Restaurant review: Not a Burger, Sheung Wan - rice burgers

Rice burgers could be the next Korean fast food craze to sweep the city. At least that's what the proprietors of the incongruously named Not a Burger — a small eatery on Morrison Street in Sheung Wan — are banking on.

Not a Burger offer 20 varieties priced between HK$20 and HK$35. And while Korean rice burgers have been popular in Seoul for many years, this is the first outlet in Hong Kong dedicated to the dish.

So what exactly is a Korean rice burger? It is shaped like a traditional burger, except the bun is made of compressed Korean pearl rice cooked in the traditional method (with seaweed and sesame oil added).

And instead of a regular beef patty, a Korean rice burger can have a wide variety of fillings, including deep-fried spicy chicken, ham with kimchi and tuna salad, anchovies with yellow pickled radish and bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef). We were fans of the kimchi bulgogi rice burger (HK$35). Its spiciness went well with the meat and sweet soy marinade. We also liked the mayo chicken rice burger (HK$30) with its scrambled egg, teriyaki sauce, pickled cucumber and radish. It had a sweet and sour flavour. The anchovy rice burger with yellow pickled radish (HK$23) was another winning combination.

Customers can add an egg, cheese or ham to their burger for an extra HK$5.

We found the rice-to-filling ratio of the burgers a bit uneven, but every one is made to order.