Bangin’ beefy brilliance @ Burgermeister, Berlin

Tucked beneath the elevated platform of a subway track, Berlin locals gather around an old public toilet block …for burgers.

Burgermeister popped up numerous times in my search for the most bangin’ Berlin bites, and they looked like legit, old-school handfuls of hamburger heaven. No fancy schmancy towers of cardiac distress or flavours incongruously shovelled and bound together. These are straight-up, manageable mouthfuls of morish-ness.

Shazzi, my long-suffering, “you wanna eat that?” ride-or-die, sat amused as I wiggled and waited for my taste buds to tackle a legend. She wasn’t hungry but appreciated the need to grab what ya can when ya can.

Burger received, unwrapped, and…. in it goes. Oh me, oh my!

Really? Does this exist?

That bun. It’s a brioche, but not a brioche. It’s slightly sweet and a little buttery but subtly so. A super thin, crisp, golden crust encases a cushion of fresh, white fluffy bread.

And then, the beef pattie. SHUT UP! Woah! This ain’t your bog-standard-mass-produced-pattie. This is steak. Peppery, salty, juicy, top-grade beef that’s been ground and shaped into a pattie. Hand on heart, I have never tasted a burger pattie that comes near Burgermeisters.

Balancing out the rich succulence was the pattie’s backup band; iceberg lettuce, tomato, dill pickle, red onion, ketchup and mayo.

After a couple of mouthfuls of heaven, I looked up and saw Shazzi looking on with her usual expression of quiet patience. Yeah, yeah, okay, you can take a bite…. or two.

Wrong move, Fi. Wrong. Darn. Move.

Chew two in, and she was a goner. Halfway through her second mouthful and with a firm grip on the burger, she was about to dive into her third when an involuntary “Oy!” slipped out. It was her turn to hand the burger over reluctantly.

From then on, it was a relay of one-bite shares until we polished it off.

We would have ordered another burger if we weren’t already going to the Markthalle Neun to rummage through their pantries. Alas, we restrained. But, if and when we ever return to Berlin, we’ll be dropping back into this joint as if it was an old, much-loved friend we’ve been waiting to embrace again.

BURGERMEISTER Silesian Gate, Kreuzberg
Station: Schlesisches Tor
Address: Oberbaumstrasse 8, 10997 Berlin