As part of the launch of their new menu on June 14, Hard Rock Cafe employees began offering a 24ct gold leaf steak burger. At Times Square, it costs $ 24.99. This hamburger contains a cutlet weighing 220 g, coated with an edible sheet of 999 gold. My friend paid a visit to the USA, tasted this dish and shared his impressions with me.
Edible gold
Edible gold leaf is not new: Europeans have for centuries consumed this product found in alcoholic beverages. Gold leaf is sometimes coated with sweets in India, although silver is more common here.
Gold leaf, however, is tasteless. And although some claim that it has antimicrobial properties, its basic culinary use is a side dish.
Calories
My friend wanted to try a gold leaf burger to find out how it differs from a regular burger. At Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, a PR spokesperson told Business Insider that restaurant customers often come to pamper themselves. He explained: “What could be better than a gold leaf burger?”
Even before my friend entered the restaurant, an advertisement was already selling him a welcome burger. But she did not bring him closer to the answers he sought. This required a taste test.
A gold leaf burger is an ordinary legendary burger with bacon and onions, lettuce and a slice of tomato (and with gold, of course). Therefore, my friend was surprised when he saw that it contains almost 250 calories more than in the "legendary burger", according to the menu. A gold leaf burger also costs $ 7 more, $ 1 of which goes to charity.
Unlike other hard hamburgers, which are usually served closed, a gold leaf burger was handed open so that the client could see a cutlet covered with gold leaf. Surely everyone knows the saying: "Not all that glitters is gold." But be sure - this hamburger really has expensive metal in its composition.
Description of food
Plain burger served with sauce. My friend said that dousing the patties with gold felt like blasphemy. As soon as the cutlet is in the burger, only gold was visible.
He added: “This is a very tasty burger with a thick and juicy cutlet, as well as a tasty bun. Bun perfectly absorbs meat juices. But the filling was very mouth-watering, but the gold had no taste. As a rule, gold leaf is coated with food to show a side dish. Here, it was like the sub-optimal use of a visually appealing and expensive ingredient. ”
Burger Comparison
As a guideline for evaluating a gold leaf burger, my friend also tried the Hard Rock flagship burger - Legendary Burger. This dish was very similar to a gold leaf hamburger, but it had no expensive component, and onion rings and bacon were added. This "American sandwich" looked very appetizing, even if it was served closed.
My friend said: “The legendary burger was delicious. Onion rings and bacon added a welcome salty and crisp hue. These ingredients increased the juiciness of cutlets. The components were well balanced overall, although the vegetarian fillings never impressed me. ”
A friend of mine added: “Although the golden-leaf burger is still a pretty decent burger, I'm not sure I will buy it often. He certainly won’t receive the prize at the culinary competitions. It's a novelty that Instagram users may like, but it doesn't taste as good as the original Legendary Burger. ”
Many probably think: “What could be better than a gold leaf burger?” As it turned out, when it comes to indulging our taste buds, we choose an ordinary burger without a noble shiny metal.