Whilst Itsagamaaaaazing seems to be the on trend medium for food reviews these day, I struggle to get my old “stick in the mud”  head around it and thus rarely use it as a reference point when I am looking  for places to eat.

You could say it has very little to AD in terms of me judging whether a place is worth a visit and tends to INVITE ridicule with the constant suggestions that something is “totally the best evah” until the next thing which will be even more totally insanely best evah. I often think of the Incredibles here, with a slight bastardisation of the famous quote to “If you think every single meal out you have is super, then it is quite possible that no meal you have had out was actually super“).

It is seemingly vaquita rare these days to see an even remotely critical review on that format, which seems odd (could there be a correlation between getting something for free/being paid to eat it and saying it is awesome I wonder, surely not!), although I suppose life must be wonderful when every single thing is amaaaaaaaazing. If that were ever true as to what some people actually genuinely think, I would be quite envious of such “so easily pleased” people to be honest.

It certainly must work for businesses, as they all really do seem to love Insta. I am not, however, convinced that the Lego movie approach of  “Everything is awesome (everything is cool when you’re food is totally free)” is really that helpful a gauge of a place’s worth. 

As such, posts on any “new place/hidden gem” on Insta tends to be greeted by me with the level of scepticism I afford to people cold calling me to do a security check on my non existent [add name of Bank I don’t have an account with] bank account or emailing me as to an exciting new opportunity linked to getting money out of Nigeria (the General is in a temporary spot of bother and is prepared to offer surprisingly generous terms for temporary use of your bank account). Count me in, my account details, passwords and pin number are …….

Also the inexplicable trend for the Permian – Triassic extinction “Great Dying” level of cringe that seems to pass for some restaurant advertising these days on that format tends to make me want to saw off the top of my skull so I can boil my brain in bleach and wipe permanently from the memory banks what I just seen and heard.

I mean, they say that no publicity is bad publicity, but boy do some Instagram posts/reels from restaurants I have seen really test that hypothesis to utter breaking point. I know times are hard and thus advertising budgets are stretched, but I am not sure making people die of vicarious embarrassment is the way to go.

Then there is the Insta driven revival of  the ancient art of gurning, while eating food, with a few “homage to Benny Hill” phoaws added in for good measure.

It all sort of reminds me of the acting you used to get in the silent movies where every action and facial expression had to be wildly exaggerated. Someone much more creative than me should do a skit of a food review in the style of a silent movie (although I am not sure, bar from it being black and white, anyone would actually notice the difference). Could call it Noshferatu or Battleship Potemkitchen or just (the very apt, but rather boring) Greed.

Oddly, the reviewstition all too often on display on Insta is probably one of its least unsavoury elements. All the social platforms seemed to be cesspits mind.

Perhaps I am just from the wrong generation and too much of a cynic to understand the allure of Insta?

Notwithstanding my slight aversion to the delights of Instagram, I do occasionally use it (I put links, well sort of as you inexplicably can’t put in an actual link, to the blog on it so I don’t have to do so on Facebook although I am not sure why to be honest as I have a insta footprint that makes a quark look big) and that use very occasionally garners something of actual interest. In this instance, it was details as to people behind Hench (top tier Cardiff burger slingers) taking over the Butchers Arms in Canton.

The place is the sort of spit and sawdust joint

which have been transformed by the desi phenomenon in the West Midlands and to me, hopefully, this could be the start of bringing back the popularity of the traditional pub in Cardiff with a not too fussy (why bother getting a takeaway when you can eat something decent but not overly complicated or pricey in the pub with a pint) but quality food offering. I like a pub that does good food, but not all pubs are equal and not all can or indeed should try to be gastro. Some really should just stick to doing the basics and doing them well.

A rather interesting tasting of 2014 Produttori di Barbarescos wines the night before meant a hit of protein and carb heavy filth was required at lunchtime and a good burger and starch side tends to fit that bill.

I have tried Hench’s burgers before whilst they were in residence at the Royal Oak (just off Newport Road) and very much enjoyed them so with them more in my neck of the woods a return visit was in order 

On my Royal Oak visit I kept it relatively simple, this time I decided to be a little more adventurous. The Beirut Badboy is no longer on the menu (no one is prepared to “stump up” for that sort of thing these days I suppose – was totally “banging“not so long ago I hear mind), but something a bit more adventurous than the “straight up” cheese burger I had last time was the order of the day.

A bit of French chaos, where they change prime minsters more than a tart does her knickers, in the form of the Beefie Frenchie crossed my mine as an option but I eventually decided on the New Yorker for a first visit to their Butcher’s operation.

Interesting to see the effects of the dreaded inflation, in comparing the menu from my first visit back in 2023 with said New Yorker  £9.50 back then

as opposed to the current (seemingly slightly paired back, wisely so I would say) menu

Actually pretty fair increases these, bearing in mind the cost pressures on hospitality, with my chosen New Yorker up by a mere 50p (pretty much in line with the BoE inflation tracker, which I suspect is a low ball figure when looking at inflation relevant to hospitality).

The New Yorker (aptly) looked a big brash beast of a burger when it arrived.

with a lovely gnarliness to the two patties.

Good depth of flavour to the patties, with a good outer crust with nice caramelisation and, despite their smashed nature, a juicy interior.

Under the lid there was a good amount of a tangy mustard mayo and my preferred tawdry American cheese (could have been melted a tad more, if I was a picky bxstard and oh I am), crisp lettuce and beef infused onions (usually not fussed about veggies in a burger, but these were actually quite effective in cutting the richness of the beef).

My only real criticisms were I found the tomato chutney just a little too sweet for my tastes (would hold off on that next time) and the bacon a tad chewy/flabby.

I don’t like my bacon nuked, but when the fat isn’t crisped up enough and is flabby it gets quite tricky to eat in a burger (invariably I end up pulling the whole rasher out with my first bite). I tend to avoid bacon in a burger for this very reason.

Pickles on the side were 👌, being nicely sharp yet still crisp. I rather wish I had ditched the bacon and added the pickles to the burger it its place.

The bun (my favoured potato roll) tried manfully to contain the girthy New Yorker, but ultimately failed as structural collapse occurred with about a quarter of it left. I went through a serious amount of napkins.

Sides wise, I kept it simple with fries (£4)

Nice and crisp on the outside and fluffy on tne inside, with a decent portion size that could easily be shared with the substantial size of the burgers.  I quite liked the jerk seasoning coating, but do think a plain (just salted) chip option would be wise. I assume it would easy enough to do if just ask them to hold the seasoning.

Verdict

Nice to see an old and (if truth be told a bit unloved) pub being given a new lease of life. I miss pubs that just do proper pub grub with a pint. A cracking sausage roll or scotch egg, a proper pie and mash, a real ham, egg and chips number or, in this case, a big arsed burger (rather than having a massive double sided menu detailing a myriad of mediocre fair) paired with a decent pint of bitter.

Pubs are a really hard business to go into at the moment, with our Lords and Masters seemingly (on a very generous interpretation) totally indifferent to their plight, but the Hench burgers here make for a much better burger offering than the one I had at Burger Boyz in Vic Park to my mind.

Perfect for those wanting nothing too fussy, just a pint and a burger. If a footie game is on down the road, I would imagine this would be ideal pre match fodder.

Is it Istagamaaaaazingable? Probably not, but in my world that is actually no bad  thing.

The details

Address: 29 Llandaff Road, Canton, Cardiff, CF11 [NG

Website: They are on Itsagamaaaaazing the-butchers-marketplace , but can’t see an actual website.