Street Eats: Get That Disgusting Street Burger Away From Me!

While voting continues in the search of the city's best stacked burgers in the Beijinger 2016 Burger Cup, we expanded our horizons and tried some street-style burgers. Warning: this story doesn't end well. 

We found this little shop in the back alley near Dongdaqiao Station. Their menu has four burgers on it: a crispy chicken burger (RMB 8), a veggie burger (RMB 7), a double beef burger (RMB 9), and a shrimp burger (RMB 8). On top of that they also advertise plenty of deep-fried crispy chicken. Impressively (or worryingly, depending on how you look at it), everything on their menu is under RMB 10.

We ordered the double beef burger (RMB 9) since it came highly recommended by the owner. From the window, we could see that he put two beef patties in the microwave and took out them, added some cabbage, and put it all together between a bun. In under one minute, we received our glorious burger.

Unwrapping the burger in the office there were plenty of complaints from fellow editors about the smell. Looking down at the dark brown patties I noticed there was a big block of creamy sauce akin to mayonnaise. I had a bite ... Wait, what actually was it? I was sure that it wasn’t beef at all, in fact there might have been no meat in this thing at all, as the texture of the patties was nothing like meat, but more of a powdery-with-no-chew substance. That seems like the best way to describe it. Apart from that, the cabbage was okay, and it seemed the chef was generous with his cabbage, and the bun was a little too soft, but nothing to complain about. 

With every bite there was a tiny voice in my mind saying, “why am I doing this to myself?” Being a professional editor and refusing to let this burger win, I finished almost two thirds of the burger-like thing, but then my stomach started to moan. Quickly I started to feel like I had swallowed a rock, and like I should probably ask my boss for danger pay. 

I started to feel a strong call from the juicy and delicious fried chicken fillet. Without a second thought, I dropped the fake burger and ran towards the chicken stand, and started thinking about geting a cucumber shot from The Rug or a naughty pear from The Local to wash this disgusting burger down with and make the pain go away.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
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Photos: Tracy Wang