burger: I strongly recommend EVERYWHERE BURGER CLUB

EVERYWHERE BURGER CLUB 

No. 21號, Lane 420, Guangfu South Road, Da’an District, Taipei 

(02) 2704- 6825

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

hours: 11:30AM - 3PM; 5PM - 10:30PM 

$$ 

 Visit reviewed: July 2021

Scanning their Instagram, it looks like Everywhere Burger Club has been around for awhile since 2016. Starting out as a food truck, they took their burgers, well, everywhere, around Taipei and so the name is fitting. I had heard about them for awhile, but hadn’t had a chance to try them until our months long lockdown and ordered a few for takeout when I couldn't get my usual spot on the phone. 

Their Classic Pickles comes with a layer of relish which gives the burger a refreshing bite. (I got mine without cheese and a double patty. I was also a little confused when I was ordering on the phone without a menu and when I ordered the hamburger, they said pickles in Chinese "huang gua"). I also had my eye on the Double Smash Burger with melted cheese. I did kind of miss the crunch of lettuce on the burgers, but the burgers look more consistent in photos and photograph really well. Luckily, they did taste as good as they looked. 

They were out of French fries that day (!?) so I just tried the burgers. But they also have mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries on the menu, as well as milkshakes. Can Everywhere Burger Club become a serious contender for best burger in Taipei? Based on the response on Instagram from just one photo, looks like everyone is still looking for burgers. 

Everywhere Burger Club also has a few unusual burger flavors- along with a vegetarian bean and edamame burger, there is also an almond bacon peanut butter (Peanut butter burgers were all the rage in Taipei maybe 10 years ago and now are a consistent option here, but I wonder if the almond is almond slivers or almond butter or where does the almond come in?), grilled garlic sour cream and mushroom, spicy jalapeño salsa, guacamole club (which sounds kind of good as long as they are using Haas avocados) and fried pineapple/grilled pineapple butter. I might have to try a few of those. 

And just to note, looks like their prices are slightly more on Ubereats than if you pick up yourself. 

burgers: i recommend MOTHER FLIPPIN BURGERS

You cannot find it on Google maps or Instagram, but if you're lucky enough to be in delivery range, you can find it on Ubereats. This is the restaurant of the future, especially in Taipei- ghost kitchens that don't have to worry about servers, decor or space- just the food (and having enough delivery drivers to go around.) 

Tried this new burger in Taipei, Mother Flippin Burgers, last week- double patty, smashed, dripping with cheese and sauce over lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions- this burger is not for those wearing white shirts or afraid of a mess. 

Paired with all the fun fried sides (waffle fries, tater tots, onion rings, bbq wings, mozzarella sticks), it was a recipe for a food coma. 

The next time I get it, I will try switching out the Cheddar for the American cheese on the MF'n Classic (NT$168) or try the MF'n Jalapeño Cheddar since I prefer the way Cheddar melts over American. And get the fresh onion rings (NT$130) and wings. Drooling looking at these photos, and based on all the messages I got on Instagram, you guys were too! 

In case you missed it, here was my Best Burgers in Taipei round up from earlier this year. 

#hungrylist/ burgers: BEST BURGERS IN TAIPEI

A hungry girl’s list to burgers in taipei 

work in progress 

Are these the best burgers in Taipei in 2020? There’s quite a few new contenders that I haven’t tried yet, but these are the ones that I would go back today to go eat, and find myself routinely getting burgers to go. Bottless and Le Blanc are sit down restaurants with entire menus tempting you away from the burger, and you can add on foie gras or egg at Le Blanc. 

Burger and Co, JB Burger and Louis Burger are straightforward. great burgers with good ingredients, proportions and fries worth ordering. I also love the milkshake at Burger and Co, and the freshly cut fries at JB are the most like In N Out. And FYI, there’s nowhere to sit down at Louis Burger, but it’s very price friendly to reflect that. 

