulfilling life. I took it upon myself to search for the closest thing to my fond childhood memory of a burger on the grill and found Black Bar 'n' Burger. Founded by Israeli Chef Tzachi Buchester and located in the heart of Tel Aviv's business district, Black Bar 'n' Burger is a real honest-to-goodness hamburger joint, with all one could ever desire in a big tender patty. Featuring a futuristic red and black design, it's also a worthy hangout for the young and trendy. The extensive hamburger menu seems to feature every kind imaginable and takes up a whole page in the menu book. It gives its signature burgers iconic names like "Twiggy" (160 grams of beef), "Schwarzenegger" (220 grams), "Yokozuna" (330 grams), "Norma Jean" (ground entrecote) and "Brigitte Bardot" (veggie burger). Chicken and fish burgers are also available. All burgers are served with American-style French fries or special sweet potato home fries. More items, including chili beef and beans (NIS 39) or schnitzel with mashed potatoes (NIS 56) are also available. I opted for the Black Diamond (NIS 69) - a menu "must try." It's made of quality ground beef, stuffed with sweet potatoes and served with over-cooked green beans and grilled tomatoes on the side. For someone who usually takes "happy meal" portions, this was fantastically big... but then again, so was my appetite. It was perfectly grilled, juicy and appetizing. My partner decided on the Meh-burger (NIS 51). She found this little lamb number a bit bland and did not like the tahina that was served with it. Both plates were very well presented and everything looked nice and fresh. Desserts in a burger joint are often not that great. Black Bar begs to differ and to prove it, serves the Bermuda Triangle (NIS 35), a crunchy chocolate wafer with nougat and chocolate. Being the gluttons that we are, we also tried the Autumn Leaves (NIS 35), which consists of hazelnut milk chocolate on a meringue base decorated with dark chocolate leaves. Overall we enjoyed the afternoon. The food was very reasonably priced, only slightly more than the cost of eating the junk food at certain other well-known American burger joints. The battle for best burger in Tel Aviv is a tough one with a lot of fierce competition. I do say that Black Bar 'n' Burger, with its guaranteed top-quality ingredients and excellent service, deserves one of the top slots. Black Bar 'n' Burger is located at Habarzel 23, Ramat Hahayal, Tel Aviv. Sun-Sat: 12noon-till last customer. (03) 644-1000. Not kosher. The Jerusalem branch on Shlomzion HaMalka 18 is kosher.