Eats | TGI Fridays #BurgerBlindDate

“Are you ready to MEAT the love of your life?” If the love of my life is a big juicy burger, then yes, yes I am. Last week TGI Friday’s hosted a Burger Blind Date night at their newly reopened Castle Street restaurant in Edinburgh. The concept of the evening was absolutely fabulous. Instead of a traditional menu, the burgers were described by their sauciest traits and we had to pick the one that tickled our fancy.

Fun right? We also ordered cocktails and excitedly awaited our dates.

My dining partner went for a (large) frozen Strawberry Daiquiri. Very large! Not being one to resist a sweet cocktail I went for a frozen Bubblegum Daiquiri with a popping candy rim. This one was not available in the supersize option but it was so sweet I think the larger size would have been instant diabetes. Both cocktails were really tasty. We had them finished long before our meals arrived.

After at least an hour, our burgers still hadn’t arrived so we ordered more drinks. I asked for a Lynchburg Lemonade (a classic, and done well) and Louise went for a Gremlin on the recommendation of the waiter – Midori, Chambord and Black Vodka: super strong but surprisingly nice.

Firstly, I must apologise for the poor quality photos here. My excuse is that our food was brought to the table at 8:30, two hours after we arrived and we were starving! We were honestly beginning to feel stood up by meat. Not a good first impression. Anyway, Louise went for Contestant #6. A plain and simple burger with a mustard mayo sauce. Unfortunately, the waiter did not explain what we were getting (they seemed a bit stressed at this point) but looking at the menu it is the Classic American burger.

Haha, you can’t even see the burger in this photo! Here, look at my chips! I went for Contestant #2, lured in by the promise of Jack Daniels sauce. I wasn’t disappointed and it turned out that my date was the Friday’s Double Glazed Jack Daniels burger. The candied bacon and the JD sauce were really delicious and just about made up for the tardiness. I also really enjoyed the fact that the burgers come on glazed brioche buns (yum, more sugar!) and you get a more than generous portion of fries.

The evening was sadly overshadowed by the poor organisation of the event. I believe that they simply invited too many people to arrive at the same time. With everyone expecting burgers and cocktails, it’s no wonder that the drinks took half an hour to arrive and the food 90 minutes and over. We were sat at a large table with two girls who had arrived 20 minutes early and they were waiting far less time than us for their first round of drinks and food, demonstrating how much easier it would have been to have staggered arrivals. It also kind of felt like the hosts gave up halfway through. As I mentioned, we weren’t told what our food actually was, we also weren’t told what was going to happen with the photos that were taken throughout the night. At the beginning they said that we’d get printed copy of our “BurgerFace” picture which never materialised and also that we’d be entered into a competition for best BurgerFace. I’m not fussed about the printout, but I have no idea who won, or how they would be notified as the photographer didn’t take our names. Luckily, neither of us had work the next day, otherwise I think we would have been even more fed up.

This is a real shame as the idea behind the night was really fun and creative. I enjoyed my food and my drinks when they did arrive but sadly it reminded me why I tend to avoid places like this on busy Friday and Saturday evenings. I’m sure I will go back to TGI Friday’s, but just on a day when I know I’m not in a hurry. Or particularly hungry.