After a successful opening in Glasgow, this burger joint opened in the capital in 2015 and has built up a solid rep ever since. The casual food scene on Lothian Road seems to change more often than the seasons but I was glad BMB flourished given the standard of my original visit. Competition in the burger market is rife and in the past weeks we had visited both the Innis & Gunn Beer Kitchen directly over the road and Brewdog’s shiny new gaff down the street.
Sitting by the window was an interesting spot as bus travellers and passers-by peered in as we ate. I went for the Pulp Fiction-inspired royale with cheese for £8 and we shared a portion of poutine, a popular Canadian specialty consisting of chips, gravy and cheese curds (£5.50), which are a house specialty.
My burger looked a bit out of proportion as the beef patties were considerably smaller than the bun. The meat was beautifully seasoned and brimming with cow flavour, whilst the cheese was plentiful but not overpowering taste-wise. The pickles were too small and thinly sliced to impart the required sharpness and the onions had no flavour. The bun maintained its integrity well, which is always an important factor for me when having a burger.
The portion of poutine was massive but a few of the chips I ate initially were undercooked. I found enough cooked ones to make a go of it, thankfully. The cheese curds were pleasingly creamy and salty. The gravy offered a bold beef hit and was so rich I’d like to meet anyone who could polish that size of serving off on their own.Sarah’s bacon cheeseburger (£8.50) was a hit and miss. The meat was chewy and contained quite a bit of gristle; she didn’t finish it as a result. The bacon was also flabby and hard to eat when I had a bite, although my beef was alright. We raised this with our server when she cleared our plates and she promised to let the manager know, which she did as he was stood at the till directly behind us.
I requested the bill from a friendly chap behind the bar only to find the issue with Sarah’s complaint hadn’t been addressed. The young chap was very pleasant and informed me that “we would always take something off if you weren’t satisfied but maybe she (the waitress) forgot to tell our manager”.
“She did tell him. I saw her do so, but never mind,” came my response. By this time the manager had clearly picked up on the conversation and shuffled from the till to the bar where he pretended that he wasn’t listening. It really annoyed me that he just stood there and allowed a junior member of staff to deal with this, although he was perfectly capable and did an excellent job. Any manager who witnesses a complaint should step in and show they care, not pass the buck and let someone else deal with it.
Now I’m not going to give someone an ear bashing in a restaurant if a diplomatic approach will work, but I could easily have been one of those customers. It would have been interesting to see what the chap in question would have done in that instance.
I can almost forgive poor service if the food is outstanding, as that’s the memory I prefer to take away. However, on this occasion the food was just better than average and certainly didn’t marry to the snaps on Instagram. Whilst the front of house done a sterling job, I feel sorry for them if that’s the level of leadership they work under.
Web: breadmeatsbread.com/
Twitter: @BreadMeats_EDI
Phone: (0131) 225 3000
Address: 92 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH23 9BE
Opening Hours: Sun - Fri 12pm - 10pm
Sat 11am - 10pm
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