There are few things in life as rewarding as a big fat juicy burger. And we are on the search for…drum roll please…”the Cotswolds Best Burger” along with our friends at The Cotswold Gentleman.
Tom Arkell, Simon the nice doctor from Concierge Medical and his burger-loving amigos have been travelling the Cotswolds in search of burger heaven.
And next stop was to Eat Wild, a newish establishment in the pulsating heart of Corinium, or Cirencester as it’s been known since the Romans went home.
First up is the welcome you get. It’s so rare to see a sense of humour in A-boards, but these guys regularly use topical subjects to have a bit of fun with. These were the messages we were greeted with today…
Set up by a couple of brothers who want to bring wild food to the masses (or those with an open mind), Eat Wild is a cracking little restaurant with a great youthful and fun vibe.
They have a wonderful use of industrial offcuts and scaffolding for the tables and musical instruments as wall art and a general hotch-potch of blackboards, stuffed animals and bits and bobs that an old person might call “clutter”.
We took the round table in the window which is a lovely big table, although it does get a tad warm when the sun peeps his head out.
A nice touch is that you get table water by default and it’s chilled and you get cucumber as well, which gives it a soothing fresh flavour. All free as well, which meant I didn’t have to buy one of the novelty colas or lemonades (they don’t do normal Coca Cola which might upset traditionalists, e.g., me).
The menu is printed on brown paper and as we were there to sample the burgers, it was a simple choice. I asked for my burger (£12) to be cooked medium-rare, but on the rare side. Always a risk as chefs tend to go medium which is a waste of good cow. And these cows came locally from Butts Farm.
There was a hint of anticipation and tension in the air as the burgers were brought to the table. Clearly this was not a place where they just brought you a burger and chips on a plate. You must see this We Want Plates campaign that makes me laugh a lot.
So we weren’t necessarily expecting our burgers in a shoe or anything, but there it appeared on a little silver tray, which felt quite normal really. And the chips in a little metal mug.
The first bite is always the big one and I opened my chops as wide as they would go and crunch. Yum bloody yum. It was dee-lish-oos. Cooked to complete perfection and genuinely mouth-watering. I wolfed it down rather too quickly to be honest – it was sodding gorgeous.
My only complaint was that the mug didn’t really hold enough chips. I could have had the same again, so maybe a bigger novelty container could be in order?
Simon made a good point that the criteria for a good burger is often dictated by how many napkins you use to eat it. Well we had to ask the waiter for more napkins so that was a good sign.
I’m not sure if the hole in the ceiling was a good sign, however the way they filled it with fur tree and pheasant feathers made me laugh…
As we payed, I noticed a little furry chap running up the light wire. I hope he doesn’t chew it or he might get a bit of a shock.
So all in all, I can highly recommend Eat Wild. They are also a Rock the Cotswold Rocker and you don’t get that accolade by simply being dull and boring. Eat Wild…you rock.
