Rejoice, burger lovers of Brum! It’s been a long time coming but the brilliant Hanbao is now open in Birmingham.
If you’ve enjoyed a visit to the original Worcester venue before you know what to expect – a right good burg and some wild and wonderful cocktails.
The venue itself is fun (pretty funky, industrial, bright lights, a lot of plants), and the front of house team are on it. Lots of energy and happy to talk you through the menus and give recommendations.
Here you can see the namesake Hanbao (the char siu bacon is inspired) and Ian’s concoction that I seem to remember was a doubled up ODB with added bacon. We also shared some of the cheese and baconaise drenched fries. They are fat free and very healthy – you will be a supermodel in a day if you eat these.
Properly seasoned beef patties, loaded burgers that don’t scrimp on the toppings and sauces, and a decent feed compared to the mouthfuls you get at other local burger joints people rave about that I’ve fallen out of love with. The buns are usually one of my gripes about burgers (because they just fall apart or taste like pure sugar) but the demi brioche bun here is a great shout. All in all a lot to like and a top notch addition to Brum.
We had a great meal and enjoyed the filth fest immensely. Partly because I was desperately hungover from Wine Week, like, but genuinely they are great burgers. It’s not the cheapest place (burgers range from £9-£13; if you double up or add toppings it becomes quite expensive) but it’s definitely a most worthy addition to the brilliant burgscene Birmingham boasts now.
You can find it over in Digbeth on Floodgate Street (look out for the jazzy sign) and it’s open Wednesday to Sunday.
Want to see more from my first visit? Have a look at this.