Today’s lunch was burgers, woot! Dad was in the mood for some burgers and I decided to go along with his cravings, even though I didn’t feel like having carbs. We searched for a proper burger place in Ubud on Zomato and it leaded us with two choices: Halal Ubud Burger, and the Burger Cartel. It didn’t take long for us to decide which burger joint we want to visit. Can you guess?
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| Welcome to the Burger Cartel! |
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| Oh, I'm satisfied alright! |
Yep, the Burger Cartel! Managed by the dynamic duo, Ricard and Koco, this restaurant is going places! Despite the fact of it being a newcomer in Ubud by being open for business for only three months, the Burger Cartel is currently climbing the ladder of success. The cozy and aesthetic interior design of the restaurant sure does attract a lot of visitors, both local and international, with its’ warm, yet vibrant tropical colors. Decorated with real and synthetic plants, the Burger Cartel managed to bring out the holiday spirit and positive vibe of Bali.
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| The beautiful decoration of synthetic plants above our heads. |
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| I'd spend hours at this place just for chilling. |
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| If you're in the mood for some booz, head straight to the bar. |
I had a quick chat with one of the waitress who was serving us today, Mbok Pita, who patiently explained to us about the set of dishes they serve at the Burger Cartel as well about the restaurant itself. I love the way she treated us locals with friendly and polite manner, along with a smile that never seemed to fade away from the moment we stepped into the restaurant until the moment we left. After a wee while of scanning through the menu, Dad decided to go for a well-done Cartel Burger, while I settled with a medium-well Moody Meat Burger.
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| Lunch is served! |
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| The crispy potato wedges that was plain delectable. |
It took a while for our burgers to be served, I managed to light around three cigarettes and finished half of my drink, but, I bullshit you not, the waiting is totally worth it. Mbok Pita came with both of our burgers, each stacked beautifully in this breakfast tray. My first impression on Dad’s burger was not that good as it looked a bit plain and pale. But, then, I saw mine. Good Lord. I had this momentary rush of excitement and happiness and I knew nothing can go wrong with this burger just judging from the look it self. I mean, look at it! Look at this beautiful baby!
Both burgers came with a bucket of crispy potato wedges, along with mayonnaise and ketchup on the side. The ketchup caught my attention as its’ presentation doesn’t look like the usual ketchup I had in any other restaurants, you know the one that came from the bottle and is manufactured in Indonesia, but it looked more like a homemade bolognese sauce or some kind? The texture of the ketchup really did remind me of how bolognese sauce looks like, and it taste slightly similar too! It had this sweetness of a tomato, yet a slight spicy kick into it. I am not against this sauce at all.
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| My burger was big, but I didn't feel like sharing it. |
My Moody Meat Burger is basically a humongous skewer of stuff. It consisted of pickled cucumber, sautéed mushroom, caramelized onion, a medium-well black angus beef, tomato slices, fresh onion, a slab of Old Amsterdam Cheese, two slices of home-dried bacon, and a handful of crisp rocket lettuce sandwiched in between bagel-like buns in which its’ inner part was smeared with mustard mayonnaise sauce. So breathtaking.
Like always, I usually deconstruct my burger before devouring it. I couldn’t finish both buns in one go, so I took away the top part for take-away later. For the first bite, I stuff a bit of everything in my mouth barehanded. No fork, nor knife, just hands. Chomp chomp chomp! “Oh God, is this for real,” I thought to myself, “this is epic!”.
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| Dad's Burger Cartel. |
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| Boy, look at that melted cheese! |
The meat, guys oh my God the meat, was very juicy! The seasoning used on the meat was on point as it had this umami kick that was just plain satisfying. The flavor combination from the meat and the sautéed mushroom was superb, followed by the crispy and savory bacons and the rich melted cheese that sticked on the beef patty like stamps on postcards.
Now, I know how every main star can shine on their own, but sometimes they shine because of their supporting cast, in this case the onion rings. I don’t think I have ever seen such beautiful onion rings before in my life. The ones they serve at the Burger Cartel was thickly well-battered and very very crispy. There was a dash of black pepper on the deep fried batter and some chopped green inside, which made it not tasteless. Very enjoyable and delicious, and it brought the whole burger to a whole new level of deliciousness.
Oh, and also, shout out to the buns as they were very delicious to be munched on itself! The texture of the bread was fluffy, yet chewy and very dense, like the texture of a bagel. Although it was a bit heavy, just eating one part of the bun itself already made me feel stuffed, but it was very enjoyable. It had this slight sweetness in every bite, which I love!
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| The thirst-quenching freshly squeezed orange juice, with no added anything. |
It didn’t take long for Dad and I to finish our meal. 15 minutes tops. For the whole time when we had our first munch on our burgers, we focussed ourselves in devouring and enjoying our dish as if we hadn’t had any proper food for the past couple of days. After we were done with our meal, we finished it off with a couple of cigarettes and some final sips of our freshly squeezed orange juice.
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| Care to join the challenge? |
The Burger Cartel
Jalan Raya Pengosekan, No. 108
Ubud, Bali - 80571
Opening Hours:
SUN - THU: 11 AM - 11 PM
FRI - SAT: 11AM - 11:45 PM
Contact:
+62 812 9586 5347
