If you’ve ever felt restricted by the toppings available for your burger, this week’s opening of The Counter should make you sit up. Founded by a chef who felt the same — Californian Jeff Weinstein — the Counter has a customisable menu with dozens of options, from cheese to sauce to bun, to no bun at all, to meat, to no meat at all.
Started in 2003 in Santa Monica, the UAE’s first Counter has opened in a similar beachside locale — literally, The Beach, the open-air mall on the shoreline at Jumeirah Beach Residence (other eating options open there now include Aprons and Hammers, the imaginatively named restaurants The House of Curry and The Steak Bar, as well as Eat Greek and Fratelli LA Bufala, an Italian restaurant).
With football playing on TV screens and booth seating, it has the feel of a light, bright beachside sports bar (although the strongest thing on the drinks menu is the Counter’s signature Birthday Cake Shake, with cake mix blended in; a bit powder-y for my taste). They do take out but it’s a nice place to eat in and escape the inevitable heat that will engulf The Beach soon enough.
“Start slowly,” is Weinstein’s advice for anyone looking to create their own burger, and it’s good advice. “Some people say they don’t like their burger, when in fact, it’s the combo that didn’t work,” he adds. With options on the menu stretching from beef to chicken to vegan patties (soon to come: lamb, turkey and ahi tuna), plus four buns, 12 cheeses, 24 sauces, and 31 toppings (11 of them are premium, such as avocado, fried egg and house-made chili) there is scope to go a little wild. Weinstein says in the US, where there are a even more options, there are over a billion combinations possible. These burgers are, even with minimal toppings, of the pile ‘em high variety (they come automatically with cheese, sauce and four toppings included in the basic price).
The burgers are thick — the smallest is a 1/3lb (150g) cooked weight — and made from antibiotic- and hormone-free US beef, flame grilled. Weinstein demonstrated his favourite combination, which he calls the Red Eye: a 2/3lb beef burger, lettuce, jalapeno, cheddar, beef bacon, a fried egg and sweet sriracha chilli sauce on an English muffin (Dh55). You can also skip the bun and place the meat on a bowlful of lettuce, with toppings.
For those daunted by choice, try going for the Old School (Dh39), a classic cheeseburger on a squidgy brioche-style bun, with onions and pickles, one of three tried-and-tested combos available.
