Every suburb deserves its own burger parlor; with that philosophy in mind, starting this month, Setapak's residents can munch on Smashies burgers, a half-hour's drive from KL's city center.
Naysayers will nitpick that Smashies seems more like an imitator than innovator, borrowing inspiration from Seapark's MyBurgerLab & Subang's Crayon Burger. That feels true, but it's no reason to deprive legions of burger lovers of having more hangouts to conveniently choose from, especially since demand remains robust.
Buns colored with natural ingredients are among Smashies' hallmarks. The charcoal-black ones will be familiar to fans of MyBurgerLab & the pink buns evoke Crayon Burger's red yeast creations; the more novel introductions are yellow buns laced with lentils & orange ones made faintly tangy with the Mandarin fruit.
Basic burgers here contain smashed beef patties, cheese, beef bacon, caramelized onions & hash browns, scoring reasonable marks for both juiciness & flavor. In other words, even though Smashies isn't exceptional, it's still enjoyable enough.
Well-versed customers might justifiably feel a been-there, eaten-that lethargy, but we'll keep a positive attitude toward Smashies. Sure, to use the cliche, there's 'nothing to shout about' here, but folks constantly looking for something to shout about can get irritating.
Other options here include an egg-endowed Annoying Orange (RM19 nett). Satisfyingly sloppy.
No lack of chicken choices: the Hot Chick (RM16) features fowl with pineapple, hot sauce & egg.
For the vegetarians: Twilight Bella (RM11), with a grilled portobella mushroom.
RM8 for Cajun-spiced fries? Billing error, we hope.
All in all, worth visiting for people living or working nearby. Lots of luck to Smashies.
Smashies Burger,
126-G-5, Metro Genting, Jalan Genting Klang, Setapak, Selangor.
Open daily starting 6pm; last orders at 10:30pm.
