Smooth Sailing for Slow Boat: Burger Champs Become the Most Crowned Victors Ever

Tom Arnstein | Jul 16, 2019 4:00 pm | Add a comment | 656 reads

After one of the most exciting matchups in recent Burger Cup history – the grizzled vet versus the barely born newbie – Slow Boat has sailed to victory for the fourth time. The win not only crowns them Burger Cup Champions 2019 but also the most decorated competitor in the history of our nine-year battle of Beijing's burgers.

Their domination of the field has squashed speculation that they would lose their title to ferocious, and by all meanings of the word, fresh, competitor in Crafters Brewing Co who seemingly came out of nowhere to climb this year's ranks. Their near-immediate success is likely to have come from a solid backing from fans accrued by the brewers during their years of selling craft beer and cider around town. Their second place also stands to put Crafters on the map, which to be fair, is far out there, landing next to Beijing's Communication University.

As for Slow Boat, they've secured their place as one of the greats and put to rest any fear that they may have their title stolen from them, like Q Mex did back in 2017, after the brewery's two years of supremacy in 2015 and 2016. Chandler Jurinka, co-founder of Slow Boat, admits that the need to reclaim their crown was a major driving force behind last year's competition, adding that this year's relatively low-key approach to the Burger Cup is due to them being "short-staffed" and not "having the bandwidth to do it." Jurinka adds that under such circumstances, the win indicates to him that Slow Boat's real strength lies "in the resiliency of our customers – their belief in what we do."

It also proves their love for one of, if not the, greatest burger in Beijing: the mighty Fryburger. Stacked with their signature patty, a perfectly pink-centered and juicy beef patty topped with a slice of gooey cheese and lattice of their seasoned fries, the effect is a crunchy mouthful that pairs incredibly well with a pint.

That burger is the product of lots of tinkering by the Slow Boat team, as well a simple, no-fuss approach to keeping the masses happy: "the best we can do is put out a consistently high-quality product – that's the best preparation for us for next year; that everyone who comes by leaves pretty satisfied – money in their pocket, little bit drunk, full," says Jurinka.

Which, as luck would have it, wasn't lost on you guys. In our final vote, we also asked you which of the city's craft beers you had tried, with a whopping 61 percent of respondents saying that they had tried Slow Boat's beer. The next most widely consumed beers were Jing-A with 31 percent and Great Leap with 29 percent.

So, what's next for Slow Boat? Having just opened a new taproom in Dengshikou, taking them back close to where they originated from in the hutongs of Dongsi, can we expect any other big developments on the horizon? Jurinka replies with a sly smile: "That's it for now, wink wink."

We'd like to say a big thank you to all of this year's competitors, it truly was one of the best showings we've seen in recent years and we are always emboldened and excited to see new and creative options in Beijing's burger scene. And of course, one more big congratulations to Slow Boat!

A refresher course on past Burger Cup winners:

2011: Blue Frog
2012: Home Plate BBQ
2013: Home Plate BBQ
2014: Home Plate BBQ
2015: Slow Boat Brewery
2016: Slow Boat Brewery
2017: Q Mex
2018: Slow Boat Brewery
2019: Slow Boat Brewery

The final results, as voted for by you:

1. Slow Boat Brewery
2. Crafters Brewing Co
3. Q Mex
4. Side Street
5. Home Plate BBQ
6. Jing-A
7. The Great Outdoors
8. Great Leap Brewing
9. Blue Frog
10. Arrow Factory
11. 3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages
12. Boxing Cat
13. Beersmith Gastropub
14. 4corners
15. The Local
16. Let’s Burger
17. De Refter
18. Hulu
19. Cannon’s Burgers
20. Fatburger
21. Caravan
22. Miam Miam
23. The Cheesecake Factory
24. Lily’s American Diner
25. Paddy O’Shea’s
26. Plan B
27. Katchup
28. Biteapitta
29. Loca Loca
30. A Lil' Somethin'
31. No Diet Bistro & Bar
32. Royal Stacks
33. Fatboy’s
34. XL Bar
35. Lush
36. Migas Mercado
37. The Butchers Club
38. East Hotel
39. QS
40. Root Pop
41. Laker's
42. Little Creatures
43. Bistro 108
44. Veggie Table
45. Grandma's Kitchen
46. The Rug Café
47. Cafe Flo
48. Bistrot B
49. VSports Bar and Restaurant
50. Joe’s Bar and Kitchen
51. Hey Burger
52. Legend Beer
53. Wolfgang’s Steakhouse
54. Luga's Villa
55. The Bookworm
56. Morton's of Chicago
57. La Rosee
58. The Roots
59. Eudora Station
60. Panda Brew
61. CHAO Living Room
62. Waspark
63. Red Rose
64. Café Flatwhite
65. 1F
66. Rodeo Connection
67. Angel Burger
68. Signature's, Kempinski Hotel
69. Bodensee Kitchen
70. NBeer Pub
71. Grinders
72. Beer Mania
73. BLT American Restaurant Salad & Grill
74. 40+ Club
75. Irish Volunteer
76. Mr. Eel’s Love
77. Hotties
78. Aurora
79. Tiger's
80. Blue Marlin
81. Burger Break
82. The Bell
83. CHAR Bar & Grill
84. Burger Counter
85. Halo Burger
86. Steamrhino Brewery Restaurant
87. Four Ace
88. Meat by Ernest
89. Fella’s
90. C’est la Vie
91. Village Cafe, Opposite House
92. Three Guys Burger House
93. Shamrock
94. The Cut, Fairmont Beijing
95. O’Leary’s
96. Beer Boom
97. Molly Malone’s
98. Rolling Rolling Craft Brewing
99. Spacelab
100. Peiping Machine
101. Park Side Bar & Grill
102. Su Zui
103. Steak Exchange, InterContinental Hotel
104. Xuan House
105. Windy City
106. Cairns
107. Peking Garden
108. He Kitchen
109. Park Square
110. W Restaurant
111. MustGuette
112. Picture My Cup at Kimo Kids Cafe
113. Bergling
114. Dongli Brewery
115. West Gastropub
116. Flora Steak and Bar
117. 42Play
118. Rhythm Craft Beer