Kyspeaks.com

When I was growing up, burger was roadside Ramly stalls, with chicken or beef patty, fried egg wrapped the meat, a slice of cheese perhaps, couple slices of tomato, shredded cabbage, all drenched in excessive chili sauce and mayo. And for those who wants it a bit more “atas”, you’d go to TGI Fridays or maybe even Hard Rock cafe and pretend to have a bigger bank account than your neighbor (there’s also McD but it’s not relevant here).

Spade’s Burger, Subang Jaya SS15

The burger scene in Malaysia has gone through a wave of expansion several years ago. Starting from those charcoal buns from MyBurgerLab and reaching a peak where you’d find a fancy burger outlet at every hipster joint all across the country, offering their own interpretation of how this American invention should look & taste like.

Alas, like every hype food that came and go, it eventually settled down to a plateau with a few brands that continue to thrive. One of such brands is Spade’s Burger, founded back in 2013 from my home town in Penang.

In fact, I was first told about Spade’s Burger by my brother quite a while ago, and finally managed to give it a try a couple weeks ago at their outlet in Subang Jaya.

Spade’s Burger offers a choice of pork, chicken, or beef as your choice of meat, there’s also salmon & mushroom options for those of you who prefer not to eat anything that can scream.

We went for the more traditional option of Dark Knight with pork, and BBJ with beef. These burgers are priced from RM 10.90 all the way to RM 17.50, you can also combo it up with unlimited refill for drinks and certain sides, we opted for fried bacon strips, salted egg fish skin, and mushroom wedges.

BBJ, Dark Knight, fish skin, mushroom, bacon fries

The pork patty here was so good it legit makes an almost indistinguishable replacement  for those who does not eat beef, both types of meat were very juicy and full of flavor. I really enjoyed the bacon bits and cheese crisp in Dark Knight, and thought that BBJ, while very good in itself, was perhaps s tad too sweet for my liking. Overall though, they were both way above average and certainly satisfying.

As for the sides, fish skin and mushroom wedges were on point, while those fried bacon strips were too thin and contained too much breading to allow the natural flavor of bacon to shin, a bit of a shame really.

Will be back to sample more of their other offerings, will miss the bacon fries next time.

Address:
Spade’s Burger
A5, Jalan SS15/4D,
SS 15, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.074872, 101.586446
Tel: +6 03 5612 0317

On our first night to London, after checking into Dorsett at Sheperd’s Bush, we walked to the nearby Westfield London in search for dinner, and was greeted by Five Guys Burgers & Fries right at the entrance that we took.

I’ve heard about this burger chain on some forums before, so naturally we thought we’d gave it a try, after all, it is one of the most crowded restaurants in the mall (which turned out to be the largest mall in London).

£22.5 for 2 burgers, a milkshake, a soft drink, and 1 serving of fries

Five Guys currently operates only in North America and in UK (since 2013), and is focus on burger, fries, milkshakes, and everything with bacon.

Ordering is a pretty straight forward affair – line up, order, pay, pick up your food, and get your drinks. Not very different from most fast food restaurants. They also have an open kitchen and prepare everything right in front of your eyes, it was super hectic, and I think most of us won’t last half an hour in there.

ermm.. cheeseburger, and bacon infused milk shake

The menu is actually pretty simple. There’s burger, cheeseburger, bacon burger, bacon cheeseburger, and the “little” size of those variations. You then choose from over a dozen toppings & sauces to add to your burger

Additionally, there’s also sandwiches and hotdogs, but we’re not interested in those anyway.

We ended up ordering a little cheeseburger, a little bacon burger, a milk shake with bacon bits, a medium fries, and a soft drinks. All of which adds up to £22.50, London is certainly not a cheap place for food, even if it was fast food.

Haze & KY at Five Guys, Westfield London

The burger was certainly juicy & wholesome, even though we opted for the “little” version, they still fill up the stomach pretty easily. The milk shake with bacon bits though, was excellent, and I wished it came with those “bubble tea” type of straws instead, sucking the bits via those tiny straw was a bit of a struggle.

It was overall a pretty satisfying meal. I think Five Guys sits somewhere in between the usual fast food chains and gourmet burger outlets, but those milkshakes though, that’s something else. Would not hesitate to try again.

Address:
Five Guys
Westfield London,
London W12 7SL, United Kingdom
GPS: 51.506733, -0.222849
Tel: +44 20 8740 7290

Note: This UK – Malaysia Influencer Exchange programme was organised by Malaysia Airlines.
However, opinions are of my own. Malaysia Airlines flies between London and Kuala Lumpur
twice a day on the A380. There are 8 seats in the First Class, 66 in Business Class and 420
in Economy. Make your flight reservations today on www.malaysiaairlines.com.