Burger Lab

Georgiou A 39, LIMASSOL (LEMESOS)
Mon-Sun lunch and dinner
Food: [rating:3.5] 3.5/5
Ambiance: [rating:3] 3/5
Service: [rating:n/a] n/a
I believe with this one we have almost covered everything in the “burger area”: we have the cheap, fast-food and mass production burger, we are trying to master the “gourmet” burger and finally, the quality “fast-food” burger has been been introduced (as of recently). I am talking about a cheap, quick and easy burger, Cyprus’s own Shake Shack. Although it’s not “there” yet, I would say it’s a good effort.
Burger Lab is, in a nutshell, a casual, quality fast-food burger situated across Apollonia hotel in Limassol. It is almost exactly as I had imagined it: there is no table service, but you can your burger at the bar. The choice is large but obviously limited to burgers, fries and a few sides. Your meal takes around 10-15 minutes to be prepared and you can pick it up from the bar. Although the space is quite basic, it is also quite modern in a minimalistic way. The glass house it is situated in was a quite good idea I thought, and so was the large veranda. Being a mum (twice as of recently), I thought it would be a cool place to have a kids birthday party as well.
The menu is pinned on a board on the right of the entrance. The burger selection is admittedly quite good with guilty pleasures like the “Farmer” with American cheese and a fried egg, and some with more “gourmet” toppings such as the “Alpine” with porchini-truffle mayo and caramelised onions. The veggie options were very good with a crispy-fried portobello mushroom burger with melting cheese as well as a seared sashimi-grade tuna burger. I would have normally opted for the “Farmer” but I decided to help my post-pregnancy weight situation and keep it simple (although I did try to order the cheese fries but they weren’t available yet-despite being on the menu).
The LAB cheese burger of my proud Cypriot friend (aka the recipe blogger and food photographer, Afrodite’s Kitchen) , my “Californian” with Lab sauce, Swiss cheese and avocado burger and the two fries were ready in 10 minutes. As a burger meal, it was definitely satisfactory. It was obviously not the gourmet burger that we have been having lately but for the price and type of place it was good. The Black-Angus patty was of average height, with well-ground beef and light on spices. I also liked the fries that were extra crispy and salty. The bun was quite OK in terms of flavour but by the end of my meal it was quite soft and had absorbed all the juices from the meat that it fell apart- something that did make our lives very easy. In addition to the fact that we didn’t get any plates you can imagine the utter mess of burger juice and bread that covered our table!
All in all I liked the burger, I did think it was a good value for money (total of 10€ for fries, a burger and a coke). The bun and the serving method need a bit of improving in my opinion but as we visited it on the second week of opening I am sure a bit of fine tuning will occur soon. Welcome Burger Lab!