Budapest Burgerwar: We May Have a Winner!
Nothin' but the Blues, a one-time hot-spot on Krúdy Gyula in District VIII, was moribund for years before being renovated and re-opened sometime recently under new management. Despite having lived within a block, I had not ventured into the pub once, so I can't really pinpoint what they are doing differently, though lately it has a spiffier appearance, the streetside tables are full around dinner time and, for the first time in four years of walking past its door, I heard actual blues thumping from inside.
The standard hamburger served at NBTB comes with sides of fries and coleslaw for the very uptempo price of Ft 990 (€4.25). I will preface what follows with a few criticisms: the cheese on the Ft 1,100 Ft cheeseburger could be of better quality; my fries, though piping hot, were over-salted, and the burger I tried was cooked closer to medium than medium rare. Also, the expats next to me were thoroughly obnoxious, and were apparently friends of the management. Now for the easy part: singing the praises of their burger. Hands down, it is the best I have had in the course of this long and seemingly fruitless quest to find the best burger in town.
They took the fairly simple formula of burger making, and did about everything right. The sesame seed bun was exactly the correct size to hold the beef, and didn't crumble half-way through the meal. The toppings were what you would hope for: tomato, iceberg lettuce, and a few slices of red onion. The beef itself was a hand-shaped patty that was thick as you are likely to make for a backyard barbeque. It was juicy, with no hint of overseasoning, and generous in portion, making for a sizable entrée. Flavor-wise, it was only hindered by the limitations inherent in locally grown beef. This is a very good burger, and an excellent deal. The coleslaw, too, is worth mention. It won't knock your socks off, but it is the real thing, and fulfils its supporting role with gusto. Nor did the service trip the meal up: it was efficient, peppy, and bi-lingual when necessary. A big hand to Nothin' but the Blues; it is the only hamburger I have tasted thus far that deserves an encore performance.
As it turns out, Nothin' but the Blues is hiding an American chef in their kitchen (information I learned after the meal, lest there be skeptical souls out there - and I am sure there are - who would accuse me of chauvinism). The kitchen also churns out chili and a few other faves of standard American diner food (the website also promises American breakfast and some Thai specialities). If their hamburger prevails in this burger war - and I think it should - it is not because they built the perfect burger, they didn't; it is because each aspect was well executed. In Budapest, that is all I ask for.
How They Stack Up:
Meat: (9/10)
Bun: (9/10)
Trimmings: (8/10)
Service/Setting: (7/10)
Affordability: (10/10)
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Total Score: 8.6/10
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Good for you...I've been following your quest...but have long given up on finding anything worthwhile...crappy food, crappy service, sky-high prices, etc....I just spent a month in the States and decided to gorge myself on burgers to last enough for my return trip next year...and hot dogs, and pizza (without corn)...thanks to Arriba I didn't have to eat so much Mexican...but maybe your next epic might be to find a good fozolek in the States?...
and the bottom pic is...?
...put there to annoy exactly you.
Talking about bilingual service. The other day me and my friends went to have a bite at an American diner (in the USA). We ordered "Hamburger de Luxe" from the menu. It took a lot longer than usual to get the food, and it turned out why: "Hamburger with Lox" was an unusual order. The good thing is that you can order your burger with salmon fillet if you want and they make it for you. The bad news is that the waitress didn't quite understand English, and "de luxe" and "with lox" are just not the same...
I dropped by last week and decided to try their Veggie burrito. When ordering, I asked the waitress what was exactly was the filling? "Nem tudom" came the reply. "Umm, ok" I said, after an awkward pause, "can you ask someone what the filling is?" ...she rolls her eyes and shouts my question over to a colleague. "Salata" came the reply. I ordered anyway, more out of curiosity. Food came in a timely fashion, even if it was rather rudely slapped down in front of me. The filling turned out to be rice and mushrooms, no lettuce in sight. Rather tasty it was too. Such a pity the management don't encourage Western style service to accompany the Western style food. The manager (apparently English) was sitting with friends at the neighboring table throughout the waitress' performance, oblivious to, or disinterested in, the standard of service. Pity.
Decided to visit a few days ago. The result has again, really shaken my belief in the BP dining scene.
The quality of the meat was abysmal. The bun disintegrated when we tried to pick up the burger (I think a burger SHOULD be eaten with the hands).
NEVER going back there. Clock Cafe is at least consistent...
@Johnny: Thanks for chiming in. Word on the street is that, after receiving an outstanding review, they went and reformulated the burger. I hope they take note and change it back. You are not the first to complain....
I also went last Sunday and was a disappointed with the dining experience. Since I had a nice chat with the owner, especially after talking about the sub-quality burger, I with held my review here until another tasting. I really hope that I will be able to experience the burger Matt has written about next time.
Nice owners, cool bar, kitchen needs some work.
sorry forgot to add...the fries were excellent!!! Don't change those one bit, unless you want to add more :)
I have been to Nothing but the Blues only twice, and normally do not get involved in threads of this type, but some of the comments above, I believe, are just written in spite!