MY RECENT FAVORITES 

Bottless / Songshan 

Burger and Co / Daan 

Le Blanc / Daan 

JB burger / Daan 

Louis Burger / Tianmu 

I’VE TRIED IT, BUT I’M NOT A REGULAR 

Selfish Burger / Xinyi 

Awesome Burger  /Xinyi 

Burger Ray / Daan 

Morton’s / Xinyi 

KGB / Daan 

M One Cafe / Daan 

1885 / Songshan 

Bravo / Songshan 

Avenue / Daan 

Meat Up/ Ximen 

ON MY TO-EAT LIST 

Butcher by LanPengYou / Xinyi 

Big Al’s / Songshan 

Wagyu Burger / Daan 

Sheep and Pony / Daan 

Taihu Tasting Room / Daan 

Everywhere Burger Club / Daan 

Thefreen / Songshan + Xinyi + Zhongzheng 

BSB / Neihu 

Lovss burger / Wenshan 

Oldies Burger /Datong 

PLANT BASED BURGERS

Miss Green / Daan 

Ooh Cha Cha / Daan + Zhongzheng 

Wildwood / Xinyi 

Baganhood / Xinyi 

Little Tree Food / Daan 

CHAIN BURGERS 

Mos Burger 

Burger King 

The Diner 

Chili’s 

Gordon Biersch

TGIF

RIP / ONCE UPON A TIME IN TAIPEI 

Caliburger 

Punch burger 

Bing 

BLT burger 

Fanier Burger

Burger Fix

Burger Stop 

Manhattan Gold Burger 

California Grill

Forkers 

Haleakala

Bongos 

WHEN YOU DON’T WANT JUST A BURGER 

MOS BURGER -  rice burgers 

Peanut butter burger 

Veggie burger 

Foie gras burger 

Bone marrow burger 

Please add any of your favorites that I missed in the comments below! Until the next post, see you on instagram @hungryintaipei

burgers/smoothies: I recommend MEAT UP

MEAT UP 

No. 124-4, Section 2, Wuchang St
西門町武昌街二段124號
(02) 2331-4200

MRT: Ximen

website: Meat Up's Facebook page

Hours: 11:30AM–9PM; Weekends until 10PM; Closed Mondays

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, room for strollers. Kids probably will enjoy burger fries and smoothies

Visit reviewed: 12/12/2017

My must orders: burger with mushrooms and feta, dragonfruit with kiwi and yogurt smoothie, onion rings

[TAIPEI] AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF XIMENDING, there's a bright cafe called Meat Up across from Vieshow Cinemas where I met up with a friend. Meat Up is seemingly designed for the Instagram crowd, with colorful smoothies and overflowing milkshakes and eye catching storefront murals. Burger was tasty with a lot of add on options, but I was addicted to the onion rings and truffle mayo. Dragonfruit yogurt smoothie also refreshing with right amount of sweetness. 

So many cute hand painted murals to admire, or take photos with. Pick a wall and strike a pose, or bring out your smoothie to get the natural light.

The menu includes burgers and fries, customizable with over a dozen toppings,  fried shrimp burger, chicken Caesar or feta salad and sides like buffalo wings, mushroom fries or onion rings. 

The juices and smoothies have names like volcano, summer, autumn, exaggeration or Anna Sui, and have fruits like kiwis, guava, dragonfruit, orange, strawberry, mango and passionfruit. For a sweeter shake, there's chocolate or Oreo banana. 

We didn't know what to get, so we asked the server to pick two for us. I really enjoyed the Dragon fruit and Kiwi Smoothie with Yogurt (NT$150), carefully layered with sliced kiwi peeking out from the mason jar. I would happily order this refreshing drink again.

The Banana and Oreo milkshake is over the top, but either we took too long taking photos or it would have been better with some Oreos or chocolate inside the shake, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the fruit smoothie. I didn't taste much chocolate, maybe it was just a banana milkshake, but tasted a bit watered down. (NT$195)

Burger with truffle mayo, mushrooms and feta cheese and French fries (NT$280); onion rings (we ate some before this photo) (NT$120) I was pretty full from half a burger, onion rings and the drinks. We also got the truffle mayo on the side, and it was delicious as a dipping sauce. Burger had nice fat layer of grilled mushrooms as well as fresh tomatoes, onions and lettuce.

