TL;DR: An experiment where your mileage may vary, what Fritzenberger aims to do is something like Janus - looking both to the past and to the future. With the former, it decides not to over-complicate the pub grub, especially general American pub fare, where the latter aspect is all to do with different sorts of beer. All done in a historical building going from a local butcher to a pub with the classic, English aesthetic. To me, I did appreciate some aspects but overall wasn't as won over as I might have thought.
It was going to be sooner or later with how close to the inner-city this one is, plus all the hype heard about it, and the relative cheapness contributed just as much. Well, with an easy back-up plan, that was what it took to try the fare out here.
One day at work, I finally saw the opportunity to time getting an UberEats order more downpat for when the lunch break rolled around. Of course, the day often gets a bit busy nearing the later part of the morning so it was fortunate of the app to have a selection of available eats which could get there with about half an hour to spare. It was the usual idea that I had when trying to find the right item, and often it is a burger that does the trick - or this time around, simply having a hankering for a burger was the go. These two aspects matched up perfectly when coming across this place, and even after hearing all about it that was the cue to press in the orders. From there, it was merely timing it right and waiting at the designated location before enjoying a nice bite to eat.
It was not one of the best instances with the UberEats delivery and quality of customer service. True that, given the location and slight labyrinth to get there with some means - i.e. a motorbike - it may get confusing for some of the delivery drivers in said mode, and the benefit of the doubt will always be given. When trying to locate the drop off place, all it took was a couple of phone calls and meeting half-way out in the open. And as well as that, with credit where credit is due, the speed and efficiency of the drop off will always be a high point.
At first glance, the menu is a pretty simple and straightforward one. That would be right for the most part, especially so when discussing the foods. They don't go too complex or over-the-top for the selection, with it mainly being a few different kinds of burgers that are pretty simple and straightforward in composition. Then after that, it is about half a dozen different bar snacks - ranging from the fried to the weirdly healthy - and a couple of desserts in the style of the grub they generally serve.
What dwarfs the food selection is definitely the drinks selection, which was wisely not on the UberEats app. These are a range of beers, of ciders, of cocktails, stouts, and various sorts of wines - whites, reds, roses et al. Presumably from all of this, Fritzenburger is partially a wine and craft beer bar. That is not a bad idea at all.
Going onto what was ordered, it was their cheese burger. As it was already mentioned before, the concoction of the burger was simple and straightforward - it was a mere mixture of a couple of big beef patties, some aged cheddar, Spanish onion, pickles and a combination of tomato ketchup and mustard. This was served on a soft bun. As a snack around the middle of the day, this did the trick pretty well. The burger was quite huge, especially looking at the beef patties stacked on top of one another, and the cheese was more or less melted onto the patties along with having a decent taste. Overall, it was not too bad with a simple flavour that would do well by most people. However, with the composition of the ingredients, their texture, and even the whole aesthetic - something about it definitely seemed ... familiar.
Like quite a number of reviewers here previously, what I found definitely apparent about the burger was how much it resembled something from McDonalds. This was from the looks of it - in which it looked like they put one of the famous cheeseburgers on a whole lot of steroids - to many aspects of the taste and texture, albeit this time the pickles did not have that funky aftertaste and texture on the said McDonalds cheeseburgers. This is not to overall dismiss the burger, as it was filling and I managed to eat the whole thing, however since it was able to give such a reminder to something that is well known to many people, that is something which is hard to shake off and does not bode too well with getting its own strong merits. All that is being said, since with how well prepared it was there are definitely some merits, and shows that simplicity has not been abandoned for burgers.
To go with the burger, it is almost inherent that some fries come along on the side. At the location, there are number of seasonings that can be put on, but here it was the standard sort of seasoning. This may detract from the overall experience of going here, however as the fries were they were a good side, quite crunchy, slightly on the thin side with how they were cut, and the seasoning that was poured over them was smoky and tangy.
And of course, with it being an American place - and there being the chance to do so - it was time to get the vital item to truly test Fritzenburger's worth. That was an order of chicken wings. The smallest order possible was gotten, giving us eight glorious and crunchy little devils which were also served with a tub of blue cheese sauce for dipping. This may well have been the star of the show, part of the reason behind it is a bias towards some good wings. These were the buffalo variety, crispy and fried coating, dipped in a spicy sauce and coated heavily, and the meat was still tender and juicy. Add that with some blue cheese sauce - distinct, strong and creamy - and it is apparent why this is such a common combination, if something works so well it need not have deviations.
With the 4.0 rating here, it is to still give it piece of mind that it is overall doing really well. One thing I certainly respect about the place is that it is one of the locals around town that is stripping it back to basics more or less when it comes to burgers - figuring out more is less and can become overkill. While I did enjoy the burger - and the other items which were gotten - what definitely is hard to shake off is just how much it reminded me of the Golden Arches. This in itself is not inherently bad, though it might definitely be something to change up somewhat. Aside from that though, the fare is pretty filling, relatively good value, and gives you bang for your buck.
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