Every once in a while, Pisco gets the urge for a burger. Gourmet burgers are preferred over fast-food burgers; I find the latter to be a little light, insubstantial, and examples of all the wrong tradeoffs that fast-food cuisine entails.
A short stroll brought Pisco and a friend (K) to Duke’s Burger, which is on the “best burger” list of the WOM Guide. We entered and the bartender greeted us with a brusque “We’re full tonight.” Is it really so difficult to be polite to potential customers, even on a Friday night? We walked out and I vowed never to return. I hope they go out of business with attitude like that.
Left without a good backup plan, we wandered around Staunton Street, and found a burger on the menu at Soho No. 8. Sitting on the corner of Staunton next to the escalator, it’s a great place to people-watch, somewhat akin to being on safari at a popular river crossing. The dark interior shows off the large, bright aquarium in the back, filled with a school of languid, orange fish.
The evening immediately brightened when I spotted a Leffe on the bar. I asked the server which flavor, and she said, “Well it’s the brun, we don’t have the blond tonight,” which is perfect since the brun is so much better. A couple minutes later a full pint of Leffe Brun was in front of me, the blown bulb of the glass nearly as large as my head. I recall drinking (smaller) 375ml glasses of Leffe in Belgium; it’s so potent that you have to be careful. But as it’s Friday, and I’m walking home, we can throw caution to the wind.
We ordered two burgers, rare, and they were delivered a short time later. First impressions were favorable: the buns were substantial and toasted on a grill (unlike those flaccid, mushy excuses they serve at Gourment Burger Union, which is anything but). There was a slice of cheese on the patty, nearly melted, but I scraped it off; you never know what kind of cheese you’ll find unless you ask in advance, which I had forgotten to do in my fluster over the Leffe. The meat was rare, just as ordered.
The best aspects of this burger were the rare beef, stout, toasted buns, and a thick slice of red beet on the bottom. The sweetness of the beet provided a good balance to the richness of the meat with its seasonings, and provided a little extra heft to the burger. The only downside was the uneven and occasionally overpowering salt level in the patty. The burger is advertised as “hand seasoned in house”, and it’s a pretty good mix, but make sure the cap is on the salt shaker the next time you put it together in the kitchen, OK?
Chill house music played at a reasonable volume set up a nice atmosphere, while letting patrons converse at normal voice levels.
The burger would have been exceptional if not for the sodium issue, but it’s definitely worth a trip back. Anytime you can get Leffe Brun and a good, solid burger, it’s a treat, and one we should celebrate as often as we dare.
Two burgers and two drinks totaled HKD 391. No photos of the meal since it was too dark, and I was too entranced with the Leffe.
Food: B+
Service: B
Atmosphere: B
Value: B
Soho No. 8
G/F, 8 Staunton Street
SoHo, Central [map]
+852 2536 9068
* I don’t recall beets in the original game, but I think they would have been a good addition.
