Three Bangkok Burger Reviews

Last week, I went on a mini-odyssey in search of new (or new to me) burger joints in my neighborhood. I found three. Here’s a review of those burgers…

No Drama Burger

Hidden down a small side soi east of the Chong Nonsi BTS station (walk around the side of the Sora Hotel and proceed 25 meters). Theirs is a no-frills smash burger in a paper wrapper.

I ordered the double cheeseburger (239b): brioche bun, two patties, American cheese, pickles, grilled onions, and a spicy thousand island sauce that for some reason is a new staple in the BKK burgersphere. In terms of taste, this burger is a slugger. It’s a flavor blast to the face. I’d describe the experience of eating it as “fun.” Fair warning, it’s messy. So messy, in fact, that the cook provides plastic gloves for handling it. I scarfed it down and felt quite satisfied afterward…I only wish it wasn’t so messy. They don’t offer sides. You just get a burger. I give it an 8 out of 10.

The Shack

Over on Surawong west of Patpong is a small, charming joint called The Shack. The star of their menu is clearly steak, but they’ve got a collection of burgers as well, so I opted for the blue cheese and bacon burger (390b)—double patty, streaky bacon, grilled onions, secret sauce (that looked and tasted suspiciously like spicy thousand island), and real blue cheese. The best word to describe the taste is “rich.” The cheese packed a wallop, and the bacon was icing on the cake, like when your concubine gives you a thank-you kiss after a raucous bedroom visit. The burger came with fries, which I didn’t need, but I tried one just to check them out. They were coated in Lawry’s seasoning salt, a flavor that takes me back to my high school days and a lunch truck that parked next to the basketball courts. I give The Shack 9 out of 10, especially since, of the three places I hit, it was the only one with air-con.

Smash Burger

This place is on Soi Thaniya—a neighborhood I typically avoid as I’m not Japanese, and the gentlemen’s clubs there strictly cater to the Nipon set. But a burger is a burger, so I went to check them out. I repeated my Shack order: the double bacon blue cheese burger (390b). Interestingly, the only difference between the blue cheese burger and a regular burger is just the cheese. What I mean is, it had lettuce, onion, and spicy thousand, plus the bacon and the blue. All those accoutrements made for a very tasty burger. Every bite was pure pleasure. And like The Shack, this burger came with fries, which I sampled. They were just OK. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.

All three burger joints had at least half a dozen different burgers on their menus, so if blue cheese ain’t your bag, I’d still recommend trying something at one or all of them.

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