Berlinburger International — Restaurant in Berlin

A small hole in the wall situated on the eastern side of Berlin, it's covered with stickers from all over the world. One will probably miss it even when you've got your eyes peeled for their shop name. The only thing that gave it away was the patrons seated outside, waiting patiently for their names to be hollered from within.

Outside the shop, 4 tables and 8 benches decorated the pavement, each bench seating 3 patrons comfortably; 4 if you're willing to squeeze, and get abit snug with the person beside you. Above the tables were umbrellas, designed to keep sun and rain away from the diners. No heaters, fans or lights were seen or felt. In the cold winter's evening, even a slight breeze can send quite the shiver up your spine. Dining in the dark may be fairly romantic, however given the size of the burgers, having some light shone upon it would make the whole experience alot less messy.

Which brings about another point about the service; it was mostly self service. Patrons were seen collecting their burgers and fries when their names were hollered from the kitchen. After finishing your meal, it was a common courtesy to clean up the area and toss the trash and unfinished remains into the trash beside you before returning the trays to a return point.

Stepping into the hole in the wall gives the experience quite a turn as the aroma of grilled meat and hot oil welcomes you. Smoke from the grill slightly veils your vision from the menu.

The menu features more than 8 different types of burger, 3 variety of fries and a cornucopia of sodas and beers. For the indecisive, the various permutations may result in allowing other customers behind you to order first; a decision that leaves much to regret when you wait in the cold winter's air, or a smoke filled environment should you choose to wait indoors.

Taking the order for the meal took no time at all. Inversely, waiting for the meal took a much longer time. Minutes turned into an hour, and a mild peckish feel for food turned into hunger pangs. The wait was incredible, lasting for about 1.5hrs from the point of ordering. Faces of the patrons that ordered before us went from eager expectancy, to incredulous, to boredom, and lastly, a triumphant yell of "FINALLY!" when their names were called out.

When it was my turn to collect the meal, I was looking at the burger with utmost anticipation. Having waited for an hour and a half, my expectations for the burger was at the pinnacle of greatness. However, I was left with much disappointment.

The cheeseburger I ordered looked appetising enough. However, the bun, despite great appearance and firm exterior, was cold and slightly stale. Salad that largely filled the burger was in overabundance. The only thing that was hot or warm was the patty that took ages to cook. And ironically, there was no cheese on the cheeseburger.

The beef chilli cheese fries was decent enough. The fries were nice and hot. Unfortunately, the sauce that was drizzled all over the fries was not. And the layer of sliced cheese that stood in between fries and the sauce was unable to melt in time for me to experience the full combination that Berlinburger intended us to taste.

All in all, I would say that my experience for the burger was definitely not a good one. Most of the reviews made it seem like it was at the top of the world of burgers, but I did not feel that today. As a tourist visiting Berlin for the first time, I do not have the luxury of time to wait 1.5hrs for a burger, and when I did wait for it, the burger failed to meet my...

For years before I moved to Berlin I had a thing that every time I visit, I would check out a new burger spot in hopes to find the best burger. It was back when Burgermeister only had one stall and was still good. A lot of spots that I visited already closed down, probably also due to the pandemic but generally due to subpar food that was compensated by good positioning.

I went to this spot because it was the next burger spot close to where I was staying. And it looked kinda sketchy, I mean it still does look sketchy but I learned that it's just the Berlin aesthetics and today I don't think that many food spots get as authentically Berlin like BBI. Doors plastered with decades of stickers and inside they blast techno. There's also none of the modernized stuff like Beepers or numbers or anything that'll let you know when your foods ready. They just yell through the bumping music. It's kinda impressive.

But well now to the food. I've been repeatedly double checking this spot for many years now and it was always great. In fact, the food is impeccable. Always has been. Probably always will be.

"Why?" you might ask. Well I judge a burger by its ingredients balance. If they put in all the shabang and overload it with all kinds of crazy stuff it's important that you can still taste the nuance of each component. nothing should dominate - everything should compliment another to build a whole experience. And Berlinburger International does it splendidly. And in a grandiose fashion too, where the burgers that they offer there are really unique combos of ingredients that work well together and are indeed a wholly different experience from the next item on the menu.

If I was to recommend one burger spot right now, to save my life it would be this one.

PS: The loaded fries are nutty af here. You literally get chili con carne on pretty solid fries with a...

Maybe it has to do with being American and therefore having a different expectation of what a burger should be like, but I've eaten here 2 times now and do not understand why this place is popular. It wouldn't last 5 minutes in any American city. The burger does not even taste like its made of real beef. I'm sure there is beef in it. But it is some sort of highly processed beef product mixed with God knows what other sort of fillers. The meat patty is rubbery and bouncy. More like a McDonald's breakfast sausage than a piece of actual beef. If you asked for it to be cooked "rare" it would taste exactly the same because there is no juice in the meat to begin with. And then smothered with ketchup to cover up the terrible, artificial taste. To be fair, most burgers I've had in Berlin are similar, and this place does not serve the worst I've had here. Also, both times, the fries were half way cooked and tasted like they'd been dropped in a bucket of salt....