Burger Battle 2023, Round 38 - The Celtic Hearth
The Hearth is one of only a couple 24 hour restaurants in the city, and as such I have probably eaten there more than anywhere else. It's our default for post-show feasts, for example. Their entries are usually massive and often very good, and this year looks to be no different.
The aptly-named Burger Overload has an 8 oz patty, aged cheddar, thick bacon, caramelized onion, topped with a cheese sauce, crispy onions , an onion ring, mozza stick and a wing on top to garnish, all on our in house made bun. Good grief that is a lot.
This tasted like an appetizer platter on a bun with a big old juicy patty. That is far from a complaint by the way, and is probably what they were going for. Going for thick bacon made a big difference here, as the normal stuff would likely have been lost. The patty had a good sear and stayed moist. With the thickness of a half-pound patty, undercooking was a concern but it was perfectly cooked throughout.
Where this falls down is just in sheer volume. The mono-beige approach lends itself to being heavy and greasy, and without an acid element to break that up it can be a chore to work through. The caramelized onions are also the only sweetness on here, again not helping to vary the flavour profile. Hearth has a delicious in-house BBQ sauce they could have gone with to help on both fronts.
I think a lot of people will enjoy this burger because of the ingredients. It's not a classic but it has a lot of classic bar food in it, and it does work together. Someone with a higher tolerance for greasy food will do better than I did, but I did enjoy this a fair bit.












