Better value and better burgers Mr Chancellor

Basic burgers can be had for much less of course. Less than a pound at fast food joints anywhere.

Equally you can spend a lot more.

Here in Lancashire you can easily spend more than a tenner, more than £15 in fact, for what essentially is burger and chips.

The difference being that Mr Osborne’s snack and attempt to be down with the proles was just a burger in a plastic box.

Whereas dig deep here in the county and you can enjoy a gastronomic feast of a burger.

At Quite Simply Food on Moor Lane in Lancaster there is a menu of gastro and gourmet burgers available every day from 5pm.

And it’s not just beef between these bread buns – you can indulge in venison, king prawn, and field mushroom, goat’s cheese and truffle oil among others.

You can even chow down on beef and foie gras for the princely sum of £13.95 for heaven’s sake.

Very George Osborne.

Not for me though.

Force feeding of geese is a step too far on my dietary needs.

We called in on a sunny Saturday and were 
welcomed warmly to this casually chic eaterie.

Its big sister restaurant on St Georges Quay is Quite Simply French and a firm favourite of mine so my hopes for a good meal were high.

And the choices of three quarters of our party were spot on and devoured with gastronomic glee.

It was just me who chose badly, of which more in a minute.

Let’s be positive first.

All the burgers are served on toasted muffins and come with frites, a slice of beef tomato, lettuce with dressing and pickle.

It makes for an extremely substantial meal.

The frites in particular are worthy of a mention.

In daughter’s words: “THE CHIPS WERE TO DIE FOR, THEY WERE SO GOOD. MENTION THEM PLEASE.”

And indeed these crispy, crunchy, skinny frites were a treat.

Husband opted for the rabbit and chorizo burger (£10.95) and said the rabbit meat was lovely and tender.

However, although he could see the chorizo, its flavour was missing in action.

Son, who acquired 
expensive tastes for the evening, had the hand-cut fillet of beef and caramelised onion which comes with the heftiest price tag of £15.95.

He said the beef melted in the mouth and the sweetness of the onions complemented the beef perfectly.

The burger was very tender to the point of falling apart so was kind of hard to eat in burger form but knife and fork does the job admirably.

Daughter chose the lamb with mint and garlic (£10.95).

Her verdict: “It was a good lamb and mint burger, I enjoyed it and it was a nice alternative to the traditional beef burger without being too fancy.

“But it wasn’t anything special, if I went again I think I would be a bit more adventurous and try the king prawn and chilli burger.”

So far so successful.

I picked the sword fish, spring onion and wasabi (£10.95).

Can I start by saying the frites were indeed to die for and the salad was delicious.

But... but the swordfish was dry and flavourless and although the spring onion lent a fresh crunch there was no trace of a fiery hit from the wasabi.

An unlucky choice on my part. I’ll choose better next time.

Elaine Singleton