Looking for a juicy burger washed down with a delicious beer? Not into beer, but could crush a thick smoothie instead? Well, Butcher by Lanpengyou will help you out with that! That moment when you bite down into the fluffy bread and the juice of the burger meat drips down your chin is sure to happen here, and If either your friends or your date aren’t on board with that, then you need new ones…
Butcher by Lanpengyou cram a lot in their burgers, so make sure that you are ready to stretch your jaws extra wide for this burger! The menu reads like a who’s-who of burger offerings, and is enough to render you drooling onto the table.
Table of Contents
They are quite proud to have signs like this all over the outside and inside of the restaurant. They are also proud to have a long open stretch of the restaurant at the back open and viewable as a meat processing area. I love to watch food being cooked, knowing that I am going to enjoy every mouthful shortly after. Especially when my meat is chosen, prepared, then cooked by an actual butcher.
^ True words, folks.
Also true ^. As I said above, get ready for that juicy burger…
The menu at Butcher by Lanpengyou
Cheese, truffle, and caramelized onion – they are all classics! But, also on the burger menu here at Butcher by Lanpengyou, you will find milk caramel, shrimp, and crab. So, whilst they stick to their classic burgers and are proud of them, they also do not shy away from putting some more innovative options out there, should you be feeling in a creative mood.
Double Jr. $280
When the burger arrives on its tray, it looks glorious. If there’s one ingredient I regularly want more of in my burger, it’s lettuce. Butcher by Lanpengyou really cram a big wad of lettuce in their bun, and I was very pleased to see this. The fries also come smelling great, and even before taking the picture, I had to snap one and burn my tongue in the process – I won’t ever learn, and I won’t ever make excuses for it.
They have Brewdog Punk IPA here, which is another strong tick in the positives for Butcher by Lanpengyou. I won’t go into too much detail of the beer, but for those of you who have tried it – you know. Those who haven’t, expect a hoppy mildly bitter flavour, with some fruit and almost a Hefeweizen flavour creeping in, too. It’s good!
But that burger, though, how good is it looking? A double 3oz patty of aged beef gets sandwiched in between these amazingly fluffy buns, cheddar cheese is slapped on in there, then it’s dressed with lettuce, grilled onion, tomato, some more cheese (there’s a double helping of cheese in here, folks!), and it’s all finished off with ‘Butcher’s Mayo’.
The burger itself is excellently seasoned, and with 2x3oz patty’s I think it’s just right. If I were to go for the single patty I might leave feeling a little disappointed. Is that sheer gluttony, or is that normal? I feel like 4oz is a standard size for a burger… Anyway, 2 of these 3oz burgers was great, and helped to give the whole thing a decadent feel. The cheese brought everything together, and that grilled onion came out singing it’s sweet flavours, teaming up with the tomato and the lettuce to bring that hit of freshness.
The fries were an important part of this meal, too. Interestingly, fries aren’t included in the cost of the burger on the menu, so you will need to order those separately. Seasoned really well, and deep fried (it must have been a couple of times) to an incredible crunch whilst retaining the potato’s integrity inside is something that I look for. Don’t put fries on the side just for the sake of it. Put them with your burger because you are proud to take your time and make them worthy of an order. These were worthy.
When ordering the fries, you get a choice of garlic, rosemary, smoked, or honey mustard. These were the rosemary fries, and they were fragrant with the scent of rosemary without being overpowering.
I couldn’t leave without giving you all a cross section shot of the burger…
…drool fest, am I right?
Milk Caramel $300
Yes, we went for the Milk Caramel burger, why the hell not? Here comes a 5oz patty with smoked bacon, mixed nuts, arugula (rocket, y’know), tomato, butchers mayo, and homemade milk caramel.
To note, the fries we went for here were the honey mustard fries, which come with the honey mustard dipping sauce right there. This was the sauce to go for. I will go for this over rosemary, next time.
Now that cross section is more like what I want to see. The Double Jr. is 2x3oz patties, but here they have opted for 1x5oz patty. The difference is vast, and I much prefer this burger for the texture. It’s cooked to absolute perfection, too, which helps a lot!
Notice that homemade milk caramel lurking on top of the bacon there? Yes, it was there. However, it’s not the strong flavour you may expect. It was a light flavour, not too dissimilar from those milk caramel candies you see around convenience stores in Taiwan, and the McFlurry that took Taiwan’s McDonald’s by storm back in 2019.
As a burger, it is great. The juiciness is next level, and seeps into the bottom of the box – so watch out for that. The meat is seasoned so well and with so much juice that it just oozes class.
Avocado & Banana Smoothie
We had to go for a smoothie, especially when it has ingredients such as avocado and banana. I can safely say that I haven’t had this flavour combination before, but it is one that I will be making at home in the future. The rich, luxuriousness of avocado meets the fragrance of banana here, and marries together marvelously. The whole thing was delicious.
Gotta finish with a double shot of these two beauties once again. The whole restaurant is infinitely Instagrammable, and the food is all really tasty. However, I can’t help but think that they are quite expensive when compared to others out there, especially as the price on the menu excludes any sides. But, the flavours are great, the bun is excellent, and the centerpiece is most definitely the meat, which is the important aspect of pride that seems to be the aim here.
The bottom line
Is it really worth it? It’s really good, and if you’re in the area looking for a delicious beer to chase down your burger, then it’s worth checking out, for sure.
Will I go back again? I will, yes. I will go for a thicker patty next time – I have my eye on the Ricardo (5oz patty, Ricardo sauce, onion, bacon, cheese, tomato, arugula, and butchers mayo).
Are there better burgers out there? I really like Mancave in Zhongshan, and I think Sheep + Pony also offer up delicious burgers, too. I can’t help but think that I prefer both of those over this. But, the beer offerings do help to swing it back to here if that’s what I am in the mood for when looking for Taipei fast food.