The Beijinger 2013 Burger Festival Finalist: Lily's American Diner

As we head into the home stretch, with the Beijinger 2013 Burger Cup culminating this Saturday (Aug 17) in the Beijinger 2013 Burger Festival at Beijing City International School (BCIS), we are profiling all of our finalists before they cook off, face-to-face, for the title.

Lily's American Diner
It is something of a surprise that Lily's has made the last eight, but it's in there on merit after impressive wins against Paddy O'Shea's and Migas. It's fair to say that people would have expected neighborhood competitor Plan B to be the last Shuangjing competitor in the competition, although in our Burger Battle series, which ran before and during the early stages of this year's Burger Cup, our reviewer plumped for the Lily's burger saying it "packed in more flavor and sauciness."

The Burger: The coleslaw in a Lily's Burger is a feature that is mentioned a lot when weighing up its merits. The house cheeseburger is made up of a medium-sized patty, on a sesame seed bun, with sliced cheese and the coleslaw. Bacon (which has been called a little stiff) is on board, but there's nothing else in the way of fixings.

Price: RMB 40 is about average for a burger of this size.

Reader comment: "I've had at least 100 burgers, and patty melts from there ... never been sick, and usually top notch ... although a few were a little well done. The Lily's Burger with coleslaw and bacon is awesome."

Why they could win it all: In two words: home advantage. The burger is clearly not without merit, though it could be argued that it had a relatively easy route to the quarters. It would definitely be a surprise were it to take the title, although having made the last eight, a groundswell of support on the day could tip the balance in their favor.

Photo: Elizabeth Wu