Bastard Burgers — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

Nice and cozy atmospheric restaurant/bar. We ordered two meat burgers with a shake, Pepsi and vegan nuggets. The meat in the burgers were so delicious and seemed high quality. Shake was tasty, but very small. And the vegan nuggets were spectacular, very chicken like texture and taste with a hint that gave it away that what you’re chewing on isn’t meat.

Food was good and I am coming back for that, but the staff on the other hand weren’t as nice. They didn’t serve with a smile or good attitude and when we ordered a third burger after our first ones, since we were still a little hungry and wanted to also taste a vegan burger after being so suprised by the taste of the vegan nuggets I asked the burger to be cut in half the waiter told me “okay” and checked my order number. Couple minutes later he came to our table stating that “they don’t do that”, they don’t cut burgers.I thought maybe he thinks that’s all we ordered and in that case that would be understandable in my opinion and so I told him we have already ordered two burgers and sides etc. but ate them already, but we were still hungry and bought another one, while pointing at our shake and drinks still on the table. He said “sorry we just can’t cut it for you, but you can cut it by yourself with the wooden one time use knifes”. I admitted to this a little disappointed. When the burger was ready I picked it up by the pick up counter and told the chef what I have been just told, plus asked him again about it. He said “we want to keep our streak on it”, on not cutting burgers (smh). And then it was confirmed, they don’t and won’t do that. I went a big time sad to our table, crabbed a wooden knife on my way there sat down and started cutting our burger in half with the shitty wooden knife, which ofc didn’t quite went well.

Overall good food...

As a burger enthusiast I had to give this new competitor a try and see where they stand. First of all, you must have quite some self-confidence to open right next to your biggest local competitor. Maybe you should have tried their burgers first before you opened your business next door. Not my Nr.1 either, but better then your product. At least I can say you are better than the 3 big chains, but that's not an achievement to me. I had the Helsinki burger and was disappointed. Pretty dry burger and not a balanced taste of ingredients. If there is salad, tomatoes, onions and what else on the burger, all flavors of these ingredients need to come out and be well-balanced to compliment the meat taste. That's what makes a good burger. Fries were okay. Crispy & enough salt, but then selling sauces for additional 1,50€ that are not even enough for one portion of fries to me is a rip off that's well spread in the industry. If you ask for 17€ for burger and fries the sauce shouldn't cost more than 50 cents. Otherwise it's just to get extra money of the customers pocket and basically it's just mayonnaise with spice. Also giving out the plastic cups they come in is an extra unnecessary burden for the environment. The restaurant itself seemed to be a stylish place to eat a burger, but without any personal note. Staff was quite young and unexperienced. The opening offer wasn't advertised, neither was there any introduction to the menu or recommendations. You may want to introduce your product to the customers, if you are a franchise that expanded to a country where your brand isn't known. You should definitely check your competitors...

I haven’t been to Helsinki in 5 years and remembered that you could always find a cool burger spot. I was looking forward to a good burger and when I walked past this one I had to give it a try.

I was not disappointed. I am not fluent in Finnish (I actually only know about 5 words) but I could figure out what I needed from the menu. I had the Double Lulea (no onions) and “normal” fries. It was late on a Tuesday and it was ready in barely 2-3 minutes.

I have to say, it gets 5 stars from me. The patties were great, well seasoned, cooked how I like them (lots of pink), and the bacon and cheese added (chef’s kiss) that extra goodness to each bite! The crinkle fries were also done just how I prefer them, crispy but not burnt (and warm, not hot).

I’d seen some other reviews about the size. My double was an actually a bit more than I could eat. They don’t look huge but the patties were pretty thick!

I thought “does it really deserve 5 stars” and I couldn’t think of a single thing I’d change. The burger and fries were great, the service was friendly and fast, and the price reflects a good offering. Not expensive and you get what you are paying for - a good meal, with a good vibe, in...