Hailing from a city consumed by gourmet burger chains, I’ve grown accustomed to craving pimped-up patties.  In this series, I hit the streets of Phnom Penh to sniff out the very best burgers on offer.

Angus Burger
A quarter pounder Angus beef steak burger, topped with lettuce, tomato, a gherkin and burger sauce.
$5. Including fries and a small coke.

The Burger Joint

Lucky Burgers are peppered all over town, and while they’re clearly a fast food chain, that’s not always such a bad thing. I decided to try my, ahem, luck and see if I could dig out a gem. Plus, you never know… sometimes chains disguised as fast food turn out to be quasi-gourmet.

The Burger

The Lucky Burger appealed, the Double Lucky twice as much, but I opted for the quarter pounder Angus Burger to get a more juicy patty. $5 seemed reasonable given the free extras, so I hoped it’d compete with the various hip joints around the city I’ve already visited.

Topped with your expected, classic, burger toppings of lettuce, tomato, a pickle and burger sauce, the Angus itself would have to impress to stand out.

On the Side

A portion of thin fries and a small Coke were included. Very quickly I dubbed the meal fast food and not quite of the ‘gourmet’ style I hoped for.

The fries were nothing special, no major issues with them. The meal came with ketchup and a sweet chilli sauce – so I used both.

First Impressions

I was pretty hungry, and the bun wrapped in paper can sometimes be a quirk – but as mentioned, this was just straight up fast food. So, the next question would be: how does it compare to the giants?

With the lack of McDonalds in the Phnom Penh, there’s surely a gap to exploit the taste loved across the world of fast-food fanatics. Unfortunately, it didn’t really compare – so if that’s the taste you wanted, sorry.

The meat did have a certain familarity to the taste of a Burger King patty, and the pickle had a lot of welcomed zest to the flavour. The sauce was pleasant, not overpowering but spread enough to add flavour with each bite and compliment the overall taste.

The Verdict

It’s fine. It’s a nice quick bite, it’s an easy burger choice when out running round town. I’d give the Angus Burger 4/10 –  It’s fine, it won’t change your life, the price is what I’d expect for what they’re advertising. If you want decent fast food, opt to Fatboys – another Phnom Penh chain that’s cheaper and much more exciting!

I visited: Lucky Burger, Koh Pich St, Koh Pich/Diamond Island

More from this series: 

Frazer Vs Burger: Bushtucker @ Fatboy’s