Gourmet Burget Kitchen, Trafford Centre Review

Gourmet Burger Kitchen (or GBK, as many lovingly refer to it) as a chain restaurant that has taken the UK by storm over the last couple of years. Unsurprisingly, it serves burgers, and lots of them. it tends to pop up in any busy shopping centre or out of town entertainment centre, and recently (last half of 2014) their restaurant in the Trafford Centre has undergone a refurbishment – when I was invited along to see what it was all about, I couldn’t turn down the chance to experience a burger restaurant as a vegetarian!

The Trafford Centre restaurant is right in the middle of the top floor of the Food Court, in the centre of the shopping centre – a prime location for those wanting a quick meal without resorting to Burger King to get their burger fix. If you haven’t been to GBK before, it’s a bit of an odd combination – you order at the desk yourself (like a fast food chain) but your food is brought over as table service.

I find this a bit weird, and to be honest a bit of a waste of time. There were plenty of staff on at the Trafford Centre (which is great!) and they were kinda just going to waste as we had to wait in a long queue to order which bundled up the front half of the restaurant. Surely it would have been quicker and a nicer experience for everyone if there was full table service? But maybe that’s just me.

For drinks, my partner had a beer and I went for a GBK signature milkshake. I chose mine in chocolate, and it was served in this American-diner style metal tumbler. And wow, it was AMAZING. Thick, gloopy and all over-chocolatey. At £4.10 it was pretty pricey for a soft drink, but it was incredible and a proper indulgence, I would definitely order this again.

Our food arrived soon after ordering, and in true ‘me’ style we dived straight into the main course. None of this faffing around with starters – I wanted my burger!

As y’all know, I’m a veggie, so before I attended I had checked out the GBK menu to see whether there would be anything for me to eat. As these ‘meat feast’ American style restaurants have become a pretty big deal in Manchester over the past two years, especially in the Northern Quarter, I’ve found vegetarian food almost ‘regressing’ a bit? But surprisingly there was plenty of choice on the GBK menu.

I went for Billy The Kid, containing goat’s cheese, grilled aubergine, rocket pesto, harissa mayo, rocket, pickled onion and some chunky chips on the side. I really enjoyed the goat’s cheese – it was the soft type covered in breadcrumbs and was absolutely delicious with the aubergine and rocket. A winning combo! However I am not a fan of pesto so personally I would ask for the burger without this in the future.

For my side, I went for chunky chips, which were totally yummy and just enough! My only niggle with this is that you have to order the sides and the burger seperately, where as in most restaurants your side is included without question. This can end up getting pretty pricey if you go for one of the larger burgers. Seems a bit cheeky to me.

My partner for the dinner date wasn’t a veggie and so he went for the Kiwi Burger – a huge beef burger with beetroot, fried egg, pineapple, mature Cheddar, house mayo, relish, salad. I am told it was delicious, and it certainly looks impressive. A monster of a burget! He also went for a simple green side salad. At £9.25 for the burger alone, I can see this is where things might get pricey with a side on top of this. I’m not tight, but seems a little odd for a fast-food type chain – worth it if there is a voucher deal on though, which seems to be quite regularly.

Over all, I really enjoyed my trip to GBK. It’s certainly not a special occasion dinner, but for a quick bite to eat when you’re shopping it does the job. And I guess that’s the beauty of it’s location in the Trafford Centre. All the staff were lovely and the new decor – I want to call it American/Cuban-esque? was right up my street.