This is my experience of eating in Basel’s self-proclaimed best burger while I was in Switzerland. Union Diner is a newish restaurant belonging to the Union Restaurant family.
I have to say my initial thought was don’t try it, it will surely end up in disappointment. My experience with burgers from the continent is not currently on a winning streak. Dry bread. Too much bread. Too little bread. Poor meat/bread ratio. Dry patties. Not enough meat. Overall Sadness.
Example of a Sad Burger
A few things I noted before going:
- Website design was sleek and minimalist. Plus points in my mind, but i’ve been fooled before.
- Photos of the interior: Very upscale and looks like the bar of a modern hotel. Not quite ‘diner’ as the name suggests but I can live with that.
- I saw some posters in town designed by Ludovic Balland, a local graphic design agency. Very contemporary and buying-into the whole still-life photo mixed with traditional Swiss graphic design. Cool I guess, and it got my attention.
Interior and Poster Design
Overall thought was these guys care enough about their look and feel, but can they lay down a good burger?
I finally summoned the courage to go. The place also sells hot dogs and something that they call ‘vegan burgers’? Let’s not even go there. The burgers themselves are stereotypically named after the influence behind it: Karate Kid, being the Japanese influenced burger apparently, The Godfather is Italian style while the Manhattan is your regular cheese. These guys fall short in this department by applying your standard burger name cliches. Unimaginative and not enough puns.
I just stick to the OG burger. The way it was and is meant to be. Regular cheese or a bacon cheese. It's the one true way to judge a burger place. There’s no hiding behind your kimchi slaw, balsamic reduction sauce or your melted brie.
So that meant that I ordered the Big Lebowski. A double beef burger with your salad toppings, ketchup, mustard and mayo. There was no double bacon cheese version so I had to ask for extra bacon. In the end I wasn’t charged for the bacon. Win.
Also ordered the fries which came with some home-made ketchup. Standard.
Beer Pairings are very important to a good burger. They only have two beers on draught: Calanda and Ittinger. I went for the Ittinger which pours dark-golden and goes down well enough, but not amazing by any stretch.
This is outrageously expensive for a non-Swiss person. That's twenty €1 Jagermeister shots.
The burger finally came and that I was going to have a little cry. I just paid CHF 25 which is EUR 20 or GBP 16.50 (CRAZY EXPENSIVE) for the burger alone and it came in what looked like the saddest bun in the world. It was pale and looked like a flat-bread with a huge hunk of meat in it. Not good. Luckily enough, this was my mental prejudice of seeing a nice fluffy Brioche bun as the gold standard. To my surprise it was amazing. Key stats and figures:
- Bread looked disappointing: unleavened, pale and looked crusty and dry. Additionally the juices from the meat soaked the entire bottom of the bun inciting my greatest fear that it would fall apart immediately upon first lift.
- Bread after taste: Looks can be deceiving! Sigh of relief. The bread was so surprisingly soft and maintained its structural integrity despite the juiciness of the meat! This proves two things: Bread is and always will be better in the continent and you don’t have to follow every hip burger joint and do a brioche bun. To all aspiring Burger joints out there. Don’t overlook the bread. IT IS A KEY INGREDIENT.
- Patty: They ask you how you want your meat which is great! I went for a medium rare and was not disappointed. Cooked perfectly juicy and the double patties did not overpower the bread. Surprisingly good meat/bread ratio despite the bread looking flat. The meat is swiss organic. No beef with the beef. Looking good so far.
- Bacon: You could taste the saltiness but it does not elevate the burger. I usually expect the bacon to be the cherry on top. It should be crunchy enough to make you know that you are biting through the bacon and not just disappear in the texture of the meat.
- Salad: Fresh. It’s salad. Move on.
- Fries: Very nicely spiced. It’s got some spices on it similar to the Five Guys Cajun Spice but with a more subtle taste (better).
- Ketchup: Home-made. Good.
Overall: 3.8/5 - Would Return
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The sad-looking and deceivingly tasty bun. Still looks crap. But really good.
To the Union Diner people, if you ever read this. Here is my feedback to you. Get rid of the fucking knife and fork. It’s a burger dammit and you are making your customers look awkward by suggesting they have to cut up their burger and taking away half of the burger eating experience. It’s so /r/cringe when you see people using a knife and fork. It sort of reminds me of the video below. If they ask for one, I guess, go ahead and give it to them (you are still in Switzerland) but just don’t make it part of the package.
TYBG.
How I see you when you use a knife and fork with your burger.
TYBG.
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