Fatburger, Cyber Hub, Gurgaon: Fat? Only in Name

The expanding market in India for American fast food now sees one more burger chain making its entry into the country. Fatburger, an American fast food chain with a presence in 150+ countries, has opened its first outlet in India in Cyberhub, Gurgaon.

Located on the first floor, Fatburger has a typical American diner look with interiors done up in red and white, bright neon lights, an open kitchen and LA posters dotting the walls. Apart from its much touted burgers (a selection of nine non-veg burgers and five veg burgers to choose from), it has an assortment of appetizers, wraps and salads, hotdogs and desserts on its menu. All these are presented at your table through a rather lukewarm service.

Let me first begin with the appetizers which eventually turned out to be much better than the main course.

We started with their Chicken Wings tossed in Franks Red Hot Pepper Sauce. The wings were made well and had a nice tangy taste of the sauce though I have had meatier wings in other joints.

The Chicken Caesar Salad had a well seasoned and hot, grilled chicken piece on a bed of lettuce and croutons and was nice and crunchy. I downed it with a yummy and thick Cookies and Cream Shake topped with fresh cream.

While the Amritsari Onion Rings were impressive with a spicy and tangy powder spice mix sprinkled on top adding that extra zing to crispy rings, the Potato Skins were disappointing with limp, under seasoned potatoes and too much of cheese rendering them practically tasteless.

Now coming to the burgers which were all served with fries and a mayo tossed coleslaw :

The name itself and the brief write up in the menu about these being the biggest, juiciest burgers in California once (hence the name), honestly speaking, got me a bit worried about how much to order. I was even thinking of ordering just one burger for myself and my friend who had accompanied me but thank heavens I did not do that ! The pedestrian size buns and wafer thin patties make for burgers which totally belie the brand name. The portion sizes are not what we are used to in American diners being quite miniscule in comparison though the prices are competitive as compared to the others.

We ordered the Shroom Tenderloin, the Fat Greek (lamb) and Outlaw Spicy Crispy Chicken burgers. The burger bun with a mere 4 inch diameter was more than a letdown, the patties were under seasoned in the tenderloin and lamb burgers and over seasoned in the chicken burger. There was no lettuce in the bun to hold all the dripping sauces thus making the bun disintegrate even with only one wafer thin patty inside (and I had been advised to go for 2-3 patties which are options one can exercise).  In short, the burgers left a lot to be desired.

In desserts, the Apple Crumble Pie is not recommended as the pie crust was totally limp and the apple was sans any cinnamon. However, the Chocolate Truffle Cake more than made up for it.

What makes me wonder is why I would go back to Fatburger for their burgers when I can get a bigger, meatier burger in any other place in Cyberhub itself. Their prices may be a bit lower than others but that kind of explains the small portion sizes too.

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 2.5| Ambience: 3.0 | Service: 2.5 | Overall: 2.5

Meal for Two: Rs. 1000 approx| Credit Cards: Yes | Alcohol: No | Wheel Chair Friendly: Yes

Address: Cyber Hub, DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon | Telephone: 011 33107941

Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.