We missed the Great Leap Back ally Chili cookoff but we didn’t miss theBeijinger’s Burgerfest.
It is one of those events you hear about and always think “Yea, I’d like to go some time” but then never do. This year, in league with my idea of seeing something around Beijing or China every week, I decided BurgerFest was the perfect opportunity to tick the weekly sight-seeing box.
Not only was it a day of burgers, the festival would also be located in the far-off district of WangJing, which would require a bit of trek to get there. Since I now shun the subway whenever possibly, getting to WangJing would also mean a lengthy bike ride (about an hour in duration). And it was with those things in mind that I ventured out to see what BurgerFest was all about.
BurgerFest kicks off an annual event that theBeijinger hosts every year known as the Burger Cup. It simulates a typical sports-playoff tree with various restaurants competing for the title of Burger Champion and runs for about six weeks total. Although the competition spans just about the entire city of Beijing, BurgerFest is the chance for establishments to get a jump start and for people to sample quite a few burgers all at one place.
And let’s be clear about something: you don’t go to BurgerFest to lose weight. Burgers, and beers. That’s what you get.
For those of you concerned about animals or your health, many of the places featured during Burgerfest also offer vegan options. But the toppings are the same and there would only a slight reduction in calorie intake.
Over the course of the day we’d try four or five burgers total. A few were quite small but two of them were full size. The burgers we had included:
- Turkish Feast’s Pulled Lamb Burger
- Prodigy Brewing’s Kaluhua Big Boy with Tiny Gangsta IPA
- Lucky Las Vegas Restaurant & Bar’s Burger Tower (basically sliders on a stick, including: Spicy Beef Burger, Chicken Burger, Wasabi Shrimp Burger)
- Followed by a Steamrhino beer
- That One Place’s Goober Slider
- A break for some gelato (Ferrero Roche & Lemon)
- Side Street’s The Squatter
What was the verdict?
Out of all of those I’d place the Kaluhua Big Boy at the top followed by The Squatter. After that, the Pulled Lamb Burger, Goober Slider (it had peanut butter), and then the Burger Tower.
The Squatter was the most difficult to get since the booth had a line up the entire day. We waited 10 minutes before being told they would take a 20 minute break. We came back an hour later and said they’d start again in 10 minutes. Then they only served their KO Burger for the first bit, so that’s when we had the gelato and then want to watch one of the bands on the stage. Finally, we waited another 20 minutes after the band stopped to finally order the Squatter. It was worth the wait as it was a hefty burger and it gave our stomachs time to digest.
The festival had quite a few more choices but I went for burgers I’d never tried before rather than “old favourites”. As a result, I left out Plan B’s Beef Dip, Slowboat’s burgers, QMex’s burgers and Homeplate. Also not represented was Great Leap Brewing since they were hosting their chili cook-off the same weekend. There was also the Hyatt burgers but I find it difficult to give a hotel chain cred for a burger, but they claim they have some good burgers and I did see a few people buying from them.
As for beers, we had a few but not too many, opting instead to save room for burgers rather than liquid carbs. We had eaten so much that it was difficult to imagine drinking any more than two or three beers. Plus, a lot of the craft beers on offer were similar: hoppy IPAs or some sour fruit beer. I decided I didn’t need to try too many of those.
Advance entrance was 25 RMB or you could pay 30 RMB at the door. The 5 RMB savings didn’t amount to much since many of the burgers were at a minimum 20-30 RMB. The full-sized burgers went for 70 RMB or so. In total I think I dropped 400 RMB on the day.
Overall, it was worth the trip and I made two bicycle trips out of it (there and back). I was surprised at how long we stayed there, totalling about four hours, and I would like to return to next year’s event. Would I go to all three days? Probably not, given the distance, but also given the nature of the food and the fact that I can go to many of the restaurants themselves.
So if you’re in Beijing for the BurgerFest, it is an opportunity to sample quite a few of the “house names” for burgers here in Beijing.