Fatburger, Dolmen Mall, Clifton

It seems to me as if there is some strange unseen connection between the human "Y" chromosome and the big, juicy burger. 

This is because whenever a new burger joint hits K-Town, its more often than not the male members of one's family, in the age-range of 15-45, who start to itch and get impatient to give it a visit! :)

Even if it means standing in a long queue for an hour! *sigh*

Well, first it was Hardees, and now, it is Fatburger.

 This queue-less entrance of Fatburger was photographed after 11 p.m at night, which is the time to visit this outlet in Dolmen Mall Clifton, if  you want to get your order straight away.

There is another entrance at the other end of the outlet, from where wives, children and other companions of the ones standing in queue, enter the outlet to claim and occupy their tables. 

The outlet is done in red and yellow themes. It is open, spacious and well-lit. 

I am not a big fan of wall graffiti, though. 

Customers can leave their handwritten feedback/comments on the walls.

Err, too much like high school for me. :-|

The men at work at peak business hours (9 p.m to 11 p.m nowadays).

 The fatburgers under construction.

Customized tissue boxes on every table. 

The menu, sans the prices. You can view it more clearly online here.

Almost everything about Fatburger reminded us of Hardees. It was literally like déjà vu!

The patchwork roof is also done up in yellow and red themes. Lots of spotlights too.

"Hand-tossed" Chocolate milkshake - Rs 190

Nowadays, refills are free.

I can almost hear the boys and men (the "Y" chromosome readers of this blog) grinning with glee at this news. :P

A drink this size otherwise costs Rs 120 separately i.e. if you're not taking it with a deal.

Onion rings and "Fat" Fries.

These were piping hot. Crunchy and crisp, with steaming, tender cores.

That being said, I will reiterate that those at Hardees were better.

The Chicken Sandwich Fatburger - with a single grilled meat patty.

The Turkeyburger. Again, with a single patty. Umm, we are not big burger eaters.

To my pleasant surprise, this burger had whole wheat buns! This is the first time in my life that I've had a turkey burger, and also the first time I've had one with whole wheat buns.

I like!

I decided to have two add-ons with my burger. Cheddar cheese and an egg.

You can see the egg under the meat patty. I thought it was a little too well-done. The egg white should be white, not brown!

 

 The prices are the same as Hardees. A single patty meal with fries and drink will cut you back Rs 700, whereas one with double patty will hover somewhere around Rs 900.

As we left, the outlet had become considerably empty.

The desolate entrance.

Just 2 hours ago, there was barely any room to stand under this orifice! 

Verdict: Honestly? I think the food at Hardees (as well as that offered by the lesser-known, order-in local burger businesses such as Big Thick Burgerz and Gourmet Burger Company) is much better. 

The burgers were good, yeah, but nothing out of the ordinary. But then again, I am not a big fan of burgers any way. The men in my immediate family are, though. :)

I think the milkshake was rich and deliciously creamy, and I will probably go back to have that, if ever.

As always, loud, jarring music is a big turn-off for our family. We could see the many infants and toddlers in the restaurant getting bothered by the high level of noise. In addition to the din, all the waiters at the counter (and there are quite a few) sing out in chorus every single order, as soon as its ready. Interesting touch.

But someone in the management should train them not to call women with infants "aunty"! :P

Hardee's, North Nazimabad

Hardee's, the international restaurant chain that boasts of "Charbroiled Thickburgers", recently opened its first outlet in Karachi, located near Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad, among much excited anticipation on the part of the ardent foodie dwellers of the City of Lights.

The outlet is right next to Nando's. There is ample parking space in the side lane on which it is located.

We had to wait for 2 hours in the queue outside before we were able to get inside, even though it was a weeknight.
After a 2-hour wait outside, there was a half-hour wait in the queue inside.

This is the ground floor of the spacious and extremely clean outlet. Notice the guy getting a free drink refill from the drink counter? Yes, they offer free soft drink refills right now. 

A free refill counter is also present on the even more spacious upper floor.

The seating arrangement includes sofas as well as dining chairs around tables. 

There was no dearth of places to sit in the outlet, despite the crowd thronging it!

This was a more secluded section on the upper floor. 

This floor also had a children's play area, but it was closed.

Glass doors leading into the separate portion. 

The complete menu was printed on a placard inside on the wall.

The complete burger menu (notice that there are no prices printed!)

Flip side of the menu.

 Mushroom & Swiss Burger with Cheese, with French Fries and a regular drink, for Rs 354.

A shot of the layer of mushrooms in their gravy/sauce - it made up the gooey part of this burger that added a delectable juiciness to it and also melted the slice of cheddar! 

 

Best burger I have had in ages, even though in principle I try to avoid beef. 

 I had ordered Onion Rings with this combo, but they were out of them.

Original ThickBurger with Crispy Curls and a drink, Rs 450.

These Crispy Curls, which I had for the first time, were too good...much better than fries, in my opinion.

 

My better half had this, and well, let's just say that he couldn't say a word about it until he was done with it, because he couldn't put it down until it was all gone! :) 

The 2.5 hour long wait had really made all of us very tired and.....hungry.

9 Chicken Stars (nuggets) for the kiddies. Priced at Rs 233.

Cheese Burger, also for the kids, for Rs 147. This was smaller in size than the other two.

Hardee's also offers these "Hand-Scooped Milkshakes" that looked very inviting.

Despite being full because of the ample-sized meal, we took a milkshake for the road (a drive of 50 minutes back to Defence awaited!), as we knew that it would be difficult for us to visit this Hardee's outlet again any time soon. 

The milkshake cost Rs 195 (if I remember correctly, as we bought it later on a separate receipt).

The total bill, excluding the milkshake, amounted to Rs 1370.

Verdict: I stand guilty as charged. I have never waited in a queue for 2.5 hours just to eat a burger! However, the gushing praise I had heard of Hardee's burgers made me go for it just this once, and its true - the long wait was well worth it, because you won't get burgers anywhere near like these any where in the whole city.

The burger buns were extremely fresh and soft, the meat patty was tender and succulent, and the fries/crispy curls were soft yet crisp on the outside. I must mention that the staff and waiters were extremely attentive, efficient and polite, to the extent of being servile, returning again and again to ask us and all other diners, if we needed anything. Plus, as I said before, there were free refills. :)

The only thing unpleasant about the whole trip was waiting in the long queue outside and during this time, being forced to inhale the smoke of cigarettes being incessantly puffed by the groups of teenaged boys who comprised the major part of the waiting customers. Not fun.