A long postponed catch-up with friends (yes, I have others J and A) who were also old work colleagues (one my old boss, who has retrained as a maths teacher – the absolute looney – and the other my ex. work wife) gave me the opportunity to give a place I have been wanting to try for ages a go.

I love a good burger and, by all reliable accounts, one of the current best in the South Wales area (soon to be renamed Greater Pontcanna – when in 50 million years all the continents have recoalesed I am confident said super continent will be Pontcanngaea) is Tom’s Smashed Burgers.

The smashed burger craze show no signs of abating and I am all for it when it is done properly. You may lose the joys (for the bloody thirsty like me) of rare meat (I am still not dead, despite eating alot if it, much to Mrs. SF’s chagrin), but you gain a super caramelised, gnarly, crust, the locking in of the meaty juices and (in theory) a maximisation of the flavour. The fabled maillard reaction at play.

Of course, if you get a smashed patty wrong all you get is an overdone dry frisbee. Heat and pressure are the key (so these are the diamonds of the burger world) with the need for a fierce sear and sufficient pressure being applied to a ball of top quality minced beef. Sounds easy, but the results of my attempts (Oklahoma style) on my egg BBQ (using a cast iron skillet) have been (at best) mixed.

Operating out of Penarth’s Crafty Devil Cellar, with that age old partnership of beer and burgers, the menu for Tom’s Smashed Burgers is short and to the point, with 3 proper meat (one beef and two chicken) based burgers (I was not remotely interested in the veggie/vegan stuff, if am honest)

and a meat based special.

I like this simple approach, with no overegging of the pudding leading to 25 foot tall burgers loaded with a bazillion, oddly disconnected, fillings or silly buns (waiting for a cream egg based abomination to appear somewhere that will force me to burn said place to the ground)  This place’s seeming “Do a few things and do them really well” attitude is right up my street. I like simple, I can relate to it!

Two of us went for the double cheese burger,

which was £12.95 with fries (like that they come with it, rather than as an add on).

Really good burger this, with a gnarly, caramelised, crust to the duo of patties and a glorious lava – esque flow of melted cheese cascading into a crispy, cheesy, flaired underskirt.

The patties had a lovely nutty, butteriness  to it, with umami to the max, that you only get from top quality dry aged beef. Really good flavour to these, which puts your standard patty purveyors to utter shame.

Excellent yielding texture to the patties that sat in that juicy goldilocks zone that is a million miles from either ice hocky puck rubberiness and sawdust dry.

Good tangy burger sauce worked well as a pleasing counterpoint to the richness of the meat and cheese.

The bun did its job in terms of retaining  structural integrity until the last bite (a rare feat for a burger with this much gooey cheese and a duo of very juicy patties).

Whilst I tend to prefer a potato roll, it was nice to see the old stager sesame seeded bap making an appearance.

The bbq bacon and cheese double burger that Rachel (ex. work wife) had was (according to her) very enjoyable.

Same good gooey cheese and gnarled up, juicy, patties, with the bbq sauce not overly sweet or too generously apportioned (thus not overpowering the all important flavour of the patties). Good bacon too, that avoided the opposing sins of flabbiness or having been nuked.

As mentioned earlier, the burgers come with (unadorned – I generally don’t get the appeal of loaded) fries as standard.

Decent fries these, with good crispy exterior and a fluffy interior. I liked the scattering of spring onions and coriander which added a nice bit of mild allium and a touch of citrus to the proceedings. That they could have done with a touch more standard (i.e. salt) seasoning (with none on the table for self application) was my only minor issue.

On the booze front,

I was a bit boring and went for the Helles Bells. Decent refreshing number this, with a touch of hoppiness.

Worked very well with my burger and fries.

The others were not drinking booze so defaulted to non alcoholic beer

Both seemed to be more than happy with a Drop Bear Yuzu pale ale. From my very brief tasting (and tasting another of their non alcoholic beers a while back) Drop Bear (not a bear, on the tin, is it) seem to be one of the better purveyors of non/min. alcoholic beer (some are truly rank – I am looking at you Moretti, which seems to me to be made from 7 month old dish water).

The verdict

Really enjoyed my burger here, which was everything a good burger should be with the flavour and cooking bob on.

I thought the pricing was very fair based on the portion size, inclusion of fries and the overall quality on display.

It is quite rustic with the food served up in cardboard cartons. This is, I suspect,  reflective of the take out operation they also run from the site. I sort of understand it for eat in, saves on washing up I assume, but must say I do prefer to eat off of a  plate (which are highly reusable, with most of the plates in mine and Mrs. SF’s possession being 35 + years old and still going strong) if eating in.

Regardless of my plate moan (I have to whinge about something, wouldn’t be me otherwise would it), this burger joint certainly lived up to the hype and I think it is one of the best on offer in Cardiff and it’s surrounds. Right up in the top tier with Hench and Ansh.

The details

Address: they currently have a residency at Crafty Devil Cellar, 17 Windsor Road, Penarth, CF64 1JB

Website: only on Instagram as far as can see https://www.instagram.com/toms_smashed_burgers?igsh=OXlha2Vyemh3cjE=

They have been in Cardiff at Cathay’s  Dalton Yard (ends today I believe), just off Crwys Road.

On a wider note, I see Crafty Devil are crowd funding for their tap room in Canton. Worth a punt, if you are into pints, I would say.  Details below: 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-the-cellar#/