Section B: The right way to serve a burger

Nothing says I love meat like a good burger. What’s not to love?
A good grilled, well seasoned, fresh ground beef patty with perfect accommodating condiments and the perfectly rounded bun to finish off … perfect, right? Jeddah has seen its share of gourmet burger restaurants in the past few years, some are well within the limits of “acceptable”, others “not so much” and a handful of “superb” tasting burger joints.
Forget the American franchises that are scattered all over the city, the newest burger joint to hit the restaurant scene has to be “Section B” burger. The creation of six young Saudis all sharing one love, obviously a really good burger! Men and their meat, right? Ironically, this worked perfectly well with the partners. What is it about burgers that’s creating this current critical mass? It may be an overused word, but the burger can genuinely lay claim to the status of “icon.” The once-humble hamburger has enjoyed a makeover thanks to chefs looking to improve this American classic.
Section B is the creation of six friends: Mansour, Fahad, Mohammed, Mostafa, Faisal and Baraa, gathering every weekend as their chef Mansour whips up some tasty mouth watering patties. The process of opening the restaurant has been a grueling one.
The plan to open up a restaurant took longer than expected, the process of coming up with the taste of the patty itself took nine months alone! Every week chef/engineer Mansour would come up with his own recipes and their test subjects presented their weekly evaluation until they finally settled on their preferred recipe. Not to mention the number of patties they trial tested with the burgers. That was the easy part of the process. The hard part came when the amount of paperwork started piling up ahead of the opening and the long wait for each consultation, for each approval and complying with each designated order from the municipality. It was a tiring process as the owners explained and it exasperated the owners, but they kept their cool, patiently waiting for each approval all for the sake of their dream project, to be able to present great quality burgers for all burger lovers ... it was bittersweet.
Section B has been open for two years offering only pick up orders and seven months for dine in now. The location is in Hera Street just behind Jeddah Hilton. The exterior of the restaurant shows to be still in the works of opening due to its “coming soon” sign outside but they accommodate visitors every Friday as they await for their staff. The owners themselves serve the customers in their industrial NYC style interior. It’s a cozy yet busy theme with an open kitchen for customers to watch as their hamburgers are cooked and prepared, served hot and fresh. The restaurant seats 50 and a family area is available in the top floor as the bottom is for singles. The owners have their day jobs and aren’t available except on Fridays. They’ve sold 12,000 burgers so far. Each member of the restaurant plays a role, from chef, servers, book keeper, manager and whatever the restaurant requires to keep it afloat, staying true to their promise of starting it from bottom to finish, involved with every step of the way.
I was fortunate enough to get my order freshly made and with the smell lingering in the car, I couldn’t resist and ate it while attending an errand in the car. From the first look, it seems that it’s a regular burger except it was in a whole wheat bun which was odd since I’ve never thought the combination to be let’s say “apt”. But I changed my mind as soon as I had the first bite, the bun is soft, doughy with flax seeds, sunflower seeds and other ingredients that I simply couldn’t discover due to the patty’s taste taking over my taste buds. The beef patty itself is soft, perfectly grilled to perfection, melts in your mouth perfectly fitting with its accompanying condiments. I ordered the cheeseburger and fries and I must honestly admit, I had to resist devouring it and take my time taking it all in. The patty isn’t purely lean meat and you can trace a hint of fat in it, I believe so it doesn’t dry out on the grill, very juicy. The melted cheddar cheese was still gooey and soft hot from the grill which was pleasant for a change.
The owners pride themselves for using local produce freshly picked from the market on serving day, in support for local farmers. The meat is fresh angus which is imported weekly from abroad to maintain its freshness. The best part about the process of mincing the meat is that they keep it fresh and not frozen such as in other locations, you can actually taste the freshness with each bite. There’s also their special sauce, no matter how much I hassled, they wouldn’t budge not one bit, kudos guys. The fries are also spiced in their own secret mix and can even be eaten separately, I was nibbling on each fry until I finished the cup without realizing, yes they were that good!
The menu is short and simple with only the cheese burger and two mini grilled beef burgers, both served with cheddar cheese, iceberg lettuce, fresh cut tomato slices, pickles and Section B special sauce. You can also double up your meat patties and toppings can also be added to your burger, there’s bacon, mushrooms, grilled or caramelized onions, fried egg, jalapeno pepper and a grilled pineapple slice, unique and different.
What makes Section B great is that it stays true to its taste, never changing and altering the taste in any way, they worked hard in perfecting the taste and clearly they’re sticking to it after three tries so far, and I can say that I’m a fan and will be ordering again for sure. A good burger is hard to find in an industry that is booming with gourmet burger joints popping up here and there.
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