Bears Burgers & Chicken
roastwokingham.co.uk
WHAT do you do if you set up a company selling roast dinners, which a lot of people only want on Sundays? Why, branch out of course.
Chris Murray, who previously worked at the Michelin-star Fat Duck in Bray, launched Roast Wokingham earlier this year. It’s been a great success, offering home delivered meals on Sundays between noon and 7pm.
And to complement it, Chris has created Bears Burgers and Chicken.
Don’t worry, no bears are harmed in this making of his menu, but these are gourmet meals made from scratch. Chris creates everything in his Wokingham kitchen, using seasonal ingredients.
This means that the selection changes on a regular basis.
Chris also works on a zero-waste policy, with leftovers donated to the Share Wokingham. And he plans to help customers reduce theirs – recipes and other ideas will be coming to his website soon.
There’s more: deliveries are made using an electric car and packaging is as environmentally friendly as possible. They are trying to reduce their carbon footprint while creating some tasty food.
Dinner is served between 2pm and 10pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and there’s a breakfast available on Saturdays between 8am and noon.
You pre-order and book a delivery or collection slot, which run every 30 minutes. These are available on first-come, first-served basis.
You have to be quick as most slots sell-out out in advance.
Delivery is up to six miles of RG40 5SA. If you live within three miles and spend £35 or more, you can enjoy free delivery – all other orders are £3. Alternatively, you can collect. You are urged to be prompt as food is prepared for the booked order time.
Burgers are, naturally, a big hit with my son. He tried Bears Cheeseburger (£12) – this is no tiddly meal. There are two smashed patties of beef, Bears’ unique burger sauce, with a garnish of lettuce, tomato and onion, all carefully laden into a brioche bun.
It comes with a serving of skinny fries and, via the website, there are plenty of ways to customise the order for a small additional fee, including Dirty Fries: pulled pork, cheese and Bear’s barbecue sauce.
My son lavished praise on the burger, appreciating the high-quality meat used and the sauce to garnish it.
My daughter went for Bears’ fried chicken and fries (£10). There are two large pieces, with options including bacon cheese fries for an additional £4. Chris fries chicken breast in a deliciously crunchy coating. This was a definite hit, and she might try the vegan version next time.
Speaking of meat replacement, there is a veggie burger option, as well as a seitan burger, which is suitable for vegans and served with a vegan mayo, lettuce and onion. Both are £10.
It was this that my meat-loving husband chose: it is everything a vegan burger should taste like – a great bite but no mushiness and packed with flavour. He was impressed and said he would have it again.
My choice was the Chicken Burger (£12), which came with a spicy sriracha mayo, giving it a nice kick.
As with the beef burger, it was served in a brioche bun with lettuce, onion and cheese, along with a side portion of skinny fries £12.
The first thing that struck me was how enormous it was: this was not for those with small stomachs.
The chicken is lightly fried with a delicious crispy coating, the spicy sauce compliments the burger perfectly, along with tomato and crispy iceberg lettuce. This scored a definite thumbs up from me.
As well as the burger customisation options, there are some side dishes to choose from, again these vary but can include onion rings (£3), chicken tenders (£5), a seitan version (£5) and sauces (£2.50).
We were impressed and have joined the Facebook page to see the latest menus.
