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2016-09-27
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Big Fernand is not a new shop in Hong Kong. Their first branch is located in IFC and I was interested in going but then after hearing some rather mediocre reviews of it, I lost a bit of interest. Recently, they opened a place in Causeway Bay. As I live near and frequent this area on a daily basis, I first noticed the renovations when I went to get my hair done next door. Again, my curiosity was peaked. It's now a lot closer to me than Central, so I made a point to try it out when it opened.Big F
Big Fernand hails from France and has many chains throughout France and also in London. Now, everyone knows the burger is the one food item that people associate with the good ol' USA. But in a recent article from The Telegraph, the hamburger is the top selling dish in French restaurants. So much so, it almost over took the classic ham and butter baguette! Mon Dieu!
But as a Canadian, born and bred on the burger, I was skeptical. I told boyfriend for this new opening and he areed to try it out with me. As he is American, he also said "What do the French know about a burger?" Yeah ... really ... what do they know? So we went and we were prepared to hate.
But you know what?
We were pleasantly surprised.
Located in Causeway Bay, on a street that they are recently trying to make it hipper with new cool looking restaurants and cooler editions of sportswear like Nike Lab. The restaurant is larger than the IFC branch and more like an actual restauant.
Menu is in English only. They have various burgers including salmon and chicken for those that don't want beef and vegetarian for the vegetarians. You can make it into a combo. You also have the option of how rare you want your beef. Interesting that they even went all the way to blue. I know a friend who would love that as he likes his beef so raw, it could probably still moo.
They also have the option of creating your own burger. I was pretty surprised by all the selections.
You basically pay (cash only) at the cashier. They bring the food to you when ready.While waiting for our order, boyfriend noticed they had fake moustaches. So, we grabbed a couple and stuck it too our faces while we ate. That was a lot of fun.
I also noticed they had their own branded ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. The ketchup was ok. I can't help it. I'm a Heinz all the way kind of girl. But the mayonnaise was really good. Thick and creamy. They had actual egg yolk in the ingredients and you could really tell. This was good quality mayo.
The food arrived on a metal tray. Boyfriend and I joked that it looked like how prisoners were served. They also included a wet towel but they do have a sink in the middle of the restaurant for washing your hands.
Le Victor ($110). I ordered Le Victor which is veal, fourme d'Ambert, caramelised onion, coriander and their sweet mayonnaise called Tonton Fernand. For those that love blue cheese, this is your burger. The fourme d'Ambert was amazing. Strong and pungent. Just the way I love cheese. Combine with the sweet mayo, it all went together well. The meat was moist and juicy. It didn't look pretty but it tasted really good. The oil from the meat just flowed down. Just the way I like my burger. All this messy goodness without some stupid toothpick to hold it all in. I also ordered my meat a medium rare and I got a medium rare. The bun was a sweet delicious brioche bun that held together well despite all the grease action happening.
Salad ($30). I didn't fries so I chose a salad. I like they had salad. Originally wanted fruit salad but they had run out for the day so I had this instead. It came with a very tart balsamic vinegar dressing. The salad was fairly good. I liked they used sundried tomatoes.
French Lemonade ($35). They have their own branded lemonade called The Elixers of Archibald Fernand. They come in four flavors: natural, lemon, grapefruit and pomengranate/peppermint/lemon. This is the grapefruit one. Boyfriend combined it with a combo that included this and he chose lemon. Fairly good, it tasted like the one brand of lemonade that I like get from the Italian grocery shop near my home. Fresh lemon taste without being too tart or too sweet.
If you look at the back of the bottle, they have a barcode you can scan and hope you win a free meal. I guess I didn't win anything.
Le Bartholome ($115). Boyfriend chose this. It looked more like a burger than Le Victor. I guess it's due to all thecheese leaking out. This was a beef burger with raclette de savoie cheese, bacon, caramelised onions, chives, barbecue sauce and cocktail sauce. Personally, I liked the sauce on here. I love barbecue sauce so this mixture of sauces was really good. The beef was requested a medium rare and we got a medium rare. However, the beef was not as moist and juicy as Le Victor. The bacon was crispy and the cheese was fairly strong.
At this point, I noticed that size of the patties weren't small at all. I remember reviews at the IFC branch noted that the bun was bigger than the patty and thus a major disappointment among these reviewers. I guess they must have read these reviews because patty size was actually not small at all. A very decent size.Boyfriend ordered the combo as he wanted fries. The combo is an additional $50 and includes fries and a lemonade. There is something about the French. They really know how to make an excellent fry. The fries were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. They were perfectly seasoned where each fry was evenly coated. These were good fries.
We were both surprised, The French really do know how to make a good burger. Price isn't cheap but then this isn't McDonald's but along the lines of other gourmet burgers in town that charge $100 a patty. I would return again.
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