The first thing you notice about a CaliBurger is that it’s damn good looking! The second thing you notice, especially if you order their signature CaliDouble, is that there’s a lot of meat compared to other burger joints. What’s the third thing?
The third thing you notice is that it tastes as good as it looks and you immediately begin planning your next trip back!
CaliBurger’s first Hong Kong restaurant, which officially opens on Thursday, is located on Hennessy Road in Wanchai, less than a block away from Southorn Playground.
California natives who grew up with In-N-Out will find some similarities in CaliBurger. Their menu includes a range of burgers, a grilled cheese, two kinds of chicken sandwiches, and sides such as Buffalo wings. The emphasis here is on fresh ingredients, and from what we sampled, their meals don’t taste like typical fast food creations.
Ordering
When you order, you select the burger from the menu hanging above the counter. You can add $20 HKD to make it a combo that includes fries and a soda.
On our first visit we tried the CaliDouble, regular fries and a Coke.
CaliBurger allows you to personalize your burger. If you don’t want the sauce, onions, lettuce, or tomato, you can have it customized to your liking. You can also add bacon or an extra slice of cheese for an additional $10 HKD. Adding another patty costs $25 HKD.
The fries are of a different sort entirely. Made from rough-cut potatoes, they are a darker color and seem less oily than your normal fast-food fries.
The CaliDouble alone goes for $78 HKD, which takes it out of fast-food range and into mid-tier territory. When you make it a combo for an additional $20 HKD it’s nearly 100 HKD. If you think about it, that’s almost the price you’d pay at The Press Room, or The American Club for a burger.
Though more expensive, the portions are much larger than your typical burger, and the meat does indeed seem like it’s better quality.
In addition to the basic customizations, you can also have your burger without a bun, served between two lettuce leaves, which CaliBurger calls the ‘L.C.’, short for low-carbs.
Expect more burger variations or perhaps a ‘secret menu’ to spring up as the city gets more familiar with the offerings. Check out CaliBurger’s Facebook page for more info.
Hong Kong’s Burger History!
Back in 2008 we did an article on the large number of new burger places that suddenly opened up in Hong Kong. It’s an interesting read – especially since many of the restaurants listed are now out of business! Check out our Burger Wars post for a little H.K. burger history!
Getting there
CaliBurger is located just a short walk away from the Wanchai MTR station. When you arrive at the station, walk out exit B, and you will find yourself a few steps away from Hennessy Road. Once on Hennessy, take a left and proceed one block towards Central. You will cross just one street at the edge of Southorn Playground before you arrive at number 68. Enjoy! 🙂
OPENS ON THURSDAY, September 26th
Recommended!
CaliBurger
Official opening date, Thursday, September 26th, 2013
68 Hennessy Road
Wanchai, Hong Kong
I went there at 3 PM on Sunday and they had no buns and wouldn’t have any until 6 PM. I told them I was going to buy a bun and come back and they told me I couldn’t do that. Really?! After arguing with them they finally relented but at that point I had lost my appetite.
Hi Paul,
I can understand why that would be frustrating, but you also have to see things from their perspective. They can’t start making burgers with outside ingredients as then what you eat won’t reflect the actual product that they want to be known for. It’s a quality control issue.
ALSO, regarding good burger buns, there are few places that sell the good ones! Sure, you can get the standard Garden brand ones that are sold in Park N Shop and Wellcome, but those are inferior quality and won’t match the burger.
In this case, where they have shortages, they should have a backup plan where they give you a coupon or something to come back.
Tasteless unseasoned French fries and a coke for an additional $25, not $20 as you stated above. That is more $4 more expensive than an entire Big Mac value meal that is available in 4 Mcdonalds within an easy walk of their store 24 hours a day!
They are so proud of that pricing, that they don’t even publish a combo price with each burger choice on the electronic menu. They leave it up to their punters to work it out for themselves whilst being jostled by the uncontrolled mob at the service counter.
The burgers taste good but if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. They look like a fast food joint, have service like a fast food joint and sell fast food products – They are a fast food restaurant! They are not some mid tier restaurant with the service that goes along with it to justify full service pricing. There are a number of those around the corner in Lockhard Rd that sell even bigger and better burgers and fries with full waitress service for about the same prices
They are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think their business will thrive after the initial honeymoon period, when they could be making an excellent impression, wears off.