the handburger

I admit being one who is easily seduced by fancy graphics and quirky interior spaces. On the other hand, I also treat establishments which place great emphasis on graphics and decoration with a fair bit of skepticism, having experienced rather lacklustre products being peddled at a couple of such places in the past year. So it was with mixed feelings that I was anticipating the opening of this new burger joint at Raffles City called The Handburger. I first noticed the place when they had put up the hoarding while the shop was being renovated. It wasn't a loud and fancy as you might think, but was all white with an array of hooks fixed onto it. And on the hooks hung little promotional booklets introducing the new restaurant. The booklets were designed such that every page was a layer in a burger, starting from the bun on the cover, to the tomato, cheese, patty etc, all rendered in cute colourful graphics.

I happened pass by on their opening day while looking for dinner one evening and popped right in without hesitation. Run by the people of The Soup Spoon (which is next door), the Handburger, as its name suggests, is a canteen style restaurant serving handmade burgers, using fresh ingredients, with most of the items on the menu are made inhouse. The spac is dominated by the bleached-out hue of the timber finishes which were decidedly not the most appaealing under the flourescent lighting. Three rows of long canteen tables filled up the front-of-house which was cladded with darkened mirrors on one side. On the other side was a wall of shelves covered in cutesy vector cutouts, behind which was the kitchen.


On the menu was a good selection of different types burgers. I was quite tempted by the less tradtional burgers, like the parmasan prawn cake burger and the tandoor chicken burger. ButI ended up ordering The Works Burger which had a beef patty, thinking that I should try something more conservative on my first visit before going to the more gimmicky ones. The burger turned out to be this towering stack stack of 180g NZ sirloin patty and melted cheddar, topped with are a strips of crispy fried bacon, a sunnyside up, morsels of mushrooms and onion rings, finished with a caramelized onion bun. A bowl of chunky fresh cut fries and bbq sauce were served together with the burger on this giant paddle tray with indents carved out for the plate, bowl and untensils sit in. I was quite amazed at how the the burger managed to stay in place without toppling as I was slowly carving it out with my fork and knife ( A burger purist would probably scoof at using utensils to eat a burger but that's besides the point now). And due the lack sauces and slices of tomato and pickles, there was also a noticeable lack of plate tectonic action which I appreciate, hate having my plate looking like a crime scene after polishing off a burger. I could have done with a thick slice of juicy tomato but the juicy patty and the sunny side up provided enough moistness to the stack. While not truly excellent, i thoroughly enjoyed it.

Feeling gluttonous (like always), I ordered one of their soups before the burger arrived. I chose the chilled tomato soup with chilli, avocado and corriander which came in a glass. The cold soup was smooth and rather refreshing, a wonderful start to the meal ( would expect nothing less from the Soup Spoon people) and a good counterpoint to the heaviness of the burger. The flavours were delightfully layered, the sweet tangy notes of the tomato, the heat from the chilli, the buttery avocado, finished with the aromatic notes of corriander.

Unless you hate burgers, there is nothing much not to like about the place, hearty burgers made with good ingredients, the vector-chic interior and graphics and the friendly staff.


The Handburger
Raffles City Shopping Centre
B1-77/78