Smashburger’s – Bacon Super Double

To be quite honest, I have seen many competitors for Best Burger Brighton, and heading down to the seaside is always a joy with the many options available. With some of the big hitters like Patty & Bun, MeatLiquor, and Honest Burger around, Smashburger was a distant thought. After my splendid photography outside of the target, Honest Burger, I was bemused to see them not open the doors at the stated 11:30 am, opting to tell us 12 pm through the window. Google revealed Smashburger, some 200 yards away was already open so we decided to give it a go. I opted for the Bacon Super Double, read on to see how it went.

The Bun: 12/20

The SMASH bun, I am a little unsure of. It was okay, it tasted pretty good with a slight sweetness but it was the density that didn’t really resonate with me. I felt that the bun was a little too heavy, especially under the weight of a double patty, a few rashers of bacon, heavy cheese, and a ton of greenery. For some reason, it reminded me of the Shakeshack bun, just not as good. The bounce back on a squeeze was instant and it lacked that freshness feeling, but it did taste good, just heavy.

The Toppings: 8/10

This burger came with Tomato, Lettuce, Pickles, Bacon, and Red Onion. I liked pretty much everything except the tomato. I had to get rid of it, there is just something about the slime and pips that just completely throws me off track eating a burger. I thought one of the stars, naturally, was the red onion. I do have a thing for red onion and the way that the texture was broken up by the sweet red onion was a winner, for me. The bacon was really well smoked, powerful flavour, and with three rashers there is enough in there to compliment the flavour of the beef. I thought the bacon was cut a little too thick, and not cooked quite long enough. I like crispy bacon, I think that is how burger bacon should be presented. If I wanted a BLT I would have stopped at one of the multiple truck stops on the way to Brighton.

The Condiments: 7/10

The smash sauce is quite nice. Has a slight tang with a smooth, creamy texture. Sometimes you can have a sauce that tastes a little watered down but this had a nice richness similar to a good Burger Sauce. I cannot say that the sauce is ground-breaking but definitely added a little something to the stack; I just needed more of it. The tight portion of sauce laid on the burger was enough to spark curiosity but not enough to satisfy against the pretty large stack.

The Cheese: 14/20

A triple cheese melt sounded like death by calories but how can you resist? Even writing it makes your mouth water just a little bit. This was one of the burgers that didn’t actually state what type of cheese was going to be in the stack but it is safe to say that it was an American Cheese. It was well melted, thick, and creamy. Tasted good too, had that signature American cheese taste to it a cross between flavourful rich cheese and a standard run-of-the-mill processed nastiness. Just how I like it!

The Patty: 14/20

I thought the patties were pretty good. The meat was okay, it didn’t have the rich-in-beef flavour that you will get from some of the big hitters in the Hit List. The meat was well cooked. I would suggest they cook it to medium at Smashburger as the meat was well seared, and had just enough meat juice to make a drip. By the time I had come to finish the burger it had dried out quite a bit, leaving a residual graininess in my mouth.

The Taste: 13/20

The overall taste at Smashburger Brighton was good. For me, does not come anywhere near the likes of Five Guys but was an okay burger to try. The toppings are fresh, the patties are well cooked, and the sauce is pretty good. I think the bun would need a little bit of work, eating something that dense in a pretty large stack was a little overwhelming. The taste was definitely affected negatively by the bun, I have the feeling that a stack not quite as big as the one I chose could be chancing on blandness.

Our Verdict: 68/100

Smashburger in Brighton is well-positioned to take advantage of the local shoppers and tourists. With the price point nearing £15 for the Bacon Super Double, including Fries, I don’t think that they are a proposition that can compete on quality. Most of the burgers we have tried are beneath this price point and offer so much more quality, even in Brighton. The overall experience of eating in Smashburger was okay, even though it has that Wimpy 1988 feeling and colour scheme to its establishment. If I saw a Smashburger again, I wouldn’t be heading in there again. It is not that the burger is bad, it is okay, but at the price point, I feel there are a lot more quality-orientated companies out there. You can check out the Smashburger website here