Duck and Waffle – The duck burger
Crispy duck leg, crushed noodles, miso mayonnaise & spiced slaw.

When you hear that a London institution is bringing out a “local” version of their restaurant which is not only more accessible and affordable, but also features a burger on the menu?? Oof! I nearly fell off my chair in excitement and anticipation.
The first bite features a double crunch, and a smokey nuttiness. I’m convinced that the smokey nuttiness comes from sesame oil featuring somewhere, but I will concede that the Miso Coleslaw could possibly have had some influence here. The double crunch is provided by the aforementioned miso coleslaw upon a bed of which the patty is nestled, and crispy noodles that are almost hidden away in the miso mayo. The addition of the crispy noodles was an interesting decision, and not one that particularly paid off. They had no flavour, so I can only imagine that they were there to give the illusion of additional crispiness in the duck.
The creamy flavour of the miso mayo came through at the end of the mouthful, subsiding the nutty tang of the spicy slaw. A welcome compliment, especially as it helped add to the moisture and juiciness of the burger.
The patty itself was juicy and soft, but considering it was a duck patty, I was disappointed not to be able to taste more richness. In fact, it’s flavour was lost in amongst the rest of the burger, and so it could very well have been a pork burger and you would not have tasted much difference.
The “crispy” duck was almost everything that you hoped it would be. Granted, there was limited crispiness to it, but it had other attributes working in its favour. The fat was melt in your mouth soft. The meat was tender, and the flavour was everything that the patty failed to be. The only problem here, was that there was not more of it.
All in all, I must admit that I found the burger to be somewhat of an anticlimax. Admittedly, the burger is by no means Duck and Waffle’s speciality, but with the name and reputation that it does have, my stratospheric expectations were not quite met.
