Gourmet Burger Kitchen
- 245424
- 726689
- 29-31 George Street
- OX1 2AY
An upscale fast-food outlet, offering an array of fusion-cuisine burgers. Take-away or dine-in service available (with waiting staff to seat you, give you menus and take your drinks order, but food orders made and paid for at the counter).
Décor is trendy and modern, but seems to have no thought lent to echo reduction, so beware at busier times. Staff are reasonably friendly, and service prompt (less than 15 minutes from entering to leaving) — this is helped along by the pay-in-advance mentality, which allows you to leave as soon as you're finished, rather than faffing about for a bill.
GBK is owned by The Clapham House Group, as is Tootsies.
September 2007 - Opening week
Burgers are all approximately £7 without any side-dish which themselves are pretty pricey: £2.45 for the fries and £1.35 for dip to go with them. Soft drinks are £1.85 for a 330ml bottle, beers £2.95 and milkshakes an astonishing £3.15. Salads range from £2.45 for a basic side salad to £7.45 for a main course chicken salad. Pretty much anything you want can be added as an extra, for un-listed cost.
Review from Socks
On arrival, it was a bit confusing as to what we were supposed to do, but once a waiter became available to find us a seat he explained it all and very quickly found a high chair for our baby. The burgers themselves are lovely — proper meat in the burger, the other layers generously portioned and all served in a rather fine sesame bun. I had a Cajun Burger, which comes with a couple of sauces that give it a wonderful smoky flavour. Out of habit I also ordered fries and asked for a garlic mayonnaise dip to go with these. The fries were proper, chunky chips and the garlic dip was really garlicy — all really tasty.
However, I would disagree with the first reviewer (below) over the price of the meal — at [Burger King]?, I'd typically spend about four quid on a meal including the fries and drink — matching that at GBK, I spent 3 times that! Of course, one reason is side dishes — with the generous portions and the real ingredients in the burgers at GBK, there's no need for the extras — a burger in a bun is a meal in itself (and certainly more filling than BK). Comparing with other places I might spend £12 on a lunch, rather than comparing with typical fast food it is pretty good, and for £7 for a filling lunch (without the side order) Gourmet Burger Kitchen really does offer satisfying value for money.
First review (anonymous)
I tried a Pesterella burger, described on the menu as "100% Aberdeen-Angus Scotch beef, fresh pesto, mozzarella, salad & relish". The burger more than lived up to expectation, with a large slab of slowly melting mozzarella;, fresh leafy green round lettuce, tomato and red onion for "salad"; and a vaguely pink "medium"-cooked burger [the burgers can be prepared to a different doneness on request — Socks].
The cost of a trip doesn't come to significantly more than [KFC]? or [Burger King]?, and even comes out as cheaper than some more fringe fast-food outlets such as Wimpey. The quality (and quantity, too) make this a fantastic choice if you're in the mood for a burger, and definitely win out over central Oxford's other high-end burger option Tootsies purely for the variety of burgers on offer. I'm eager to taste their take on the Venison burger, and Thai Chicken burger.