‘I always say, ‘Eat clean to stay fit; have a burger to stay sane.’ – Gigi Hadid
*We received a complimentary meal in return for an honest review*
A few years ago, I ended to helping The Fat Hippo design a marmite burger for their Valentines menu off the back of a random tweet (and 70 subsequent badgering tweets). Since then I’ve had a great relationship with them and they invited me and Dave along to their Jesmond branch this week to try their new collaboration with Scream for Pizza.
Having never been to their Jesmond gaff before I was excited to see it and pleased to see that they’ve kept the same intimate quirky vibe of the Hippo Underground in town. It probably seats around 30 people and is all wooden inside with low cosy lighting. The staff were excellent and shout out to the music choices as we heard Backstreet Boys and Bowling for Soup (my 2 faves as you know) in one sitting.
Anyway, down to business. The Nduja Love Me (pronounced N-Dooya) is a double patty with an oozing grilled cheese skirt of mozzarella and blue cheese, drenched in spicy nduja mayo and peperoni ketchup, sprigs of basil rocket with a drizzling of honey and served with parmesan fries. And let me tell you, as a lifelong lover of burgers and pizza, this is the perfect combination of both.
On first bite you get a real hit of pepperoni and blue cheese – two of my favourite ingredients on anything (after marmite). As Dave rightly pointed out it’s possibly not one to order of a first date as it got messy as we got stuck in. After almost 15 years together, however, our first date days are long behind us. Plus, you can eat it with a knife and fork like I did if you need to! The burgers themselves were hearty chunks of meat that melted in the mouth. They’re always cooked on the pink side, so if that’s not your preference you need to speak up. That’s a perfect burger in my eyes though as it retains more of the flavour of the meat and keeps it tender.
Also, special mention to the other menu items we were able to try; the Fricks & Dips (fried pickles and sour cream) and Freddies Fingers (fried chicken fingers) for starter and the Toblerone Cheesecake and Cookie Dough Pie for pudding which bookended our feast perfectly. I mean, deep fry anything and you’re on to a winner but me being one of those weirdos that actually loves pickles, the Fricks & Dips were a starter of dreams for me.
Fat Hippo has long been one of the best burger places in Newcastle and it’s great to see they’re constantly collaborating with people – whether it be other established eateries like Scream for Pizza, or local blogger like me, to create new and exciting menu specials.
Nduja love me? Abso-bloody-lutely
The Nduja Love Me burger is available from now until 31st March 2019 so grab it while you can!
I never usually go for the speciality burgers but Steve ALWAYS does. I love to stick with my old favourites but I could be very tempted with this one – sounds lush!