The World Burger Tour@HRC!

Rating 4/5

The Hard Rock Cafe situated in Koregaon Park Annex is one of the most popular Cafe landmarks of Pune. Frequented mostly by Youngsters and families to a certain extent this American Cafe is a go-to place for all party goers !

They do however charge a premium and a burger with fries would cost you around 550 bucks, so a meal for two with drinks would easily go in the region of 2k-5k depending on what/how much you order. So a pertinent question would be is it really worth it?  We’ll come back to it at the end of the review….

Hard Rock Cafe’s World Burger Tour 2016 Hits India, open to HRC Customers from 1st June till July 2016 – As part of the Tour HRC have come up with eight new burger preparations with a blend of regional flavors as their USP. The visitors can also participate in Burgerthon – wherein the fastest to finish off their much famed Legendary Burger on a Pan India level would be declared as winners. We also had a mini Burgerthon in the tasting session and it was fun, I can only imagine how the actual event would materialize with THE LEGENDARY BURGER !!

The Ambience – 4.5/5 – Well it’s a different World altogether inside the HRC with different Musical artifacts and Rock stars’ photos doting the walls. They have multi level seating options available and they frequently have live performances within the premises usually on Thursdays. On the weekends the atmosphere is just electric and one that should be witnessed once in a while if not every week.

Food & Drinks – I would rate them 4/5 on this parameter.

Among the Burgers they had 8 variety of Burgers as part of the World Tour namely Mediterranean Veg Burger, Lebanese Veg Burger, Caribbean Veg Burger, Mexican Quesedilla, Istanbul Kafta Chicken Burger, Italian Chicken Burger, Indian Tandoori Chicken Burger, Miami Cuban Beef Burger and their trusted sidekick – the Masala Fries.

A brief on the ones I tasted :

Caribbean Veg Burger – 3/5 – The first one on the block, the grilled patty topped with Cheddar cheese went fine and I would say this would be an average one for sure.

Mexican Veg Burger – 3/5 – The preparation tried to capture the typical flavors of Mexican food and was successful, I had a bite but I was waiting for the Non vegetarian ones.

Lebanese Veg Burger – 3.5/5 – This was the best of the lot as far as the vegetarian burgers were concerned, was lightly spiced with an added healthy factor of beetroot added to the preparation.

Now comes the turn of Non Vegetarian variants :

Istanbul Kafta Chicken Burger – 3/5 – This is the one I gulped during the Burgerthon and due to the feta cheese I found it a bit salty for my liking. However for the cheese lovers this might turn out to be a delight, for me it turned out to be a mixed bag for me.

Italian Chicken Burger – 4.5/5 – This was among the best burgers I tasted during the preview. Going by the name I thought it’s going to be a bit bland but it turned out to be good primarily due to the usage of italian herbs, Cheddar cheese & sundried tomato aioli.

Indian Tandoori Chicken Burger – 4.5/5 – It was easily the best one for me (the one in background), being a lover of Indian food it had subtle use of Indian spices and the desiness won me over. Infact I loved it so much that I forgot to even click a proper photo of the preparation. The chicken patty had a tandoori flavor and packed quite a punch, it was the best way to end the World Burger Tour 🙂

Miami Cuban Burger – Not rated – I couldn’t quite taste this one, however going by the feedback from other foodies it was pretty decent.

Masaala Fries – 2.5/5 – The fries were decent and had nothing outstanding about them, probably a variety of seasoning or an option of coming with a cheesy dip etc might just spice up the preparation a bit. There was nothing wrong about it but they were the usual fries you would get at any other place.

Credits – Special word goes out to Ms.Akshata Rao from HRC Marketing for inviting me to the Preview, along with the other HRC operations staff – Mr.Sanjay, Mr. Manoj and Ms.Saloni who ensured that we were treated like Royalty and all of us had a good time 🙂

Quick Facts

Service – 4/5 – As expected in a Preview session – good.
Food – 4/5 – Food ratings are based on the Burgers and Masaala Fries only.
Drinks – 4/5 – Mango Berry cooler mocktail I had was not part of the launch but it was good. The launch had 8 variants of Cocktails which I won’t be covering as I am a strict non-alcoholic drinker.
Ambience – 5/5, it’s perfect for a quick catch up with friends but definitely not a place for a quiet family dinner. Live performances and Rock Music only complements the funky environment.
Value for Money – 3.5/5, it’s on the pricier side, as all popular brands charge premium so no issues with that on a personal level.
When is the World Burger Tour getting launched? – June to July 2016.
Timings – 12.30 pm to 12.30 am Weekdays & 12.30 pm to 1.30 am on Weekends.
Recommendations – Indian Tandoori Chicken, Italian Chicken & Mediterranean Veg Burger.

Cheers !