By
E.
Posted on 06/05/2008
A rapidly expanding chain, GBK is a New Zealand-style burger bar. It is one of the best of the many gourmet burger restaurant chains that seem to popping up all over the place.
The Venue
The Birmingham Gourmet Burger Kitchen is inside Birmingham’s Mailbox, which is an up market shopping centre, think Harvey Nichols rather than H&M. GBK has simple decor, pale walls and simple tables and chairs.
The Atmosphere
What's nice about GBK is the mixed crowd that it attracts. You get families as well as people on dates or those who have just finished work. Like say Nando’s, you need to head to the counter to order your food. In some people’s eyes this gives it a fast food/diner feel and it's slightly annoying as people don't tend to realise, but your waiter usually tells you on your way in.
The Food
Prepare yourself, Gourmet Burgers are highly addictive. They use good squishy burger buns and huge, extremely tasty meat which they cook to your preferred level. They do lots of interesting combinations and sauces. The satay sauce goes brilliantly on a meat burger as well as chicken.
You can also get big chunky homemade chips with your meal, if you do, get the garlic mayonnaise to go with them, it’s amazing. You may want to share the chips though; the food is all very filling. GBK definately makes you re-access your opinion of the humble burger. They also do vegetarian options like falafels.
The Drink
There’s a separate wine list to the main menu which offers a good selection. They also do a couple of New Zealand brewed beers which you rarely see. Macs Gold tastes great and comes in a very cool ring pull beer bottle. There are also lots of non-alcoholic drinks from freshly squeezed juice to special GBK milkshakes, which are huge, delicious and the perfect accompaniment to a burger and fries.
The Last Word
GBK is perfect for when you really fancy a huge fast food style meal that actually tastes great.