"What is it you want out of a fast food place in the UK? If you go by your usual picks such as McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, you expect a certain level of mediocre over processed meat, ripe with fat, a layer of cheese...and if you’re lucky, a piece of lettuce, alongside some French fries, usually over salted – what you don’t expect is a true meaty bite, the reason you grip onto that burger and feel good at every, single, bite. Five Guys has been around since and has expanded rapidly into an already full industry, but what makes them so good? After this experience it can be said, the milkshake is vastly improved from any milkshake you’ve ever tasted in a fast food restaurant. The fries are exceptional, where you can taste potato, which makes you wonder, when did I last taste potato in a chip? Alongside the hint of peanut from their ‘unique’ frying process, and they may be the best in the business. Finally, their piece de resistance, the burger, now you have the options available to you as you might expect, a beef burger on its own, one with cheese and finally one with cheese and bacon, there are also ‘little’ burgers if you only want a single patty. In this case, I went for what should be the top menu item, at all the cheese and bacon you could want, with the addition of lettuce and onions so that I would not sully the taste of a true American burger. So why may I ask, is this burger hardly better than anything the UK has had to offer for the last years, the meat is there, but you could hardly tell the difference between this and a McDonald’s classic menu item, which is half the price. Oh, there’s the classic cheese slice lathered on top, at least it melts in your mouth I guess, which proves they cooked it. The texture of it all together is just slightly too soft that the meat feels processed beyond belief, considering it smells amazing, but even the taste is lacklustre. This truly makes you wonder where our sense of taste has gone, because this isn’t what you were ever actually after. Frankly, do you want good fast food? Grab a milkshake here, then nip next door where there will likely be anything else. I wish I could rate this place higher than I have, so many positive aspects, yet no one really wants consistency if it forfeits what you consider special to your customers."