Bring at least one friend so you can try more things. When we got there, we saw two other girls taking photos and a million selfies, but barely talking to eat other. Thanks to my friend D for letting me take a million photos and trying a new place with me, but hopefully we spent more time talking than on our phones. Thanks Meat Up for the invitation and lunch!! (Disclosure- I received this meal for free from Meat Up, but the opinions expressed are my own. No compensation was received.)

news: IN-N-OUT TAIPEI POP UP 2016 (PART 2)

my lucky friend S's double double. she got a 12PM bracelet at 9:30AM and started waiting in line at 11:30AM and sat down at 1PM.  she let me use her pic because i told her about the pop up! 

By chance, I got a heads up about today's In-N-Out pop up in Taipei and so I did a blurb on the blog yesterday and posted it on Facebook. And man, were you guys excited. 53K excited. Over 53,000 of you saw and shared the Facebook post and hundreds of people showed up at Goodies Cuisine this morning. 

So many people were in line that I could even see the long line from the RenAi circle while I was going somewhere else. So I had to stop by and get some pictures since SO MANY of you guys were so crazy about it (and some pissed off that it was on a freakin' Thursday since you weren't about to ditch work or school for a burger. Even for In N Out). 

The In-N-Out event was advertised for 11AM, but the event manager told me that the people who got the first batch of wristbands had started lining up at 6AM. The last batch of wristbands were completely given out before 10AM. So people who showed up even an hour before the event started were out of luck. One wristband per person, one burger per wristband. Those who got their golden ticket wristbands in the morning and came back to wait in line to order and get their burgers around their designated time slot. Few brands could inspire such devotion-- if In N Out did ever open permanently here, odds are that there would be four hour plus waits like there were for Krispy Kreme when they first opened.

Today was a HOT day to be waiting in line around the block, but everyone seemed patient in their anticipation. In the 10 minutes I was there taking pictures, I overheard several people who dropped by being turned away by the In N Out door bouncer, since they did not show up early enough to get a wristband. 

Without a wristband I couldn't go inside, but I grabbed these shots through the glass door at the front. The bright red and white menu should look familiar to anyone who has been to In N Out and they even offered to do burgers "Animal Style" or "Protein Style," (both phrases I believe they have trademarked.) Prices are extremely reasonable-- NT$100 for a double double, NT$160 for a double double combo-- although they couldn't do the In N Out fresh french fries here and served potato chips instead. I feel like even the casual burgers here are not that cheap considering the prices --Burger and Co is NT$180 for a cheeseburger, Burger Ray is NT$195, Burger Fix is NT$185, Bing is NT$300 cheeseburger with fries, 1885 Burger is NT$195 with fries, Diner NT$310 cheeseburger with fries (approximate prices). Of course, you can't price it too cheaply, otherwise you'll go out of business, even if the food is good ie Burger Stop.

Why does In N Out do these seemingly random surprise pop ups in Asia on the other side of the world? The last few years has seen In N Out pop ups in Manila, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and even London.  In N Out says it's to "promote and expand their brand and determine the best way to continue reaching customers around the world" (as they stated in their response to my Facebook inquiry about the event's authenticity on In N Out's official Facebook page) but essentially they are peeing on their territory, ie their trademarks, outside of the US. They want people in Asia who have never heard of In N Out, much less tasted it, to see this frenzy and know they are the OG and the real deal.   Raise false hopes that one day there might be a permanent In N Out in Taiwan, so that copycats can't try to use their trademarked menu names like "Animal Style" and "Double Double" without a fight. You can thank Caliburger for that. 

So did any of you get a burger today? Where are you going to get your burger cravings satisfied until your next trip to California? My unofficial poll on instagram showed a lot of love for Burger Ray, and runner up, Burger and Co.  I guess I know what my next post should be!

