Black Burger review: New Sheffield takeaway with unusual pink and black cheese and buns well worth trying

Black Burger opened its doors on 287 Ecclesall Road, Sharrow, on Friday, June 16 – and its eye-catching appearance and menu has captured the attention of many.

After a low-key opening, word quickly spread about the takeaway and restaurant and it didn’t take me long to find myself standing at the doors. Upon entering, it felt like walking into a rave with dim lights, loud music coming from a large flat-screen TV, and a minimalist black interior. With the tables spaced out, there was plenty of room to break into dance on the floor. Thankfully for those around me, I withheld as I made my way to the counter.

I was greeted by the smiley staff and given one of the menus to look at. On offer is a range of artisan and unusual burgers, including a vegan option, two hot dogs choices, and sides, such as loaded fries and a pomegranate and avocado salad. If you’re looking for a classic cheese burger, this isn’t the place for you.

The burgers each come in either a pink or a black bun, and many also contain pink or black cheese – very unusual! On this day they had actually run out of the pink cheese, though it didn’t affect me.

To hide my inability of making any decisions when it comes to food, I used my usual move of asking what the staff recommended. And that turned out to be the Walnut Burger, priced at £10.50, and a can of Coke, £2. After a short wait, I collected my order and headed home to enjoy it in my sunny garden.

The Walnut Burger is described on the menu as a ‘savoury combination of ground beef with crushed walnuts, formed into juicy burger beef patties’. It comes with salad and picki sauce all placed inside a black bun, which gets its colour from one key ingredient – charcoal. If you asked me what picki sauce is, I genuinely wouldn’t be able to answer you, but it was similar to coleslaw and very nice.

In my opinion, the brioche bun wasn’t as jet black in colour as I thought it would be, but it obviously wasn’t the glowing yellow we’re used to. I wondered how the taste would differ from usual and I don’t believe it tasted any different, though it was very nice – airy and sweet.

The walnut beef patty really was juicy, as the staff had promised, but it was still firm too – it didn’t just fall apart. There weren’t lots of walnuts but what there was added a bit of extra texture and taste. That said, if I didn’t know it had walnuts in it, I possibly wouldn’t have noticed.

Everything in combination with the crispy lettuce and tomato really was full of flavour and very fresh feeling. I normally wouldn’t choose a burger, purely because I’m not a big fan of the heavy, greasy feeling they can leave you with (unless I’m battling a hangover). But the freshness of this burger didn’t leave me with that. I was also happy to see I was satisfied from the burger alone without any sides.

Would I return? Yes I would. Would I recommend it to others? Absolutely!