Firstly, I have to say that this is NOT the best burger ever, but on my travels, including those in the States. THIS STANDS ABOVE MANY OTHERS and is certainly is amongst BEST I've had in Europe!
So the Waitress didn't know what was in the Veggie Burrito. Well at least she asked a colleague, (even if they got that wrong)! That alone being unheard of in Budapest as this type of question is normally met with nothing but a shrug.I hope that "SIASU", had asked the waitress in his/her best Hungarian..Or are they just another one of the many people over here that believes every Hungarian should speak to them in English, and sits and complains about everything and how much better things are back in the States etc!
Lastly points to the English Manager. I noticed a sign outside stating that SKY SPORTS were coming soon. When I asked the staff, they got the Manager for me (who out of interest, was in a meeting, which he left to deal with this customer). By his own admission, he knew little about Football, but was obviously aware that this was important to his customers; he was certainly not disinterested.
"but maybe your next epic might be to find a good fozolek in the States?..." Great idea, and lets send all of those who want to slate everything here back home to do the reviews
IF THEY KNOW WHAT FOZOLEK IS!
@Howard.
I am not sure what exactly you mean by 'out of spite'??? I went there, paid for a burger and both the meat and the bun were horrible. Not just 'not great', but HORRIBLE. I am not sure, how a customer of an establishment who PAYS for a product can be considered spiteful???
I am very jealous of the great dining experience that you've had, I love burgers and would have been extremely happy to have a great meal. THIS WAS NOT A GREAT MEAL.
I am a nobody on this site. I do not write for them, I just read it weekly. Wilur however is on of the reviewers working on the burgerwar articles. Why would he be spiteful???
It's comments like yours that make me think that you are involved with the establishment.
A RESTAURANT NEEDS TO PROVIDE C-O-N-S-I-S-T-E-N-T QUALITY TO BE CONSIDERED GOOD!
It's not enough to serve customers good food only when the staff feels like it.
Actually I have never been published on Chew, clearly an oversite of the pitiful management here ;), but I, like Whimpy, am just in search of good quality burger in Budapest.
I have no axe to grind with any management in Budapest who try their best put out some good food despite the sub-quality beef offered here. I believe places like NBTB, Caledonia, or the like, read our reviews and do their best to improve their business. I know Patrick has taken a keen interest into what people think and makes adjustments. But having a waitress not know what is in the dish or how something should be cooked is sloppy service and could be easily corrected.
All I want is some place I know if I eat there will offer the same quality dish each time, this is why I go to Trombitas and not Kaltenberg.
Fozolek in the States?....Is your point that since Americans don't know what vegetables cooked down to a slurry is, then we shouldn't talk about any other food cooked here? By this argument, or logical fallacy, we shouldn't discuss any foreign dish here because I know one outside of Hungary knows, or cares, about Fozolek.
I dropped by the Nothin' But the Blues today to see what the hullaballoo was all about, and I can safely say that all the other burger joints in town should sue for peace. The cheeseburger was near-perfect in execution, and the price was right, too. The manager even dropped by my table, mid-burger, to see how things were going; we then chatted about the agonizing decision he had made about what fries to serve (steak fries only with burgers, regular fries with everything else), as well as the difficulties he's had in sourcing a consistently decent and appropriately-sized bun.
Speaking of which, about the only beef (har har har) I had with today's burger was the bun. Despite being perfectly toasted, it was a tad underwhelming. But no matter: the medium-rare patty (all 200 grams and 1 1/4 inches of it) the toppings, the fries, the cheese, even the coleslaw -- all of it was all spot-on.
The place also seemed curiously well-attended by comely college coeds. Probably something to do with the location.
And Matt -- I'm told that that obnoxious expat guy you encountered was some drunk Liverpudlian tourist D-bag they'd been unsuccessful in ejecting from the premises, and not the friend of the management that you assumed.
Can we just pack it in and call it V-B day? The chances of finding something better than this are slim at best.
SEAN'S SCORE
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Meat: 9/10
Bun: 8/10
Trimmings: 10/10
Service/Setting: 8/10
Affordability: 10/10
Total score: 9/10
Just wanted to let everyone know that the current operators of "Nothing But The Blues" will be leaving on Sunday and reopening at a new location in early December. We will be taking our staff, our menu and our vibe to the new place. The old owners will be back in after Monday and the bar will go back to what it used to be before Terry & Gary took it over, a radical right wing bar where foriegners aren't exactly welcome. Our new spot is at Kertez utca 33.... watch this spot for the exact opening date!!
Sean: glad to hear you agree. As for the dj: I assumed he was friends with the management because he kept telling everybody that would listen "I am friends with the manager!" Safe assumption on my part, I think. Kertesz 33?!? Welcome to the neighborhood - looking forward to it.
As promised, here is the info on the new place that the guys from Nothing But The Blues opened. It's called The Queen Victoria pub, located at Kertez utca 33 in the 7th. The place has the same cool vibe as the old Blues pub, with Sky sports in one room and lots of music in the other.
@Tg: OK, but where is the burger on the menu?
btw its FOZELEK