News: IN N OUT TAIPEI POP UP 2016

Luckily I had a friend give me a heads up about the In N Out pop up tomorrow. TOMORROW APRIL 7TH! YES, it is a real thing, not an April Fools' joke. The last time I heard about it a few years ago (thanks to Instagram), my friends went running and got their burgers after a few hours. I can't make it tomorrow, but if you have the patience and the cravings you can try your luck tomorrow at Goodies Cuisine (and that means showing up at least at 10am). Report back here if you succeed!  You're welcome!

burgers/new in town: CALIBURGER

CALIBURGER
No. 7, Alley 7, Lane 205,ZhongXiao E. Road, Sec. 4
台北市忠孝東路四段205巷7弄7號

MRT: ZhongXiao/DunHua

website: Caliburger's FB page

hours:

$$ (NT$275+ per person)

Kid friendliness: yes

Visit reviewed: 4/11/2015

To the casual burger fan, Caliburger would appear to be very close to In N Out- the style of the burger, the fries, the dousing of thousand island dressing and cheese and onions, the palm trees and cherry red trays. But to those who grew up on In N Out, it might not satisfy completely- it might just make you long a little more for the real thing. 

Caliburger took over the space from the previous Sanrio Cafe Kiko's Diner and kept most of the same seating format- except that it tore down the front register and moved it in front of the semi open kitchen. I went during its soft opening, when they were still training the staff and working out the flow in the kitchen, so our burgers took quite a long time. Thanks Caliburger for the sneak peek and the tasting- I know things will run smoother as your team gets more experience.

Though my meal was comped, the Cali Combos were slightly more expensive than I expected- NT$275 for a Caliburger (that's a cheeseburger), fries and drink, while a Calidouble combo bumps you up to NT$345. The burger alone costs NT$175 and the Calidouble is NT$245. Usually when I'm in LA at In N Out, I get just the burger and fries which according to current prices is US$2.10 and US$1.60, let's say with tax is around US$4. I think lower prices for a better-than-fast-food meal is one the things that makes In-N-Out a favorite in the states, besides its taste. With so many burger places now (and NT$80 bentos) in Taipei, Caliburger will need to keep its prices competitive. Even BLT Burger has already closed. Anyone else remember Burger Stop? They tried to bring double stack burger combos to Taipei for under NT$200.

I'd never heard of Caliburger until In-N-Out did its one day pop up in Taipei (confirmed to be really In-N-Out via twitter), and I did research on what other pop ups they were doing outside of the US and why. Part of it is to protect their trademark which Caliburger stepped on when it marketed itself as having "double doubles"  and "animal style fries" when they opened its first store in Shanghai in 2012. The similarities to In-N-Out were not an accident- Caliburger's chef de cuisine Jonathan Wong was a manager at In-N-Out in Northern California and has said that "the model was In-N-Out."  In-N-Out caught wind and sued, and the case was settled out of court with an undisclosed agreement. Since then, Caliburger has added shops in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Manila, Dubai, Bahrain, with locations set to open in DC, London, Stockholm and In-N-Out territory, Los Angeles.



So is it worth trying? I always think it's worth trying on your own, since everyone has different tastes, but I wouldn't wait in a long line for it. Whether or not you love it, I think will depends on how hardcore you are.

I thought the fries were spot on (especially knowing how hard it is to get fries that also look like In N Out's with Taiwan potatoes, having seen and eaten fresh cut fries at Burger and Co and Lobster Bar that were sweeter and browner). Personally I liked the plain fries over the animal style, excuse me, wild style fries, but I don't love Animal style fries to begin with. Too much going on with the thousand island dressing, grilled onions and cheese- I'd prefer it on the burger. 

I thought the Caliburger was good, the meat, the veggies, the sauce, except I really disliked the bun. The bun was too sweet for me, but it might not be a deal breaker to some. Hopefully they'll keep working on it and make it less sweet. Note you can also ask to have your onions grilled for your burger instead of raw. The beef patty is made from Australian beef. 

I found myself comparing the Caliburger to Burger and Co, my current fave for American style burgers, or to those from the newly opened gastropub Bing. I'd say those are my two go-to places for burgers these days, unless I'm watching a movie and grabbing a Whopper. Burger and Co recently also opened a second shop in Tianmu I'm looking forward to checking out. 

If you're really hungry, you can get the Calidouble (NT$345). If I go back, I'd give this a try and maybe order a milkshake. If you're drooling over these pics, give it try and let me know what you think. I know some of you will be very excited to have a place like Caliburger in Taipei.