A self-confessed burger connoisseur is tomorrow opening a brand new eatery dedicated to what’s one of the UK’s most popular fast foods.
Adem Lacin and father Murteza, will open the doors to the second branch of Love Thy Burger on Ipswich’s Westgate Street at lunchtime tomorrow (Monday), having successfully launched the independent brand in Colchester in 2014.
Murteza has worked in catering for 30 years, while Adam worked in restaurant consultancy in London, and as a mystery diner for high street burger joints such as Byron Burger before taking the plunge to open his own place.
“I noticed a gap in the market that was really hot in London,” Adem said. “There was nowhere in Colchester doing really good burgers so I decided to mix my dad’s chef experience and my business experience.”
Adem admits he ate lots of the meaty treat in the year leading up to the first Love Thy Burger launch, even travelling to America to try and formulate the ultimate burger.
“The difference between what makes a great burger can be quite fine,” he said. “The meat and bun are key. The meat has to be as fresh as possible, you have to have the right seasoning and high quality sauce. If you use cheap sauces it cheapens the taste of the burger. To make a juicy burger the meat has to be fresh and local. We make our patties on site every day with deliveries each day from the local butchers. So the time from butchers to burger is less than a day and that makes a huge difference.”
As well as making all burgers in-house from scratch, the kitchen team makes a range of sauces, from chilli, to garlic sauce, plus signature rosemary fries, onion rings and coleslaw, supplementing with high quality brands such as Stokes sauces.
The menu at the 70-seater Ipswich restaurant is the same as the Colchester branch, with favourites including the Scorchio and the ever-popular Big Smoke, which is packed with red onion marmalade, lettuce, tomato, dressing, Monterey Jack cheese, smoked streaky bacon, crispy fried onion, ketchup and chipotle mayonnaise.
A vegetarian burger is made with a falafel patty, homemade garlic mayonnaise and halloumi cheese.
And there’s a meal deal for children as well as for adults, who can add fries and a soft drink to any burger for £3.
“We like to keep it simple to keep the quality high,” Adem insists. “We’ve got one product and we want to be the best.”
Love Thy Burger is licensed and will have a rolling stock of craft beers, with Adem having just bought several Mexican, two Thai and a few Hackney-made beers in for the Ipswich launch.
The entrepreneur is hopeful the new restaurant will be as successful as its sister eatery in Colchester. “We’ve got a lot of good through-traffic. It’s a good pathway into town. Once the word spreads we hope people will come.”
See the Love Thy Burger menu here
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