Hello again. It has been a really, really long time! I don’t know if I am back for good, but I like having this space here to write about the food that I have eaten & when I graduate, at least I’d have something to look back on and remember my wonderful 3 years in the UK – obviously, mostly food related of course.

On Saturday, zx came up from London to visit me and being the burger fiends we both are.. (and Raerae too of course, but that one was too busy playing basketball) we had to HAVE a burger. I’ve been dying to try Almost Famous since… Almost Famous became famous. So yeah, like the rest of the London establishments (ahem, Lucky Chip, Meat Liquor, Patty & Bun) AF started out as a popup and became permanent since.. a really long time ago. Frankly one of the reasons why I was put off by it was their website – it is incredibly rude and gives me a headache. In other words, it’s is super act 一个 and I’m honestly… not a fan of its over the top pretentiousness at trying to be bada$$. It’s like they’re trying to be the rebellious, younger version of meatliquor, which is incredibly unoriginal.

That said, I still feel like kicking myself FOR ONLY TRYING IT LAST WEEKEND. I mean, I have been missing out on the most amazing burger in Manchester for years – yeah at this juncture I am gna call myself a loser. And……… for all that marketing hype that was a massive turn off, AF is INCREDIBLY CHILL. zx and I went on a Sunday afternoon at 1255h (it opens at 1) and there was already a queue snaking around the street that Luck, Lust, Liquor & Burn was at. And. It was snowing. Frankly, it’s so smart, not opening the shutters until 1305h, keeping the hungry people even hungrier and hence more excited…. and you know, even cynics like me were anticipating something really awesome.

AF is situated at the top floor of a building in the Northern Quarter, and it really looks kinda dodgy if you’re there at an odd hour/there’s no one around and the entrance to AF is a wooden door… no kidding. Anything indie they could do to make it indie-er, they have already done it. I was half expecting wait staff with nose piercings and tattoos… but no, they are incredibly nice and POLITE. (unlike the website. and twitter.) The guy who took my order at the counter was also good at math – he tallied my order in his head as I ordered, WITHOUT A CALCULATOR. I never thought I’d be treated to a display of mental arithmetic at AF, ever. So far, so good.

AF in the afternoon has loads of families actually – and I love, love, love the open space concept it has. Couches for big groups, with tall ceilings & huge windows that let the midday light in. LOVE IT. Yeah ok rambling too much, on to the food.

Zx had the original famous burger, and I had the DD burger – I mean, there’s SLUT SAUCE in it. We had a beef chili fries to share.

Personally, I think they forgot about my onions which is why they were at the side. Otherwise, this is a FLAWLESS BURGER!!!!!! Except I would like to have seen some greens in it – I knew I exercised 4x that week for a reason – but IT’S A BURGER PLACE SO. Anyway the PATTIES WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE BURGERS!!!! I love it I love it so so so much. Usually it’s really difficult to achieve pinkness with thin patties, but AF does it well and the patty is flavourful and holds its own against the condiments. It is an incredible patty. I also have never seen so much mustard in a burger before, but I love mustard so it wasn’t a problem for me. I love eating messy burgers! And AF gave me that experience of dirtying my fingers. Really a happy child after that burger experience. The fries were a bit of a disappointment because they weren’t hot enough for my liking – Meatliquor has better beef chili fries but I loved how AF mixes sweet potato fries with normal fries!! And again, there’s loads of mustard. Um would have preferred it if the cheese was melted rather than the kind you get in theatres with nachos.. but it was not that big a deal. I DIDN’T TRY THE WINGS which means I have to go back again!!!

I know I keep comparing AF with other burger establishments that I have dined at, but frankly I’ve come to realise that burgers are something that are intensely personal.. nonetheless objectively speaking, I think AF is a wonderful place for burgers/afternoon hangout – I can see why people flock to it time and time again. Next on my burger to-do list: Honest burgers for their FAMOUS CHIPS. And maybe Lucky Chip Round II when the Bill Murray gets back on the menu again.

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Almost Famous
100 High Street
Northern Quarter, Manchester