Burger Junkyard @ Kota Damansara

Did you know that a burger (originally hamburger) is a type of fast food? Let's scrap McDonald's because that franchise truly is a remarkable definition of fast food on so many levels but even those burgers that are not massively, horribly, commercially produced as such are also still considered fast foods. So despite all those claims whereby restaurants serve "home made" buns, fresh veggies and import Australian beef and Swiss cheese, really - it is still fast food anyway just because it is called a burger.

That's the main idea that hit the four co-founders of Burger Junkyard in Kota Damansara which opened on the 12th December 2012 (lucky date!). 

Before I proceed, here's my story. My university held a charity bazaar to raise funds for the National Kidney Foundation and this semester happened to have way more stalls. Of which one of the stalls was run by Burger Junkyard. I've heard of them before and really wanted to pay them a visit but they are located a little far from my area. Coincidentally, my friends and I have already planned to head there earlier today about a week ago. Thankfully, my friend, Tien was willing to drive me and a few others there to have a go at their burgers. The crew which I met at my university was extremely friendly and was more than happy to have my friends and I over today for lunch. I then took the opportunity to have a chat with one of the co-founders, Joel after my meal. 

Background

Joel mentioned that the four of them (the co-founders) would often pay a visit to The Asian Cafe (a corner shop down the lot) to play pool which is how they discovered the developing of the area. Having three of them with a culinary arts degree from Taylor's Lakeside campus and another whom had a diploma in hospitality & management and ended up being the marketing expert, they decided to form a team like the Fantastic Four to come up with the business. 

Demographics research had been carried out and the team noticed that opportunity was there due to a few crowd-pulling places like Tropicana, KDU, SEGI International School and soon-to-be Encorp shopping mall which is expected to be completed by 2015. They also concluded from surveys they have done saying the office crowd is being able to afford for the prices of their burgers which are slightly higher than affordable. The reason for this is because Kota Damansara has a potential of becoming a city when the MRT project is completed and also that the prices in the area are considered "urban prices". Joel even gave an example of getting the cheapest possible plate of fried rice at one of the coffee shops for RM7.00 (ridiculous). They have also done research in the United States, Singapore and Australia. 

The name of the business was apparently one of the last options they had on their list. The team did plenty of research on burger business names but noticed that most of them have been taken. I would assume from the way Joel mentioned that one fine day, the team just said, "Let's give it a rubbish name." Hence, the use of the word "junkyard". It is also closely related to the idea that burgers are fast/junk food (with reference to my first paragraph). To their surprise, to derive a concept from the name produced an interesting outcome to the decoration of the restaurant. What is junkyard without graffiti right?

p.s. They have t-shirts on sale! I asked if the aprons were on sale too but they are not because they are apparently expensive :(

Setting and Menu

Their main menu.

Counter.

This is really affordable if you'd ask me!

Most of the restaurant. There is a high-table area next to the counter and they can make a reservation for you if you wish to throw a party there (:

Work station and kitchen at the back.

What went into our tummies

I must start by saying that their fries are pretty good. Thank goodness they're the ones with potato skins! The ones I had was apparently the third version of fries done by the chefs. The first version was basically fries in confit oil which required garlic slow-cooking in oil for 1.5 hours. As much as the fries were tasty, customers gave feedback saying the fries are really too oily. They then created a second version which was fries tossed with 3-4 types of herbs with salt and pepper. Finally, they decided to improve by making the fries as light as possible by using only one type of herb, thyme, along with the usual salt and pepper. Along with the fries came a brown-coloured sauce in which I mistook for mushroom sauce. Apparently it has NOTHING to do with mushrooms! Chef Nicholas, whom I also got to meet, mentioned that there are 13.5 ingredients in the sauce (I swear, he said to put that number) of which he only revealed 4: salt, pepper, sugar, butter. Period. *inserts sad face*

The restaurant is not certified halal but is pork-free. Their beef is grain-fed beef from Australia. Their meat portions also come in half sizes (90g) for customers with smaller tummies and the full size (180g) for those who can afford the calories or simply just those who go by the motto "live to eat." 

Their buns are self-baked with assistance from Joel's family business which makes his expertise in pastry. They serve butter brioche buns and bake at least 200 buns for Fridays and Saturdays. As for normal days, 150 buns is sufficient. During the charity bazaar at my university, they baked over 500 buns and they were sold out by 5pm which is fascinating. 

* Note: Drinks are not bottomless, unfortunately. 

Our meal prices are all based on the half-sized patties, just so you know. 

Vampire Slayer [RM14.90]

This is their latest invention. Ironically, the burger's theme is "Garlic!" and has nachos chips in them to add a good crunchy texture in between. I quite regret ordering the half-sized patty because as advised by Chef Nicholas, the full-sized patty would be way more juicy and tasty. 

Beef in Blankets [RM14.90]

Honey, you cannot go wrong with beef bacon, really. 

Balsamic Beefin' Onions [RM15.90]

If you like to play safe, I do think this one is good. Plus, it's the only burger among the rest we've ordered which has greens. 

Apparently Chef Nicholas doesn't like greens. You didn't hear that from me. Shhhhhh!

Texas Hold Me' [RM13.90 + drink and home made citrus jelly dessert because it's a Tuesday set]

I didn't get any comments on this. Perhaps my friends were indulging in silence which I'd gladly love to assume. 

See? It looks like mushroom sauce! 

The weird-taste citrus jelly which came with the Tuesday set.

What sets them apart from others

1. They steam their cheese and call it "steamy cheese" consisting of smoked mozzarella, mild cheddar and sharp cheddar. They're mixed and steamed for 30 minutes. This method is basically to maintain the moisture in the cheese.

2. They use an open-flamed grill rather indirect heat cooking methods (i.e. pan fry) which gives their patties a beautiful charred, smoky flavour.

3. The co-founders indeed resemble the Fantastic Four (my way of putting it). Three of them have culinary arts background which helps a lot in producing quality food and one of them has the marketing skill. Chef James, had his training from France and won the gold medal in Nyonya cuisine and Chef Nicholas in Chinese food.

The Wall of Fame

Junk indeed - not really.

Like I mentioned, what is a junkyard without graffiti? The wall painting took only two days to complete, just so you know.

A couple of tips

I highly recommending ordering the full-sized patty. Trust the chef when he says it's way better and if you can afford room in your stomach, by all means. 

On Fridays and Saturdays, come by 8.00 p.m. as they may sell out at 8.30 p.m.-ish.

Parking is a bummer there too. Perhaps come after 2.00 p.m. for lunch. 

The co-founders are an enthusiastic bunch who make jokes about anything - good or bad. That's the spirit of teamwork and bonding (:


Burger Junkyard plans to expand with Central Kitchen within their timeline of 2 years. They hope that their style of gourmet burger will continue to satisfy your tummies whenever you visit. 

Information

Address: 16-G, Jalan PJU 5/20D, The Strand Damansara, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact number: +60361434305

Operating days: Mondays - Saturdays

Operating hours: 12.00 p.m. - 3.00 p.m. & 6.00 p.m. - 10.00 p.m.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BurgerJunkyard

Twitter page: https://www.twitter.com/Burger_Junkyard

Email: burgerjunkyard@gmail.com

Parking: Public @ RM0.60 per hour

WiFi: Available but password protected

The verdict says: ★ ★ ★ ¼ (out of 4)

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