• 3
• Disappointing first impression.

Sadly, I wasn't terribly impressed by my first visit to Boon Burger. Having seen the glowing reviews, I was looking forward to a treat, but the experience wasn't all it could have been. I ordered a Backyard BBQ Burger and a shake. The bench table I sat at was sticky and covered in crumbs, and the floor needed a good sweeping. The burger arrived quickly, the shake failed to appear. The burger, though very tasty, was lukewarm and so was not as satisfying as it might have been had the patty been hot. The burger also contained a hair, about six inches in length, which I thankfully managed to retrieve from my throat without vomiting. I signalled the server and asked about my shake, and showed the hair. The server was terribly apologetic about both and, seeing my burger was nearly finished, asked if I would like my shake to-go, to which I said yes. All in all a mixed bag. The restaurant had a nice atmosphere; the staff were pleasant; the clientele were affable and plentiful, showing how popular the restaurant is; and the food was flavourful. The sticky tables/floor? It happens. Maybe there was an earlier rush, things get busy and stuff gets missed. The forgotten drink? It happens. Not too bothered, and it was promptly fixed. The cold burger? Can't really see how it happened, as the service was fast from chef to table. Maybe vegan burgers are always tepid? I don't know, this was my first. The hair? Again, it happens. It really shouldn't, but it does. In the end, it was a hair, not toxic waste. I wasn't especially bothered, and I finished eating the burger anyway. But still, I could have done without it, and I think perhaps food-service staff should wear hairnets. On a personal preference note - if you're serving on square buns, don't make round patties. Those empty corner bites are a let-down... Would I go again? Yes. Although the number of little problems added up to a disappointing whole, there was nothing so drastically wrong that couldn't be improved with a few tweaks. I'll have to go two or three times to really get a sense of the place.