The Place
Nestled in a small corner on the basement floor of Fuhua San Lu’s InTown Mall, Nic’s Burger is not immediately noticeable. Beneath the more obvious signage for an adjacent bar called Tictac Pong, it took a first, a second and a third glance for us to finally convince ourselves that the property was indeed the one we were looking for.
The interior is bare, the seating area is populated by stools and the ambience inside the restaurant can only be described as olfactory, the scent reigning supreme above all other senses.
The Food
We were loath to pick just one burger off the menu, but eventually settled on the biggest piece of meat on offer: the double decker cheese burger.
We visited Nic’s on a quiet night and the server was able to present our food to us within five minutes of taking our order. When the waiter set the burger in front of us we nearly fell off our stool: the gargantuan stack of food came comprised of tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles and two thick, greasy, beef patties.
Image by Jonathon Zhong/That's
Served alongside the burger: crispy, thick French fries that proudly displayed their humble beginnings as potatoes with brown skin visible around the fries’ edges.
We knocked back our double cheese burger with a cool glass of lemonade, which, we must admit, was far too tart and honestly unenjoyable.
After burying the burger deep inside our bowels, we decided to sample the outlet’s bacon jalapeno wraps. Comprised of toothpick-impaled jalapeno peppers wrapped in bacon, this dish was a pleasant surprise and we found the flavorful morsels neither too spicy nor too tame.
Image by Jonathon Zhong/That's
The Vibe
As an outlet, Nic's Burger is less about an experience as it is about the food. The serving plates are not really plates, but rather cardboard boxes, essentially made for takeaway. It’s a setting for a rare bingefest, not the type of restaurant that you frequent more than once a week, or a month, if you value your low blood pressure. And that seems to be what the guys behind the restaurant are going for – a fun, enjoyable spot for juicy, pleasurable food.
Price: RMB50-100
Who’s going: folks that got lost on the way to Tictac Pong
Good for: hangover food, greasy burgers
Nearest metro: Gangxia (Exit C), 16 minutes
Open daily, 11am-1.30am; see listing for Nic's Burger
[Cover image by Jonathan Zhong/That's]
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