The Yo Burger – Are Rice Burgers The Future?

It’s pretty hard to re-invent the humble burger. They come in every shape and size these days with every topping under the sun. I reviewed my own favorite last week but just when you thought things had reached their zenith along comes something completely new. Somebody famous once said you can’t invent new recipes until you invent new ingredients but Yo Sushi are showing that is bullshit with the launch of their new rice burger. Just like their original concept they’ve stolen it from Japan but I can safely say it is the first time I’ve eaten anything like this on this side of the world. I was licking my lips as I flipped through the five options (prawn, chicken, Tofu, tilapia or salmon)…
I went with the tilapia which sounds like an exotic type of fish but is actually just cheap shite that makes you a good margin. The meal deal comes in at 9.50 and you get some nori crackers, daikon slow and misochup (a Japanese play on ketchup) on the side. The big selling point is that it is only 320 calories. A healthy burger (although I’d like to see some analysis on that to see if it includes the sauces and all sides, I very much doubt it). The burger tastes fucking gorgeous and although I nearly lost control of it half way through it actually held together pretty nicely. It passed the “does the burger shit itself” test which is always the first thing I judge them on. Flavour wise it tasted way more unhealthy than they say it is. Load of sauce, that plastic cheese that is so woefully radioactive bad it actually tastes nice and the deep fried fish. It actually reminded me an awful lot of the fillet o fish in Mcdonalds. The sides make a nice change from chips and unlike when I normally go to Yo having taken out a mortgage to get their sushi meals I actually left feeling really full for the rest of the day. An unusual yet strangely good experience all round.

Just Good Marketing

This might seem like a great new invention but it is all about marketing. This is about getting bums on seats and people talking about Yo. They are a chain and they are brilliant at what they do. We had 3 plates of sushi as we were waiting for the burger and that has to be part of the business plan. The bill for 2 came to 32 Euros and if there is one thing that always puts me off Yo it is the price. They really know how to fucking charge. I liked it though. I wouldn’t be eating one every day but this is quirky enough to become a big success. It will hit the mark with teens and people grabbing a “healthy” lunch. I always love to see restaurants innovating so fair play to Yo for keeping up their history of that and getting people talking about them. I’ll be really interested to see if people copy this and roll it out themselves. Go in and grab at least one they are well worth trying out. They made the following video to show just how light they are. Like I said brilliant marketing.