Chef Express
Startlingly good burger joint to try 20 Reviews
Burgers are funny. Not funny ha-ha (their jokes are usually pretty dull), but funny deceptive. Never trust a burger, that’s my motto. You think they’re simple. You imagine anyone can make a decent burger, but this just isn’t the case – even the most promising places can dish out overcooked meat, tough or overly bready buns, or unimaginative accoutrements. The list of what can go wrong is unending. That’s why finding a good, trustworthy burger joint is such a treat, and Chef Express is one such place.
For some reason, I assumed the restaurant would more closely resemble a dingy diner, and so was pleased to find instead a warm little café with cushy leather seats and walls coated in a series of handsome black-and-white photos. Because the weather was so nice, my date and I settled into the alfresco area outside, which was caringly decorated with fairy lights and pot plants.
To start, we split an order of chilli cheese fries and were surprised by how strangely clean the dish felt. Of course, we held no illusions that this was healthy, but the meat was moist, fresh and oddly lacking in grease. We’ll admit that we could have done with more cheese – the topping of melted cheddar was a bit spartan – but otherwise we were pleased. My barbecue ranch burger similarly delighted. It was everything a good burger should be: cooked perfectly to order on a bun that was the ideal consistency, and laced with smoky bits of turkey bacon and a crispy onion ring. My date’s Cajun chicken burger (grilled, not fried) was juicy and plump, but not quite as thrilling as my burger. It didn’t really have the spice that Cajun food is renowned for and was more remarkable for a healthy dose of garlic mayonnaise (so in short, not really Cajun at all).
For dessert, we decided to split a carrot cake. Oddly, we weren’t expecting much. It just seemed the sort of place that wouldn’t excel at desserts, even if they did serve up a mean burger. When it arrived, however, every bite was a revelation. The cake was beautifully moist and the cream cheese frosting delightfully silken and sweetened to perfection. To really cinch the place as an idyllic hangout spot (Dubai’s answer to the Peach Pit in Beverly Hills 90210), it also offered a large range of inexpensive shisha at Dhs25 per pipe. We left feeling rather pleased with ourselves; we had spent a pittance for a mass of filling food and found a new local to boot. Well done.
The bill (for two)
1x Large water Dhs6
1x Chilli fries Dhs18
1x Barbecue ranch burger Dhs24
1x Cajun chicken burger Dhs22
1x Carrot cake Dhs24
1x Melon shisha Dhs25
Service (10 per cent) Dhs11.90
Total Dhs130.90
Time Out Dubai, 19 October 2009
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