Burger53 has converted a sea container into a burger dispensary curing all sorts of hunger related maladies.
If there’s one thing Dar has lacked, it’s a wide assortment of good burgers. While the upper end of the burger kingdom is firmly Slow Leopard territory, I never found a good fast food burger. The type of burger that you think of at night, when you wish your dinner had been just a little bit bigger. The type of burger you think of as a hangover cure. So when I first heard about Burger 53, I’ll admit, was skeptical.
And for the record, this is what makes a good fast food burger in my books:
Buns that don’t require any extra chewing and yet hold everything in place. Anyone who has tried burgers here in Dar knows that is a tall order.
Condiments and toppings which compliment one another. Sounds simple, right?
Patties which are ground coarse, match the size of the bun, are well seasoned and don’t crumble.
I tried Burger 53 in their first week of operation at their cool location in a converted sea container with a nifty rooftop patio (!) at the Dar Free Market on Ali Hassan Mwinyi Rd. I was put off by the lack of attention to portion control (my cheeseburger had two wisps of shaved lettuce) and there were an unsightly amount of flies swarming the kitchen. The burger tasted pretty good though and the cool takeaway bags definitely added to the charm.
Burger53 happened quite by accident: six friends served their burger to 45000 attendees of a religious festival in 2016 and once the festival was over, the calls for burgers kept coming. So they decided to get into the burger business.
A few weeks later, that craving for a cheap fast food burger hit, so I tried it again and while there were some improvements, I was still a bit underwhelmed. My decision to try the Cream Soda soft drink (1000 TSH) they serve may have blinded my taste buds. Consider that your warning… or dare…
But as it happens, that craving for a cheap chargrilled burger came back and I’m glad it did. The third time was the charm. The growing pains seem to have been solved: the burger was exactly what a fast food burger should be: soft buns, fresh toppings and a robust patty. And the fries – the seasoning is so good! They’ve cleaned up the kitchen and streamlined their service to include little pagers for when your order is ready.
Finally, their slogan ‘from the coal to the soul’ rang true for me. I can’t wait for the next craving to hit!
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What do you think? Rate Burger53 and leave your comment below if you have anything to add.
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Website: https://www.facebook.com/pg/fromthecoaltothesoul
Phone: 0777 525 354
Hours: 11:53AM – 10:00PM daily
