Crafting The Perfect Burger Thanks To Chili’s New Craft Burger Menu In Mumbai

Craft beer is all the rage right now. Aside from the unique flavours it has to offer, its popularity can also be attributed to the fact that, on a subconscious level, people appreciate the amount of thought that has gone into individual ingredients and the care that has gone into the brewing process. The attention lavished on craft beer propels it to a much better quality and taste than its mass manufactured counterparts.

The Craft Burger Bandwagon

If you want to enjoy the ‘craft’ experience but are a teetotaller, or can’t wrap your tongue around the taste of the beer, we’d suggest you visit Chili’s in Mumbai, which has launched an all new Craft Burger menu. While Chili’s, being an American style diner, naturally served burgers before, they’ve decided to take things to a whole new level by using hand-crafted premium ingredients.

We stepped into Chili’s on a Wednesday afternoon with the lofty ambitions to sample all the new burgers on the menu, from the Guacamole Chicken Burger to the Classic Bacon Burger. Stepping in, we were immediately enveloped by that warm, American diner vibe that Chili’s is loved for; funky upbeat music poured out of the speakers, vintage posters adorned the walls and the television was playing an ISL game (the desi version of baseball, perhaps?).

Over a salt encrusted glass of Chili’s signature Margarita, which is a deliciou combination of Brandy, Tequila and Orange Liquer, we found out what Chili’s specifically had done to elevate their burger options. For one, they’ve replaced regular burger buns with potato buns, in which potatoes substitute a portion of wheat flour regularly use to make bread. This replacement makes the buns fluffier and lighter. Additionally, Chilli’s is now allowing customers to choose specific patties (from Tenderloin Buffalo, Lamb, Chicken and Veg) that go into unique burger combination (such as the New Sweet & Smoky Burger and the New Southern Smokehouse Burger), essentially creating a ‘build your own burger’ experience for customers.

When we expressed our sole desire to sample all the burgers on the menu, the manager was kind enough to gently point to the Big Mouth Bites option on the menu, as it arrives in the form of mini burgers that would be much kinder to our stomachs than attempting to demolish five regular sized Chili’s burgers.
After agreeing and see-sawing on the patties we wanted, these beauties arrived at our table, along with another tumbler full of the Presidente Margarita, this time in a refreshing strawberry flavour.

Mini-Delights

Out of the beef, chicken and veg burgers on the platter we surprisingly loved the veg burgers the best. As regular Hungry Forever readers would know, most of us are pure carnivores and find ourselves turning green at the sight of veggies. However, this burger, stuffed with a golden brown, crisp patty made with an exciting combination of beans and carrots and oozing with creamy mayonnaise was like no other veggie burger we’d ever tasted before. We especially appreciate the uniqueness of the patty, especially when we compare to the simple potato patties that make up most vegetarian burgers.

We also loved the Buffalo burger which has a perfectly medium-done, tender patty, nestled in a bed of crisp, crunchingly fresh lettuce and a good ol’ melt-in-your mouth slice of cheese.

Finding The One (Burger)

Along with our mini burgers, we decided to try the New Southern Smokehouse Burger with a minced lamb patty. We should mention that at this point we as stuffed as a Christmas turkey, and ordered this one simply because of a determination to sample the lamb.

And boy, were we glad we did. We solemnly swear that our word is good; never before have we had a more perfect lamb burger.  The (imported) meat was tender, moist and buttery, allowing it to melt in our mouths and leave a beautiful after-taste. Accompanying the patty were a few fat, panko onion rings which gave the burger a crunch and a few slices of apple wood smoked bacon that added to its texture.

In a true testament to the burger’s divine taste, we did what had seemed like the impossible when the massive burger first arrived at the table; surely, yet surely we ate the plate clean.

The lamb burger was The One, that one burger that will ensure that we will visit Chili’s multiple times in the future. While we’d love for all of you’ll to try it, and know pure heaven, we’d also suggest that you get a little experimental and mix and match with Chili’s new burger flavours and patties. If you know your own taste buds, we’re sure you’ll find your own version of The One.

Happy experimenting (and eating)!