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Singapore, June 6, 2010- The coffee shop across the street from Whampoa Community Club is as heartland as can be. Workers from its zi char stall stare at the TV in between serving customers. A beer lady flits about. An elderly man nurses a glass of stout, muttering to himself. In the midst of all this is a stall that stands out from the crowd, with its light purple sign and burger porn pictures. Two guys in purple polo shirts are busy slinging burgers. Mighty fine burgers. Vurger, which opened in November, is run by two secondary school friends – Setoh Guojing and Lowe Loh, both 26. They worked out a business plan even before they graduated. Mr Setoh, who has a mechanical engineering degree from Nanyang Technological University, says they went into it after realising there are few coffee shops here that sell affordable, tasty burgers. In fact, they have set up a company, the Very Tasty Group (“Very” puts the V in Vurger), to run the business. They are looking to expand, probably by opening in another coffee shop. Their burgers are very good for the price. The best ones are the Salsa Vurger and the Fish Vurger (both $2.90 for burger only, add $1 for fries and coleslaw). It is such a pleasant surprise to find a proper fish fillet in a fish burger. At Vurger, there are no uniformly shaped fish patties. Instead, they bread and deep fry cream dory fillets and pile two good-sized pieces in each burger together with garlic mayonnaise. The fish is flaky and the breading crisp, although I can do without the processed cheese slice. In fact, when I next dine there, I’ll ask for it to be left out. I will also order the salsa burger, my favourite of all the ones I have tried. A juicy, tender, cumin-dusted boneless chicken thigh is topped with a chunky salsa made with fresh pineapple, chilli and onion. The sandwich is a little spicy, a little tangy, a little charred at the edges and just perfect. Vurger’s fries ($2) are thick cut, reliably crisp and dangerously moreish dipped in chilli sauce. Just so you know they are serious, Vurger makes its beef burger patties from scratch, using chuck tender. The beef is ground fresh every day and the patties formed by hand. Cranberry Vurger ($2.90 for burger only, add $1 for fries and coleslaw), with sweet and sour cranberry sauce, is a good way to sample the stall’s beef offerings. The patty could be better though. On my first visit, it was a little dry and gristly. The patty was juicier on my second try, although it still had chewy bits of gristle in it. But it is better than many Western food stall burgers and certainly better than those at some fast-food joints. The Original Vurger ($2.80 for burger only, add $1 for fries and coleslaw) is not impressive, however. The breaded and fried chicken was a little on the greasy side. But as long as the fish and salsa burgers are as good as they are now, I’ll keep going back and get extra fries to boot.
VURGER
Address: Block 74, Whampoa Drive, 01-310
Opening Hours: 11.30am to 9.30pm, Fridays to Wednesdays. Closed on Thursdays.
