Mud Crab Pacifico is on Central Avenue in West Bridgford. It occupies the space that until recently housed Fellicino. So no great loss there then. It is one of a small stable of four restaurants from Mud Crab Industries, the other three being in Sheffield, Didsbury, and Manchester. They say that “We’re the best friends you always wanted. We’re givers of nourishment in food & drink form”. Well that could be promising, it sounds welcoming if a little over eager

I ordered the Cheeseburger, or rather as they call it “2nd Best Cheeseburger”. I think, or rather hope, that the Mud Crab guys are being very tongue in cheek here as they note on the menu that “It’s only our opinion. The very best cheeseburger is served at Ed Debevic’s Chicago”. Why do I think that? Well as a former Chicagoan Resident I would say that the only people who go to Ed Debevic’s are people from out of town, or tourists, no self respecting Chicagoan that I ever met would ever go there unless taking visitors and even then under the influence of a lot of alcohol. But of course that is just my opinion too. Didn’t stop me going, but it wasn’t ‘all that’ either.

Is that going to affect my opinion of the burger? No if Ed’s is the benchmark then we are already way ahead of the game. The ‘lets just call it’ Cheeseburger comes with ‘Double Mature Cheddar Cheese’ and ‘The Other Hamburger stuff’. So in my head I am thinking that is going to be a LOT of cheese, and by ‘other hamburger stuff’ I am thinking the usual lettuce, tomato, onion, perhaps some mustard, perhaps some mayo, perhaps a ‘secret burger sauce’ or some such items. I was also expecting a big burger patty, although thinking about it now there was no mention of weight in the menu description.

So what did we get? well it ended up being three individual thin burger patties, well cooked with a nice pink centre, stacked in the toasted bun, with alternating layers of cheese on top between burger and bun, then soft onions in some sort of sauce in between the other burger patty layers. There was no tomato, lettuce or other salad type distraction and I did not mind that too much. There was not really enough cheese for a ‘Double Mature Cheese’ description, unless they meant Double in the same way as Extra mature.

It is though a very tasty burger and most enjoyable to eat. The patties are very good, the burger sauce intriguingly tasty, and the cheese was good, but for me not enough on there to safely call itself a cheeseburger. I liked the toasted bun too, it had some nice char to the top, but yet was still soft enough inside. The accompanying fries are plentiful, double cooked (I believe) and were very crispy. Their name on the menu was a little over confident as they are called ‘good fries’. I think that we will be the judge of that. I liked them but I know many who would say they were too crispy. I suppose you can’t call them “you may like these or not ‘depending on your personal preference’ fries”.

Don’t get the wrong idea, I really liked my burger and would come back for another one, it was just that whole Ed Debevic’s thing that got me all riled up, but hey it worked because it made me come to the Mud Crab in Bridgford to see what it was all about. That was the other thing as in Chicago, Ed’s is famed for being really rude to the customers, but here at Mud Crab it is totally the opposite, I was greeted with a smile all through lunch and got great service. Yes that Debevic’s stuff must have been a joke?

Mud Crab Pacifico has plenty more to offer on their menu except for just that burger so I suggest that you check out their menu online or look and see what they are upto on Twitter and Facebook. They had a flyer to take away so I have scanned part of it in below as well

Menu Flyer