Libertine’s – Libertine Burger DIY

Libertine has been a burger joint I have had my eyes on for a number of weeks after seeing some fantastic images on Instagram. Their products have looked pretty amazing with sizzling bacon and beautifully coloured cheese amongst unbelievable hacks by DIY chefs. This was the ultimate weekend “cheat” by my calculation and I looked forward to it all week from the minute my order was confirmed for delivery on Friday.

The Bun: 11/20

Have to admit the buns looked reminiscent of my favourite Burger and Beyond buns when I saw them in the packaging on arrival. Sesame seed brioche was a little different to my favourite but it did have the same beautiful shine that I have, of late, begun to see as the highest standard of burger bun. Unfortunately this bun was not of the standard I have come to love. This bun was tough, was dense and was not supported by the sauce or juiciness I suspect was needed to give it a lighter feeling. I cannot say it was terrible but it certainly was teetering just above average, better than a Burger King bun but not a patch on some of the quality companies we have reviewed of late.

The Toppings: 8/10

This DIY Kit came with precookedbacon and Libertines house pickles. I have to admit the bacon was absolutely brilliant, it was super smokey and had a nice crunch after being placed on top of the patty after the flip. I was actually pretty surprised how good the bacon was, flavour was immense and overshadowed pretty much everything else in the burger which was, perhaps, the paradox in this much anticipated stack. The pickles were also very good, my only gripe with the pickles was the fact they were cut so thin it was hard for them to impact against the powerful flavour from the bacon. Cut these pickles a little thicker and have you have a top scoring duo in this category.

The Condiments: 4/10

Frenchies Mustard and Heinz Ketchup. I have thought about this category as the mixture of these two condiments is usually a pretty good mix. I had to think about originality and about the taste inside this particular stack. I have gone for a score of slightly below average as, with the basic elements of this burger, this is one area that you could potentially do something quick to improve the all around taste. I was thankful that they sent Frenchies and Heinz rather than trying to palm the paying community off with a cash and carry bought substitute and calling it their own! So a score of 4 of two condiments that gave a little familiar flavour I think is fair. The duo did not do much for this burger at all but it was, at least, noticeable.

The Cheese: 13/20

Two slices of pretty decent American Cheese at least helped the Libertine Burger to be something other than a really bad burger. The cheese, similar to the condiments, gave familiarity and tasted pretty good. Nothing out of the ordinary but it was a generous helping of two slices that gave that nice oozing look down the side of the patty and tasted nice.

The Patty: 6/20

At this point you will have to bear with me as the patty was the reason I was looking forward to this burger. A 150g split of 50% Flank, 30% Chuck and 20% Brisket in a patty is enough to make your eyes fall out of your head like a character in the Roger Rabbit movie. The patty that I tasted was, literally, tasteless and dried. Following the instructions to the tee with a 8 minute total cook and the overcooked unidentifiable patty did not impress. The next day I cooked the other two burgers from the 4 pack and decided to cook with 2 minute less cook time; it was still the same. Generously sprinkling the Libertine seasoning on both sides of the patty and still it did not come to life. It was a bad two days in the office for this patty and I cannot score above a 6 unfortunately.

The Taste: 10/20

Overall the taste was okay. I think the familiarity of the bacon did the burger many favours and had I not been such a burger fan I dread to think what the score would have been for the Libertine Burger. The generous serving of 3 rashers per patty gave the stack a decent flavour but no better than average by our scorecard.

Our Verdict: 54/100

A very, very average burger indeed. It is quite simply unfair to have to compare the Libertine to some of the burgers we have reviewed this year, it is simply not in the same class. At the same price point with the likes of the Bacon Butter Burger, Tribute Burger and the Hot Box if you are going to try a DIY for the first time this is not one I could recommend. Positives would be it is a pretty basic cook and actually the process gives you a sense of achievement as you stack inside of the cook which looks really cool. If you are interested in trying out Libertine Burger you can check out their website here