Burgers 'n' Shots: Temple's New Meaty Menu

Temple is now serving burgers thanks to a collaboration with the grill masters over at Burger Counter. The late night grub joint on Gulou, once frequented by Temple owner Clement Berger and his friends, is now a staple of his own kitchen. That means the Gulou crowd can get even unhealthier, digging into the mean, meaty patties now accompanying Temple's mad shots and rock shows.

Clement says his kitchen will stay open as long as necessary to serve Temple's late-night clientele.The burger list is, for the most part, straight from Burger Counter's menu, but with new names to fit Temple's rock and roll persona, like X-Japan (grilled pineapple and Teriyaki sauce) and Antisocial (bleu cheese, bacon, caramelized shallots and fried onions). A few fresh spins top off the patty selection, including The Temple Burger, a twist of cheddar and mozzarella, laced with a mildly spicy, homemade chili sauce. It had enough kick to still tingle your taste buds in the smoky space.

The Beastie Boys burger's crispy bacon was exciting enough to lay down a beat but a pitiful dab of barbecue sauce spoiled the mix. We were reminded of a Beastie Boys' punk rock record - good, but not the juiciest of their hits.

Ironically, we bit into a selection of the menu during one of the venue's most peaceful moments. Temple's crowd struggled to hold their sloppy tongues during a Korean folk performance and we struggled to hold the sloppy burgers during the house toilet's funky show. Only one solution presented itself for making this bar food worth wolfing down - a hardcore selection of shots rated by skulls: 1 skull = beginner, 2 skulls = easy, 3 skulls = medium, 4 skulls = hard, 5 = expert. The Hurricane (Yagermeister, whiskey and Baileys) and The Olympic Ring (Kahlua, Blue Curacao, egg liquor and grenadine) both made for great chasers between bites.

The burgers went down pleasantly once we had our buzz on, so it's fair to say these new players have more than enough attitude to start converting groupies.

Click here to see Temple's new menu in full