BJ Burger Wars: Union Bar & Grille Vs Flamme

Are you ready to patty, Beijing? Burger Versus Burger moves into round 2, as we weigh-up a couple of contenders on the eastside burger scene. Our ongoing mission: to root out Beijing’s best grilled beef and cheese in bread. Are there any truly great burgers in Beijing? Is char really the star? And why do they call them "ham" burgers anyway? Let’s get it on.

Sizing one another up are two Sanlitun Village steakhouse burgers. These third-floor neighbors share a steak-centric menu; they both have great happy hours, and they’re both ever so slightly posh (if you’re coming from Wudaokou).

In the blue corner: Classic Cheeseburger, Union Bar & Grille. RMB 85.

The brief. Blow me down, that’s pretty as a gosh-darn picture. Burger bun taut and bronzed like a St. Tropez stomach. Obsessively neat stack of fresh salad toppings on the side. Oodles of well-melted cheese. America, f-yeah.

The bite. Bread is puffy, light and yielding, and it sort of deflates as you sink your teeth in and clings around the cheesy beef. Yum 2.0. Big, smoky, charred beef flavor amplifies with each chomp … but gets dry in the finish. Which brings me to…

The beef. Ordered it medium well but this is most definitely well done, and suffers for it. Flavor is great but a bit more fat in the ground to up the succulence a smidgen wouldn’t go amiss. Great char.

The bits. Chunky bookend of tomato, full slice of raw red onion and a lettuce leaf on the side. We like options. Added in, it fills out the sandwich nicely without toning down the flavors. Fruity coleslaw a tad sweet, but an appreciated extra.

Harmonious society. Lives up to the price tag, which is high praise. It’s no mean feat to make a basic burger that tastes the business. Good quality griddled beef - just ease off on the cooking times and it could be a champ.

Fries? Included. No danger of winning an award for best potato in a supporting role, but a solid performance. Un-greasy, thin-cut and soon gone.

Next up...

In the red corner: Basic But Not Boring Burger, Flamme RMB 58.

The brief. Another fancy-pants ciabatta bun, sliced diagonally. Thousand Island-style burger sauce (think Big Mac) spilling out over a rather grey patty. Plate generally pale and lacking complexion.

The bite. Surprisingly soft-textured bun, nothing like ciabatta, really. Burger sauce rather sweet, and together with crisp iceberg lettuce gives a definite fast-food-style approach to the flavor balance. Beef totally lost. Hello?

The beef. Eeek. I’m a fan of Flamme’s sous-vide steaks so I had high hopes for this. The beef looks weirdly compressed - an ultra-fine grain with no texture. It's oddly elastic and lacks any serious meaty punch. “Tastes like sausage,” comments my confused dining companion.

The bits. Lightly grilled red onions are good, with lettuce and tomato on the side. A bit too much burger sauce – but probably not a bad thing with beef this unbeefy.

Harmonious society. Overall experience greater than the sum of its parts – it’s got a soft, easy-to-eat sweetness that might be targeted at Chinese palates. But the beef. Oh… Please fix it, Flamme!

Fries? Included. Crinkle-cut and fairly rudimentary. I’d prefer the option of having Flamme’s great shoestring fries instead.

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I think you can tell the outcome. It’s worth noting that Flamme has a big-ass burger menu with some great sounding sandwiches I didn't try, such as the Firehouse (grilled sweet chillis, pickled onions, habanero mayo) and the Buena Vista (smoked ham, Swiss cheese) whereas Union just has the one burger with a couple of add-in extras like bacon. But this battle is all getting the basics spot-on, folks, and with that in mind, it’s no contest.

Verdict: Union Bar & Grille wins by a cow.

Next time: Sanlitun Houjie Hoedown: First Floor vs. Luga’s…

* All opinions expressed are those of an Englishman who once went to In-&-Out in LA (he didn’t even know about the secret menu, hah) and now has the gall to write this stuff.

Burger photos: Tom

Previous Installments:

BJ Burger Wars I: The Box Vs Vineyard Café