Triple-O's (White Spot)

> Location : Shop 10, 1/F, The Forum Exchange Square,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Hamburgers / Chicken Burgers
> Tel. # : (852) 3401-4000
> Website : http://www.tripleo.com.hk/

Nat Bailey was on a mission. He wanted to make the finest and freshest food products available to the pubic in Vancouver, Canada. So from 1920's all the way into 1930's, Nat started "White Spot," starting with serving food for in car eating (people love their automobiles during that time), creating Canada's first Drive-In, purchase land to create a dine in spot and even having his own central kitchen / chicken farm for consistency of his products. Besides serving great chicken burgers (that's why the logo of Triple-O's has a chicken on it!), White Spot truly got its mark on history because of its beef hamburgers with its famous "Triple-O Sauce" added on it. Due to White Spot's success in Canada, it has also created a fast food version of it called (not surprisingly), Triple-O's! Having nine locations in Canada from Calgary to Vancouver, Triple-O's success has come to Hong Kong!

With three locations now in Hong Kong (Admiralty, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui), its beginning to grow in popularity! I've been to both the Admiralty and Central locations. The Admiralty one is inside Pacific Place and the Central one is right next to the I.F.C. Mall. Everytime I go, it's always packed! Especially during lunch hours for the Central location, go early if you want a seat! Also, if delivery is needed if you're near any of the locations listed, a $150 HKD minimum is required.

Besides the regular menu with the chicken and beef burgers, Triple-O's also have a breakfast menu. All of their breakfast burgers contain the famous "triple-o sauce" and have eggs in it. The sides available are fries, hashbrowns, extra dill and gravy (for the fries). There's also extra toppings for your burgers if needed such as fresh sauteed mushrooms, cheese, bacon, extra egg, extra patty or extra chicken breast. In the regular menu, there's the original burger combo, mushroom burger combo, BC burger combo, chicken supreme burger combo, veggie burger combo, chicken strips and fries, caesar salad and clam chowder. All combos comes with fries and a 14oz soft drink or 8oz coffee/tea. All the combos are either $51 or $61 HKD or just the burger only for $20 HKD less. So, whats it taste like? I've had three things at Triple-O's before.

First of all, the original burger and all others are not small in size. Using the freshest ingredients and Australia's finest beef/chicken patties! The original burger contains a 100% pure beef patty topped with lettuce, tomato and "triple-o sauce." Certainly, the burger was big and it was good! However, I can't help but being reminded how similar it tasted to McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. For me, it felt weird but for others which don't know what I'm talking about, you'll be fine =D

What else? Well, I had the limited time Chicken Club Burger! To me, this had to be my best experience at Triple-O's. It was so juicy and so tasty and the chicken patty was so tender, I totally fell in love with it! Excellent indeed.

My most recent experience? Well, I had the mushroom cheese chicken burger. It's similar to the mushroom burger but it's chicken instead of beef, has cheese and lettuce/tomato is inserted without asking. I was actually a little bit disappointed with this (this is at the Central location and the previous two from Admiralty). I believe the lettuce and tomato wasn't dried enough from being rinsed/washed in water, it made the triple-o sauce a little watery. The chicken patty was tender for the most part but not as great as when I had the chicken club. Everything else was fine.

French fries wise, it's like a mix between steak fries and fries from McDonald's. It's thicker than McDonald's (but not as flat and wide as steak fries), more potato like taste and barely salted. Condiments are provided if needed. A place that reminds me of In-n-Out (California hamburger chain from the states) so much, I have to say In-n-Out makes better fries taste wise =D Quantity wise, Triple-O's aren't short in giving you a lot fries with your combo so never worry about it if you're very hungry!

In the end, I had mix thoughts with Triple-O's. But I think the negative points are understood due to the busy hours I visited especially the "watery triple-o sauce" when I went to the Central location. Excusable or not, consistency is the key to any restaurant and I had to mark just a little bit from my overall impression. The chicken strips, which I personally never had; my friend who had them told me it was above average (a 3.5 out of 5 according to her). So just a little bit of info for you'll who might be interested. For a person like me, who has a lot of experience with various fast food restaurants, it was hard to resist not comparing Triple-O's to similar things in other places. But if you're one of those life long Hong Kong resident or not an often fast food visitor, you'll find Triple-O's an excellent alternative from KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc. It was either 3.5, 4 or 4.5 for me. Personally, only caring for my own opinion (holding grudge to the watery triple-o sauce and McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese-like taste), I would give it a 3.5. But considering what the general Hong Kong population is like, and me judging the place without comparisons, I would give a score of 4. Plus, if the negative points never crossed my mind, I think a 4.5 would even be possible. Through all the drama, I still think the limited time chicken club burger was a blast to eat =D They definitely need to keep it on the menu! Ultimately, Triple-O's gets a...

< 4 out of 5 >

*photograph courtesy of Triple-O's website

Union American Bar & Grill

Location : Shop 1009, Level One, International Finance Centre Mall,
Central, Hong Kong
Cuisine : American
Tel. # :(852) 2295-1808
Website : http://www.windy-city.com.hk/union/index.html

When around the business corners of Central and you crave some classic American dishes, you can definitely count on Union American Bar & Grill! With a semi-dim-ish environment, Union offers a Bar area nice for the after work hang outs and plenty of dishes pleasant to the international makeup of I.F.C.

I visited Union around noon hours and found myself with a menu that consisted of soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, appetizers and much, much more. There are all sorts of items to choose from such as Boston Clam Chowder ($78 HKD), Classic Caesar with grilled chicken ($108 HKD) or even burgers like their very own, Union steak sandwich ($158 HKD). Cost wise, in general, you don't expect anything to be cheap when you're in I.F.C., but I can assure you from what I had, at least the quality of their food justifies it for the most part!

I mean, why visit an American joint if you don't go for a burger? I quickly went with the top of the list, Pulled Smokehouse BBQ Sandwich ($84 HKD). The burger came with a cherry tomato and pickle stuck on top served with fries and BBQ sauce on the side. The burger size was acceptable and definitely loaded with meat and onion. As evident from the picture (sorry with the low-resolution photo), they have grilled the bun a little to give it that soft and crispy sensation.

With the first bite, I noticed the meat within was tender for the most part and as a whole, the burger tasted good! The fries were fresh and not soggy or had any other issues. They aren't steak fries as I would like it to be but they are your common McDonald-like fries done well (a bit bigger). If you want ranch or honey mustard or any other sauces to go with your fries like I do, feel free to ask, the people at Union will gladly get some for you.

In the end, I definitely recommend this place if you're in I.F.C. and you want some classic American dishes! Union American Bar & Grill does a good job bringing the American standard into such a business related area.

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >