Admiral’s Landing is a very old pub on the docks of Bridgwater. It’s not really known or renowned for amazing food, or craft beer or anything in particular, it’s just a very honest pub, with local ales and national lagers and beers and a function room, skittle alley etc.
In essence a very typical Bridgwater / Somerset pub and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve spent my late teens and early twenties in both this place and many pubs very similar. It does mean in terms of burger expectations though, I set them very low.
I ordered what’s called the Admiral’s Burger. Marketed as having a thick homemade burger, a gourmet bun, cheese, bacon and some chips served with coleslaw. We’ll see.
We had a varied order of 5 different meals and so the wait of 20 to 25 minutes is absolutely to be expected.
Out came on classic pub plates, our meals. Immediately I was intrigued by the chips. Very odd indeed. They were very yellow in colour, skin on and had been cut length ways in kind of curls, like the opposite of curly fries. Any reservations were not justified though, on tasting the outside was crispy, the inside fluffy and although clearly fried there was absolutely no grease. These may just be the best chips I’ve ever eaten.
The coleslaw again was homemade. Chunky, creamy, thick and luxurious. Absolutely full of full fat cream calories but absolutely beautiful.
Onto the main act. The burger.
Pinned to the top, a couple of onion rings for good measure, once removed revealed a very large burger. Immediately I could feel the freshness of the bun. Super fluffy with a pillowed top.
Upon inspecting the inside I knew we had a good burger here. The smell was meaty, the burger nicely charred. There was a nice thick chop of good quality Somerset smoked back bacon, a generous helping of strong cheddar cheese and the usual salad items.
The meaty smell followed into the taste of the thick burger. I absolutely believe it was home made, but made by somebody who can make burgers. This wasn’t just a meat patty, it had been seasoned with skill, and cooked with the same attention making sure the outside was caramelised and the inside cooked well.
Having proper bacon instead of streaky really adds to the overall weight and presence of a burger and the very smoky pork and beefy burger just played together with the added salt and pepper to create a rich and very flavourful meatiness, with a big hit of oomami and cheesiness of the strong cheddar.
So, despite my initial expectations I was absolutely blown away by the love and quality of ingredients that went into this meal. It under-promises and over-delivers. One of the nicest burgers I’ve ever had. At £8.95 it’s a steal.
