BURGER AND CO.
No. 49, Tong An St.
台北市大安區通安街49號(02) 2784-0182
MRT: XinYi/AnHe (new MRT line!)
website: Burger and Co.'s FB page
hours: 11AM- 10PM
$-$$ Cash only
Kid friendliness: limited seating but some room for strollers; kid friendly burgers and fries
Delivery: Available with minimum NT$250 order and NT$50 delivery fee
Delivery: Available with minimum NT$250 order and NT$50 delivery fee
Visit reviewed: 12/16/2013 and 12/26/2013 (returned twice in 1/2014 and upgraded my review to strongly recommend)
Opened a few months ago by a New Yorker, Burger and Co. serves a limited, but tasty menu of handmade burgers, wings and fries. Some readers have compared it to Shake Shack or In N Out when telling me about it. I found myself comparing it to the also new-in-Taipei BLT Burger which I had also recently tried. I liked Burger and Co's food better, at half the price of trendier BLT, but of course BLT has foot traffic and visibility at their Vieshow location and BLT name, which some may recognize from Hong Kong, NYC or Vegas.
Burger and Co.'s space is tiny, but cozy with pops of ketchup red and mustard yellow. There are only three tables inside and a row of counter bar seating so groups bigger than four would have to split up, and there are a few tables outside open for seating when the weather is nice out. Look for happy hour specials for beer and free wifi.
After two visits and trying a few things on the menu, my favorite things were the bacon cheeseburger, the BBQ pulled pork sandwich, the buffalo wings and truffle cheese fries. The menu keeps it simple- burger, wings or fries. Choices include burger, cheeseburger, double stacker (two patties), veggie burger or bbq pulled pork sandwich; three types of wings, classic fries, cheesy or with truffle cheese. At lunch, if you order a burger with fries, you can get a soft drink for free. I wouldn't mind seeing milkshakes on the menu too.
While waiting for my friends, I ordered the truffle cheese fries (NT$150). The truffle flavor isn't dominant, but enough to give the handcut fries the extra layer of savoryness. The fries are mostly soft with a touch of crispness since they are made from fresh russet potatoes unlike the golden fries (previously frozen) prevalent at most Taipei eateries.
A bit spicy, a bit sweet, I really enjoyed the BBQ pulled pork sandwich (NT$150) with the red cabbage slaw, though I noticed the sweetness of the bun more with this sandwich than the burger.
The second time I got my order to go and I felt that the patty on my burger was softer than I remembered from the first visit, but the wings were still excellent. The key for Burger and Co. will be consistency and word of mouth (with their location being a little off the beaten path, but near the Tonghua night market). Thanks to readers Paul, Sean and others for the heads up.
15 comments:
Did you try veggie burger or house salad? I agree with you , baconcheeseburger is awesome. It was quite difficult for me to understand what the man asked me but now i understand where come from his english: need to mprove it if i want to go in new york. I went to Blt too and love the food too but i prefer small and cozy place like burger and co: you can feel like at home.
thanks for nice post, i liked the site very much
Suggest you to try Oldiez burgers. A bit pricey but not bad too
delicious big bugger to tackle hunger
Liliefrancia- hi! I didn't try the veggie burger but I ordered it for my mom once. It's quite mushy being made of mushrooms and red pepper and falls apart a bit.
Anonymous- thanks! I'll look for it!
You didn't say enough to justify why you went from a recommend to strongly recommend in such a short amount of time. Why would you go back so soon while there are plenty of other places to review? I don't like that and I'm now skeptical of your reviews.
Anonymous- haha fair enough.. I wavered between a recommend and strongly recommend the first time because I really loved the food on my first visit but on my second (which was a to go order) I found the burger and fries to be slightly softer than the first time. Granted it was something I ordered to go, so you can factor that in. I happened to go again recently two days in a row because different groups of friends wanted to try it and eating the food there, on the spot hot and fresh, the food was excellent and you really can't complain about the price.. So that's why I decided to change it from a Rec to strongly Rec. Sure there are a ton of places to review- I probably am back logged over 100 places to write about - but I don't let the blog always determine where I eat and that's just how life is. Hope that alleviates some of your skepticism!!
i will give this a try! i am a big burger fan with those fresh cut fries! you should try j-house burger cafe in gonguan! they serve fresh cut fries :D andthe burger is good too!
Went there today. The burgers were good, but that was pretty it. No truffle fries. The regular fries were ok, but the rest was terrible, especially the Buffalo wings. I don't know if something went wrong during the preparation, but the sauce was very, very salty. We simply couldn't finish them…
Thanks for this guide, anyway!
Such an awesome blog! I have been following you for more than five years now I believe! Are you still in Taiwan? It would be fun to have a meet up there!
I just went there this evening and they've added milkshakes to the menu. Vanilla or chocolate for 120NT. Thanks for your posts!
I went there today based on this post and I must say I was incredibly disappointed in the food. I got the veggie burger and truffle fries. The burger was a mushy patty topped with a coleslaw that was mostly mayo and it held it's shape when I took it out of the bun. The fries were greasy, not crispy and no taste of truffle at all. The vanilla shake for 150 nt was just too much for what it really was, ice cream, heavy cream and milk. I needed to take 3 mrts to get there and it was a flop. I will never ever visit again and will dscourage anyone who wants to go....the music was good tho
In recent months, my wife and I have been wandering around Taipei looking for a place that has great burgers (your fault, Liao Yusheng, haha). Decided to check out Burger & Co. today. Was very disappointed. Burgers were fried, oil-saturated and mostly tasteless. "Buffalo Wild Wings" seem like bland, spongy Costco winglets swimming in a tin of grease and Tabasco sauce. "Truffle" fries were very oily with no detectable truffle flavor, a little gated cheese at a much higher price. The whole time we were there, they had large five tubs of piled, partially-cooked wings just sitting out in the open air on the counter at room temp. Evidently they toss them in the fry basket as needed. Uncovered, unrefrigerated. Scary. Give this place a pass. There are much better burgers in this city.
So last night I googled burgers in Taipei and found this blog. The 20 minute walk to Burgers and Co in the 90degrees humidity was well worth the sweat. I glad I trusted the 1st reviews and not the last ones.
I ordered the bacon burger and a fountain drink (no fries). There was a communication issue with how crispy I wanted the bacon (I'm not satisfied unless the bacon has burn marks), but over all this was the best burger I've had in a very long while, I'd say it was, if the bacon had been crispy, on par with Five-Guys.
Fountain drink choices were limited, I picked orange. It was super as well, like Orange Crush but with the flavour of real oranges.
It was mildly odd that I was the only customer, but also glad that there was a place to site, as I was worried there would not be one.
I would not hesitate to recommend this joint.
Anonymous 6/22- glad you liked the burger. I also went yesterday and was the only customer for awhile.. thanks for sharing your experience
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