Lin’s Burger — Restaurant in Xinyi District

Short version: If you love burgers, STAY AWAY.

Long version: It's never a good sign when you walk into a highly-rated restaurant and see a 'free side for a 5-star rating' promotion. But I can sympathize. Running a restaurant is hard, and good reviews will get customers in the door. It's smart marketing, and a lot of people do it.

What I can't forgive is a bad burger.

If you are a fan of traditional 'American' burgers you will not have a good time here. It was very clear just from a single bite that Lin has no desire or respect for a proper beef patty. Look at the picture - Instead of crumbly and juicy, you have dense and chewy, almost like the consistency of a solid chunk of gyro skewer meat or the inside of a meat bao. You can tell from the meat fibers that it's been over mixed, with an excessive amount of starch added as binder.

The patty itself was also so devoid of flavor I had a hard time determining if it was even beef I was eating. This is disturbing on a fundamental level because this means it's not a problem with executing on a single burger, but rather the restaurant's whole conception of what constitutes a burger in the first place.

There are other things I could mention, but this alone is enough to be offensive. I can say that the 5-star rating for free chicken wings promotion was too effective, because a 4.8 rating for this place is too detached...

They offer a pleasant American dinner in an Asian scale. You can see how the owner put up memorabilia that you would experience in the states. The service is up to standard but not super. They have a full menu. I tried the basic burger. The presentation is pretty nice. But the burger patty is mixed with something else to make it a bit more chewy could be eggs or starch. It is not as beefy or juicy that I would like it to be. The burger sauce is a localized BBQ sauce which is not as sweet, strong and pungent. The cheese cake must be from a manufacturer frozen source. The price is reasonable and overall a pleasant place. However it is not a place I will come back...

I tried the classic burger (first thing I try when I go to a new burger place) and it was okay. Beef was fine and juicy enough, veggies were fresh, although the bread could be improved for some more exciting buns. The fries were pretty ordinary too. We also tried some chicken wings and they weren’t that exciting: they tasted fine but were just served plain over some lettuce – they could add some classic sauce (ranch, etc.) and some carrots or celery sticks to elevate this side dish a bit more. We went in for dinner and beware that the place is quite small (4-5 small tables), so plan well in case you need to wait for a...