Burgers are a big deal in Ireland – more than 17,000 public votes were cast in a competition to find Ireland's Best Burger last year – and the hunt is now on for the 2019 winner.
As part of National Burger Day, on June 20th, you can vote for the country's best examples of the traditional beef patty in a bread bun – no beetroot, lentil, or even chicken variations are eligible – in this promotion run by the Irish meat company, Kepak.
You can cast your vote online at nationalburgerday.ie, and in doing so will be entered into a draw to win a trip for two to Las Vegas. More than 500 outlets across the country, from takeaways to high-end restaurants, are also expected to participate in a two-for-one offer on burgers to celebrate National Burger Day.
The winner of the inaugural challenge last year was The Hungry Moose Gourmet Burger Restaurant in Kilkenny city, where a mixture of chuck, brisket and short rib is used in the meat patty and the trimmings in the burger include “smoked bacon, dill pickles, beer battered onion ring, Canadian ‘Moose’ Cheese and organic maple BBQ sauce”. The cheese is actually aged Cheddar and the sauce is made in-house to a recipe developed by head chef Emma O’Riain.
Runner-up in last year’s competition was Handsome Burger in Galway , which grew out of a market stall, and now has a permanent site in Dominick Street Lower in the city, as well as being part of the offering at Eatyard, the street food collective at Richmond Street South, in Dublin 2.
New research from Bord Bia’s Insight Centre, reveals that 70 per cent of us believe that Irish beef burgers are the best in the world, and we eat an average of 43 of them, both in and out of the home, every year. Almost half of us regularly cook and eat them at home, the research shows, while 70 per cent of Millennials surveyed admitted to “regularly” eating them outside of the home.
National Burger Day is sponsored by Kepak, with support from Heinz, Dubliner Cheese and Ben & Jerry's
