I was super excited to get my hands on this UK famous burger but I couldn't believe how expensive it was!
On National Burger Day, there really is only one option for lunch. Forget your meal deals and your grabbed-on-the-go Greggs, your pre-packed tupperware of leftover pasta and your I’m-on-a-diet salad. On this day of all days, it’s about the burgers.
Welcome to our 10th and final food review in our second LP Eats series on Preston’s best burgers, the conclusion of which happily landed on National Burger Day. We’ve had all manner of hamburgers - rubbish ones from McDonald’s which have made me regret ever going to the place, proper takeaway burgers from late-night local joints, and fancy sit-down-with-a-napkin versions from chic city centre establishments. It’s been a journey.
And so, to Five Guys. Five Guys has a lofty reputation in the UK as the fancier, better, inherently tastier and more discerning older brother to the unsophisticated likes of Burger King and McDonald’s. So I had high hopes for this place thanks to its grand rise as one of the go-to burger places on the high street and glowing reports from friends and family.
Arriving, I was immediately taken by the classic American diner-style decor and the 1980s malt shop vibe to the place. It was cool in that way that big chains try hard to be cool - plenty of corporate effort had gone into making this place look like an independent burger joint, from the glitzy images on the wall to the typeface of the menu. 3.5/5 on the vibe front.
Let’s get down to business. The burger was nice without blowing me away; the burger meat was nice and beefy and had a proper meaty flavour palette, but it was missing that real chin-coating juiciness to it, which was a shame. It tasted fine, but it was far from the best burger I’ve ever had. 3/5 on the meat front.
Along a similar vein, the overall moisture of the burger was lacking - despite asking for American mustard, pickles, and onions as my extras, it just needed a bit more moisty oomph to it in order to bring it all together as a properly satisfying burger. Dare I say it? It was almost a little dry. 2.5/5.
Now, let’s not be too down on Five Guys, so let’s talk extras. I had chips with my bacon burger, and Lord above I don’t think I’ve ever been served more chips with a fast food order in my entire life. I barely knew what to do with them all given that there were so many, but they were tasty, well seasoned, and generally very good fries, so I’m giving them a 5/5 (especially given how good the extras on the burger were as well).
And so we come to our final score in our final season 2 LP Eats season - value for money at Five Guys. Now I’ll admit to being braced for this to be slightly more expensive, but I was genuinely shocked to discover that my burger with fries and no drink cost me a whopping £16.90. I’m sorry, but getting that little change from £20 for a burger and chips is madness. 2/5 and I’m being generous.
Overall, Five Guys was just okay - I’ve had better burgers and I’ve had much worse burgers, but I’ve never had that many chips and I’ve never paid that much for the pleasure. Anyways, so concludes our LP Eats series on the hunt for Preston’s tip-top hamburger - stay tuned to find out which burger won top spot and strap yourselves in for season 3…
Meat: 3/5
Moisture: 2.5/5
Extras: 5/5
Vibe: 3.5/5
Value: 2/5
TOTAL: 16/25