The Bird - Berlin

The Bird is a steak house and burger joint tucked away on a leafy street in the quiet neighbourhood of Prenzlauerberg in Berlin and do the whole 'Dirty Burger' thing better than 99% of the burger bars in the UK. The place is hugely popular with locals (always a major positive) and when I popped in early on a Wednesday evening it was fortunate I had a reservation as they were already turning people away at the door as they were so heaving.

Things got off to an immediate good start on this visit as I ordered a pint of SchneiderWeisse only to be told it was ANGRY HOUR and so another free one would be following once i'd sunk it. Is there anything better than free beer? My first insight into how a blagger must feel every time they eat out, each gulp of the free pint tasting of guilt and shame (not really).

They have a range of almost 20 burgers including some unnecessary sounding nonsense (inc fried eggs and shots of vodka) which I completely side-stepped and instead went with their Big Crack which is their version of the classic McDonalds Big Mac. It came served with a mountain of hand cut chips in lots of wonderful shapes and sizes – a lot more enjoyable to pick away at then a generic portion of french fries. The burger came served in a toasted English muffin which is a twist I haven't seen before but that worked perfectly, perfectly toasted and giving some added crunch. The best thing about the burger (as you would hope but which often isn't the case) is the meat which is "ground daily from premium german beef" and the patties are served pink giving the meat it's opportunity to shine. It was essentially a Big Mac with the flavour dials cranked to 11, the meat lathered in American burger cheese and a version of Ronald's secret sauce. The burger was huge and at times I felt like I was having to eat around it like a melting ice cream to keep things from collapsing, I refused to give in to the easy option of a knife and fork and nibbled from all angles.

The dessert menu doesn't mess about - there was just a single option of home made cheesecake which I couldn't refuse and my god it was just as over the top of the burger. Just a text book slice of New York cheesecake, served up as a massive wedge – still cold and with sweet creamy cheese body and a thick layer of crunchy biscuit crust that needs real pressure to break up.

I do regret never having dug into the steaks and the few that I saw being served looked suitably impressive, i'll definitely head back and eat my own body weight in steak at some point but knowing that the burgers are so great makes it a tough decision to make. I look forward to heading back on my next trip to Berlin.