I rant you risten

Monday, November 01, 2004

Cheeseburgers...

Ok a little about myself… I love cheeseburgers… I love cheeseburgers so much , I can eat one, and then wait a bit and then eat another 20… single or double, ketchup and mayo, or ketchup and mustard, or just ketchup… lettuce, tomatoes, melted cheese, onions, pickles, and a sesame bun. It just doesn’t get any better than that… I think I’m going to dedicate this post to CHEESEBURGERS IN BAHRAIN!!!

You can’t talk about cheeseburgers in Bahrain without bowing down to Jan Burger. Those of you that know what I’m talking about are probably nodding your head in agreement.. I commend you on your good taste… Jan Burger started out in the mid-nineties in Bahrain with one location in Hoora, and it was not long before they started opening up branches all over the island. Don’t expect an experience in fine dining, or in corporate fast food efficiency… Expect a kick ass burger… First off, they do all their cooking over a charcoal grill (kudos on that one – there’s nothing like that barbequed burger taste)… Second, they use basic ingredients, but it’s their secret process that keeps it all together (I’ll get into that in a bit)… Third it’s local… and I don’t care how good that BigMac tastes (pretty damn), but Jan will always be Jan…

It’s a very simple establishment: do you want a regular Jan burger or the Big Jan (double patty) : beef or chicken (both equally good)… as your food’s being grilled, they prepare the buns with all the fixings: lettuce, tomatoes, cheese (if you want it) and ketchup… Once the burger is done and prepared, it’s wrapped in Aluminum foil and then put back on the grill for a short period of time… Although I’m not too sure what happens with this added process, but allow me to describe the outcome: Everything harmonizes together… the meat, cheese, and bread all get stuck together while the juice from the meat softens the bread leaving you with a symphony of flavors and textures…. I’m getting so hungry just thinking about this… In my book, Jan Burger is definitely the best burger in Bahrain…

Next up we have Jasmis – the original Bahraini fast food burger joint… let me tell you something, we’ve got McDonalds, We’ve got Burger King, but Jasmis is on another level… Maybe cause it’s a local institution that I’m partial to it, but you can’t avoid the fact that they’ve taken the best sandwiches from BK and McDonalds and Jasmisized them… They’ve got the Big J (the big mac’s long lost brother), the Special and Mini J (from the whopper family, yet slightly different), and all the other additions to the menu… I grew up eating Jasmis, and I have to admit, that they will always have a special place in my heart… Watching a local company beat the odds, establish a name, and cook up a good fast junky foodish burger? Doesn’t get any better…
Local burgers are pretty good, if you find the right place with the right ingredients… to me the right ingredient to make the perfect burger is love… you need to squeeze that minced meat in your hand as you add your ingredients. Caress the patties as you shape them… You can’t tell me that sizzling sound when you place the patties on the grill isn’t heavenly on your ears… the grill mark inspection once you flip over the burger… The billowing smoke carrying that charred meat scent filling up your nostrils… the way the cheese melts giving your burger excellent cheese to meat surface coverage… those thickly sliced onions that get thrown on the grill for good measure… whoa… I can’t believe it’s the third week in Ramadan… I am starving… listen to me, writing about cheeseburgers…

6 comments:

Pearl Morale said...

Oh my God, did you have to torture me? That's it, the moment I fly back home, I'll rush to Jan Burger in Bokowara and get the biggest and yummiest cheeseburger they have!

Anonymous said...

Did anyone ever eat at "Tasties" in Boston!!! They were so good they built Harvard around it.

Bahraini Rants said...

THE TASTY!!! I miss that place... they shut it down and opened up an Abercrombie and Fitch (which I think they just recently shut down – serves them right)… I miss that place; they had the best greasiest double cheeseburgers in Boston… They even filmed a scene from Good Will Hunting there, the scene where Damon and Driver are having cheeseburgers and share their first kiss – A bit of useless information. The tasty… One of my good friends got hit on by a homeless person in there once…

Anonymous said...

The Tastee was the best....at 2:00 in the morning. Great burgers after a few beers in Boston or Cambridge. I miss it, too. There are still some places in Boston to get great greasy cheeseburgers, though. Kelly's Roast Beef on Revere Beach is a terrific place for a cheeseburger. And Sullivan's on Castle Island in South Boston has excellent burgers, too.

Anonymous said...

Iam a big fan of burgers and Iam totally Agree with you that Jan Burger is the best and Jasmis also rocks until I taste that juicy and taste burger in my life from NENU (near A'li mall) its called "CON FORMANGIO" damn thats was yummy.

Anonymous said...

Jans is very very good, but certainly not the best. But Jasmis, I don't think you know what you're talking about. I can make a better burger than them using ingredients anyone can buy from a decent cold store.