More Adventures in Burger Madness

15 May 2015

I've developed a sort of morbid fascination with the monster burger competition at the café up the street here in Bangkok.  It's rainy season here, so we tend to not go out walking as far for meals - plus I like the waffles at this place, and Richard enjoys the burgers.  So we've gone there several times in our two weeks here in Bangkok.

Oh, they have a website:  http://25degreesrestaurant.com/bangkok/

Anyway, whenever we've seen the monster burger come out, I go over and ask if the person (or people) mind if I get a photo.  No one has said no, no photo.  And no one, thus far, was able to eat the entire burger.

Today, we went over for brunch.  (Waffles with sliced bananas and walnuts, no syrup, with a side bowl of fruit, and a pot of tea.  Wonderful brunch!)  

And there was an older man halfway through the giant burger (top photo man) - top of the bun gone, all the added onion rings and mushrooms and bacon gone - and he was slowly eating the burger, cheese, and bottom bun with a knife and fork.  Well-paced, just carefully eating each bite.

He finished!  The waitress was keeping track of the time (each competitor has a stopwatch in front of them), and she counted down the last 10 seconds as he swallowed his last bite!  So exciting!  Of course, Richard and I started applauding and cheering, and the family at the table next to us joined in.  The man gave us a smile, and agreed to a photo for me - but I felt kind of bad, he was all alone without friends or family to cheer him on.

And his photo is on their Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/25DegreesBangkok

So yes, it's huge and gross and greasy and I can't imagine eating even 1/8th of it - but seeing someone eat the whole thing was also kind of exciting!

This evening, we went over - I ordered the kiddie burger (all 100 grams of it - 1/10th of the monster burger - more than enough for me) - and there were three young men having the monster burgers, one per guy.  They were happy to have their photos taken, and their friends plus the neighboring tables cheered them on.  None of the three were able to finish, despite their best efforts.  (Their photos are the middle three.  And their friends were nibbling on the leftovers after the guys couldn't finish.)

The large table tonight ordered 3 or 4 of the monster burgers, to be shared amongst 20 or so people.  Really.

Plus one afternoon, we saw two groups where the 6 or 7 people were sharing a monster burger.  That seemed like a reasonable way of doing things.  Although even 1/6 of that burger is huge, much larger than the normal quarter pounder.  (You can see one guy from a group in the last photo, taking a picture before they cut it up.)

As I said, I've developed a morbid fascination with the thing.  I told the manager that I'd like a competition where someone has to find 10 hungry and homeless people, and feed them the burger.

I can also easily imagine any one of my classes sharing one or two of these - eight hungry young teens could easily polish one off.  That would have been fun.

But Mr. Burger Finisher - wow!  He didn't explode, and he didn't look ill.  

Just very pleased with himself.