We were in the mood for something normal but different; something familiar but new. Yeah not easy, but then we heard from Happening Colombo about burgers with veggie infused buns and ... a waffle burger? OK, we had to try it.
Address: Dehiwala (we got delivery)
Phone: 078 630 1205
Website: www.bakersblend.lk
Facebook: @Bakers-Blend
Instagram: @Bakers-Blend
Apparently at their outlet they have a cosy garden area where you can take your food to enjoy. However we ordered a delivery so we enjoyed it with a movie!
Menu
At the time of writing there is no menu available on facebook or instagram and the website is not yet live, so we were guided by the photos on Instagram and what we had heard.
Baker's Blend offers a selection of bakes - their instapage offers cinnamon rolls, cakes and baguettes in the form of garlic bread or bruschetta. They also have coffees, flavoured milk and juices and a Chicken Haleem which looks amazing.
However their speciality has to be the burgers: home made beef or chicken served in a choice of home baked bun: a regular bun, spinach, beetroot or carrot. They also have what they call a "Blender": basically a waffle burger, with the burger served between home made waffles. With everyone clamouring for burgers we decided to try a couple... and the waffle burger, sorry, the Blender!
Ordering
We first tried to order on UberEats or PickMe but we were outside the normal delivery area. Sudda Teen was suggesting ordering from somewhere else closer by, but I wanted to try that waffle burger so we sent a message on Whatsapp and received a reply within a minute. A quick discussion of what we wanted, we sent payment by bank transfer and soon thereafter we got a call from the delivery driver asking for our location.
The food was delivered with each item in its own cardboard box and a nice paper bag for the brownies. The garlic bread was in aluminium foil. The burgers were still nicely warm.
The Food
We had ordered a beef burger in a plain bun; a chicken burger in a spinach bun; and the chicken waffle burger. Oh and of course garlic bread and brownies.
The burgers were nice and large in size and the buns were stuffed pretty full with the patty and garnish. Thankfully they were held together with a mini skewer - or maybe it was a large toothpick. Either way, it kept the burger together. So... we settled in front of the TV to eat.
Left: Clockwise from top left: all three burgers; beef burger in normal bun; chicken "blender" waffle burger; chicken burger in a spinach bun.
So, starting with the beef burger as that was the one in a normal bun. It was good. The patty was nicely cooked, very flavoursome, and juicy. Add the home made sauce and the moisture from the salad, which was large slice of fresh onion and tomato, and it did lead to a few dribbles onto the table, but most were caught in the bun. The bun was a good size, it held everything in and tasted fresh and light.
The chicken burger too was very good; the patty was a generous size, juicy and nicely flavoured and all loaded with the fresh, crispy salad and and the sauce. Additionally, there was the extra taste from the spinach infused bun. To be honest, we would not have immediately identified this additional flavour as spinach, but there was definitely the taste of another green vegetable that blended with the meat, salad and sauce into a really tasty chicken burger.
And then there was the "Blender", the waffle burger. This was literally a handful. As the waffles were quite soft, not crispy fried, they did sag a little which tempted some of the contents to spill out. We had removed the mini skewers before starting to eat which, with hindsight, was a mistake as it would have helped hold it together. So it was a little messier than it could have been but... so what! If you want a burger to not be messy, use a knife and fork, right? What mattered was the taste, and that was.. deliciously different.
The soft waffle and chicken patty, the gooey egg and the crispy crunch of the fresh salad gave a nicely different mix of textures. As for the flavours, the savoury chicken and egg contrasted with the slightly tart taste of the sauce. Add into that the salad and the waffles. There were actually three waffles, each one a different flavour: beetroot on top, spinach in the middle, which of course gave a slightly veggy hint but there was something a little sweet as well which I later realised was from the bottom waffle which was vanilla flavoured. So all in all you have meat, egg, veg, a tang from the sauce and a hint of sweet, and it actually all works really well!
Left: Garlic Bread. Right: Chocolate chip Brownie
So, a unanimous "excellent" for the burgers. The garlic bread got mixed opinions. Two said "really good"; one felt that while each piece clearly had buttery garlic on, it was a little dry in the middle. That is probably personal preference and if you like it crispy then it's not an issue of course. 10 minutes in the oven would have fixed it but we just tucked right in!
We did, though, agree again on the chocolate chip brownies. Again, we ate them straight out of the box and they were excellent. Even at room temperature they were slightly crunchy outside, moist and gooey inside and with a rich, chocolatey flavour. Again, really good.
When we first unpacked the food, Sudda Teen asked, "No fries?" but he needn't have worried, by the end he was full, even without fries.
Prices
The prices were quite reasonable. The chicken burger and chicken waffle burger were Rs550 each and the beef burger slightly more at Rs580. The brownies were Rs200 each.
Summary
Burger in a spinach, beetroot or carrot bun, or with waffles instead, may sound odd. Even Sudda Teen thought I was joking. But he enjoyed his spinach-bun burger and everyone enjoyed their bite of my waffle burger. The burgers are generous and tasty, the garnish fresh and crispy, the mayocue sauce offsets it all well and the extra flavours from the bun and waffles just add to it all. We really liked it.
Recommended? YES!
Just one note to self: next time (and yes there definitely will be a next time, soon) don't take out the mini skewer too soon! It holds it all together when you bite!