Anyone for a double patty steakburger?

Steakburger specialist Freddy's serves up some delicious burgers, hot dogs and frozen custards at The Dubai Mall

Agreed that fine dining restaurants specialise in gourmet treats. But sometimes, a roadside or a fast food eatery, will astound you with their limited offering. While we are all extremely health conscious folks out here, we do occasionally get tempted and reach out for a greasy burger, and if it's done like the ones we had at Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, we'd add an extra cheat day to our weekly diet resolutions.
With 300 branches in America, the steakburger specialist is now serving up some delicious fast food dishes and finger-licking frozen custards at their Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates outlets. While their menu features a selection of burgers, hot dogs and desserts, it's their signature burgers like Freddy's Original Patty Melt, crispy chicken, double steakburger and beef bacon and cheese double steakburger that sets them apart. Freddy's is also known for their scrumptious varieties of frozen custards.

If you're passing by Freddy's don't miss out on their delightful Chocolate Brownie Delight or the signature Turtle Sundae featuring vanilla custard, hot fudge and caramel, whipped cream and fruits. We were satiated with the Peanut Butter Cup and Banana and the Strawberry Sundaes.

One thing for sure if you're out at Freddy's, you have to leave your calorie chart at home which is what we found out when we visited their Dubai Mall outlet on the ground floor food court. It was a Saturday, hence the mall was packed and noisy, but that's part of the fun, we guess, of visiting a mall during the weekend - absolute community engagement. We decided to give their top sellers are a try, so it was their Double Steakburger California Style, Freddy's Double Patty Melt, Chicken Tenders, Chicago Dog and for desserts, it was of course frozen custard.

Orders at fast food joints arrive in a jiffy, unlike regular restaurants where you have to pause between courses. We must also make a mention that if you are ordering a Freddy's burger, try their regular single patty first, and if you're hungry for more, you could dig into the triple patty. F
reddy's uses a special technique to make their patty juicy and full flavoured - we guess it must be something to do with their grilling. It could also be the quality of the meat - American fresh, lean beef. We went for Freddy's Double Patty.

Another noticeable character in the patty was its mouth-melting texture, which could be attributed to the way the meat was smashed. It was very tender and we didn't have to gnaw at the meat or pull it apart with our incisors. You can spice up the burger with slivers of Jalapeno pepper and  BBQ sauce. You will also like their shoestring fries which is a move away from the regular thick, greasy fries.
And if you're overly concerned about your gluten intake, try healthy options like their lettuce wrap.
We were also satisfied with their hot dog with onion, mustard, relish and green peppers. The dogs were juicy and went well with the shoestring fries.

We finished off with their famed frozen custards. Freddy's claims that unlike ice-creams, frozen custards are smoother to consume as it is bereft of ice crystals. Extra egg yolks are added to the custard to enhance firmness and taste. Both custards we tried were delicious. The addition of bite size pieces of fresh fruits in the custard gave the dish a refreshing touch.  

And if we have to go back to Freddy's it'll have to be a double patty steakburger with a large scoop of chocolate brownie... on the double.
michael@khaleejtimes.com

• Food and Dining