Neighborhood Burger’s Truffle Mac Daddy

Deliveroo has a lot of options for burger deliveries in my area. I tried the Mac Daddy Burger from Neighborhood Burgers. A combination of smoked cheese, Mac & Cheese, onion jam, pickles, and lettuce should have been a flavor explosion. Read on to see how it went!

The Bun: 15/20

Suprisingly the bun for the Truffle Mac Daddy turned up looking more healthy than a burger bun should do! The sesame seeds (and black seeds) gave an artisan feel to the burger bun. The complexion had me considering whether or not the bun was wholemeal, given the darker colour. Either way, the bun held well, tasted good, and impressed me. At first, I was a little unsure; I thought it looked a little dense for my liking. But, the fortified look gave way to a soft, bouncy, and light texture.

The Toppings: 2/10

When I first made the order on Deliveroo, the Truffle, and Mac & Cheese was the deciding factor. These two flavourful components in one burger would entice anyone, right? Our best burger hit list features an exceptional truffle burger, and I have also tried an excellent Mac & Cheese burger.

Unfortunately, the toppings were one of the worst things about this burger. The Mac & Cheese tasted cheap, overcooked, and lacking in that signature creaminess you would expect to find. With the cost of living crisis, I can forgive the cheap cheese. But the confusing infusion of truffle (I am still considering whether or not that was actually truffle) sunk this cheap cheese to new depths. Perhaps the truffle was an artificial recreation of this powerful product. Regardless, the two did not mix well. The pickles included made this topping profile acidic, strong, and unpleasant to taste.

Not to mention the omission of lettuce! The chef really should include what you pay for in a burger!

The Condiments: 0/10

This burger was supposed to come with onion jam; something I absolutely love. I found no trace of it at all. I did pull the burger apart a little and cut it in half, but there was certainly no onion jam in my burger.

The Cheese: 10/20

The Truffle Mac Daddy came with smoked cheese that tasted pretty good. When you get cheese alongside Mac & Cheese it can be hard to discern the difference between them. However, there was a colour difference that helped to tell the difference. The smoked cheese had a stronger presence than the Mac & Cheese and offered a slightly richer taste that I liked. On its own, it was lightly smoked with a pronounced signature taste. Combined with the other cheese, its taste was rendered a little bland. Disappointing. I would have preferred this cheese to have been used in the Mac & Cheese, it would have been a better combination.

The Patty: 6/20

The patty stood no chance of bringing any beefiness to the party against the other flavors in this burger. The meat was not of the best quality, nor was it aged enough to have a rich beef flavor. Although I sympathize with delivered burgers being in transition losing moisture, this was a step too far. The meat was grainy, and overcooked with gristle in at least 3 bites which were extremely off-putting. In my opinion, if you are using cheap meat, then the other areas of the burger really need to shine, like the compliments. As it happens, there was nothing in this burger that offered any delight.

The Taste: 6/20

As you might expect, the taste of this burger was bad. Period. I have only given it a six rating purely on the strength of the textures that the Mac & Cheese offered and a decent smoked cheese. But, other than that, this is one of the worst burgers I have reviewed in a long time.

Our Verdict: 39/100

Neighborhood Burgers have created a burger that is out of its league. What may be an enticing combination of flavors is executed on a shoestring with a terrible outcome. A half-decent smoked cheese and a nice bun somewhat reprieve the burger. But, working with these flavor profiles, no doubt, requires a skill level. I can imagine the quantities of rich cheeses and truffle need to be balanced by a skilled technician, and, on this display, Neighborhood Burgers do not have that technician.

I even ordered the loaded fries with smoked brisket and chipotle mayo. Another disappointment. The fries were cold, the brisket was tight and stringy, and the mayo was lacking in any chipotle. Overall, I think this will be my last order from Neighborhood Burgers. I would rather go to Waitrose and buy a couple of standard Rustler Burgers, at least its cheaper poor food.