A Post Shopping Lunch At The Handmade Burger Co, Meadowhall

Tuesday 27 Dec 2022 by Sticky Beak
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It has to be done, there’s no getting round it; Christmas shopping, that is. Mummy Bird had decided she wanted to go to Meadowhall for a mega, one-stop-gets-everything shopping marathon, so His Nibs and I went along to carry the bags and be on hand to fetch varying sizes of clothes and shoes, should the need arise!

Having got there nice and early we managed to grab a choice parking spot that meant we wouldn’t have to schlep bags far out of the centre as and when we needed to, to relieve our poor tired, achy arms. Two of our major targets got hit in quick succession - yay! - so we actually managed to grab a pit-stop at Bakers and Baristas; the Latte and Christmas Muffin went down a treat, I can tell you.

Fast forward a couple of hours and everything on Mummy Birds’ list was crossed off! Feeling jolly pleased with ourselves, and with mission accomplished, we headed to The Handmade Burger Co. in the Food Court, where a lovely young lass showed to us to a table and got our drinks sorted in a flash.

Mummy chose the Handmade Moo Burger (£10), I had the Handmade Cluck Burger with grilled Chicken Breast rather than the alternative, fried (£10), and The Man had the Green Chilli Cheese Beef Burger (£12), upgrading from the included seasoned fries to Buffalo Bill loaded fries for an extra £2.50.

Now you may wonder why we chose to come for a burger when there’s all manner of other scrummy options (including Carluccio’s – I love pasta); the reason was simple, Mummy Bird has never been to Handmade Burger Co. before and just fancied it. What Mummy wants, Mummy gets; end of.

The Handmade Moo Burger is the classic, straight-forward option: Beef Patty, Mayo, Pickles, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, and Ketchup. The Patty was beautifully flavoursome and that perfect medium-dense texture that means it’s easy to chew and savour but doesn’t just crumble when bitten into. Everything was as it should be; the burger hot, the salad cool. The job was, as they say, a good ‘un!

My Chicken Breast equivalent was just as scrummy. The poultry was moist and tender, the grilling imparting a subtle depth of flavour to its inherent mild, creamy taste. Again, the fuss-free garnish allowed the quality of the Chicken to come through on the palate, with the added bonus of not being overly messy! I do love dirty burgers, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes when I’m out I don’t want to be spending ages licking and wiping my fingers clean, and this was one of those occasions.

Talking of dirty, messy burgers, The Man was happily chowing down on his Beef patty, slurping the melted American Cheese happily and smacking his lips at the tart Jalapenos. There’s still no convincing him that Gherkins/Pickles are a nutritious food item, so I got those morsels passed over to me.

No such luck with the Buffalo Bill loaded fries though; oh no, those were being kept firmly under wraps! The fries were nestled under a thick blanket of grated Cheddar, oozy Cheese sauce and Handmade Burger Co’s own signature sauce. To be fair, they were so good I wouldn’t have shared them if they were mine, either.

Our server had checked that we were happy with our food and kept an eye on our drinks, coming back to clear away a trio of clean plates. We didn’t want any desserts; our tummies were pretty full already and it was daytime, and we had to drive back home, so a food coma definitely wasn’t desirable! I’d certainly recommend The Homemade Burger Co. as a great place to refuel when you’re visiting Meadowhall: friendly service, tasty food, and a fab setting – Hot Wings given here, quite happily.