If the origins of hamburgers are uncertain, their appeal is not.
The warm, juicy, salty beef, beneath a layer of gooey cheese, contrasted by soft dough and cool vegetables, has led it to be a global favorite, with more than 100 million burgers eaten around the world each year. If you venture to any major metropolis on any continent, you’ll likely find a burger.
Burgers come in all varieties nowadays. From simple, no-nonsense diner style to assembly line-like fast food versions to trendy upscale takes with en vogue accouterments and complicated sauces. Saigon has all of these types as well as local bakeries selling curious interpretations, which may contain sweet buns or an additional hot dog on top.
With all the options, it can be difficult to choose a good one. To do so, one must first define what even makes a burger good. Part of it is a matter of personal taste. Some people like raw onions, for example, while others demand they be grilled. Adding mustard can spark controversy, as can mushrooms or a fried egg. But regardless of how you like your burger, it must be made with quality ingredients and prepared by a chef who knows what he or she is doing.
Many restaurants take great pride in announcing precisely which cuts are ground to make their burger patties. El Gaucho, a Saigon institution with 27 locations, including 11 in Vietnam, serves burgers made with top cuts of beef sourced from the US and Australia. A steakhouse at its core, El Gaucho takes a straightforward approach to their filet, rib eye, T-bone, and Tomahawk steaks: no sauces, not a lot of seasoning, just a little rock salt and a great piece of beef. Robust investments and resources allow the meat to stand on its own while careful quality control ensures that the steaks are of the highest quality at each location, every time. Kept in gleaming glass cases at the front of the restaurants, the same steak meat is also used to handmake the burgers. This results in rich and flavorful burgers of exemplary quality.
El Gaucho grinds portions of Australian black angus, USDA Prime ribeye, and Australian Wagyu, amongst other premium cuts of beef, in a careful balance of fat and protein that achieves a cohesive texture. Maintaining this precise ratio results in a burger that is naturally juicy but also firm, flavorful, and healthy. To further maintain consistency, El Gaucho has custom machines for shaping the 220-gram patties so each cooks evenly every time and provides bites that contain the ideal bun-to-meat ratio. The patties are then flame-grilled on a large skillet by a trained chef who has made enough burgers to know by muscle memory the precise time between flips to ensure maximum flavor blossoms beneath char marks.
While a burger’s beef is the most important part, everything else matters greatly, as well, and should receive the same loving attention as the meat. For example, El Gaucho’s bakers arrive early every morning to make the buns from scratch according to an in-house recipe that is carefully crafted and tested to ensure consistency. They are so dedicated to the details that they have developed a specific device for cutting each bun at the same precise place before toasting it just enough for it to retain its fluffy interior beneath a crisp crunch that cradles the patty. The texture also contrasts with the fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle for a light freshness to contrast with the rich meat. The hefty El Gaucho Burger arrives at one’s table with fries on a special branded wooden serving tray, a subtle nod to the meticulous attention the restaurant pays to every item that comes out of its kitchen.
Debates frequently pop up on social media between locals and expats regarding where to find Saigon’s best burger. It doesn’t take long for someone to mention El Gaucho. It’s true; anyone searching for a meal that is even better than the sum of its high-quality ingredients must try El Gaucho's burger. One bite should make clear why burgers are one of humanity’s most consumed foods.
