You'll have to forgive the photos in this post as my camera was out of order at the time but burgers beckoned! Other reviews with prettier photos are available here and here.
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A franchise originating in California, Nu Sentral houses the very first Built franchise in KL, not to be confused with another custom built burger franchise, also from California called The Counter located in Pavilion KL.
Edit: Oops, my mistake. It turns out that Built Custom Burgers IS related to the Counter. Here's a para from Built Custom Burgers' website:
BUILT® Custom Burgers is the “fast casual” version of The Counter®, serving our popular “Build Your Own” burgers, fries, shakes, and more, all in a laid back space. Made (or “BUILT”) for everyone — adults, kids, teens, families and everyone in between — BUILT® features The Counter’s® best-selling quality ingredients, only in a speedier setting. Whether you order in or take out, our delicious food will be served quickly without compromising quality, flavor, and choice. You choose, we build, you enjoy. We’re BUILT® for you.
True to its name, Built Custom Burgers allow you to customize your burger from their variety of meat, vegetables, cheese, buns and sauces. If that's not enough, you can have it as a salad. Very much like Subway, eh?
A combo meal of a burger or bowl with shoestring fries and a refillable drink (they serve Fanta Orange!) costs RM25 while having premier items like sweet potato fries or add ons, well, adds on to the price;.
A la Subway, you select a meat, bun and cheese at the counter then work your way down to the vegetables and the sauces.
My burger set was made of
1 - Beef
2 - American Cheese
3 - Whole Wheat Bun
4 - Sweet Potato Fries
5 - Lettuce Blend, Tomatoes, Red Pepper
6 - Dijon Mustard, Sweet Sriracha
It turned out to be a delicious monster. The beef patty had just enough sear and was well-seasoned that you could actually taste the salt and pepper. (Pssst, it's good enough to convert the non-beef eater). Together with the bright yellow American Cheese which tasted like cheddar, the fresh vegetables and that char from the roasted red peppers, it was exactly what I imagined it to taste like when I constructed the burger in my mind. Even though the whole wheat bun looks thick, it's actually light and fluffy so the fillings to bun ratio turned out just right. I could do with a spicier sauce but let's not ruin the burger now.
The sweet potato fries were crispy with just enough starchy bite which earns a space in my list of the best sweet potato fries in KL. KGB and Nando's (provided it's still on the menu) serves pretty decent sweet potato fries too ;)
LC's beef burger in between a whole wheat bun with Jalapeno Jack (and a bunch of unknown vegetables to me) was pretty good too. The Jalapeno Jack cheese had strong hints of jalapeno so if jalapeno is your thing, be sure to go for it.
Built is the only place in KL I know of that serves Tater Tots, bite-sized hash browns, much to LC's delight. For those who love hash browns, this mini hashed potatoes satisfies the hash brown craving with a little less salt than the usual hash brown but I'm guessing it's just as bad for you. Eat now, think later.
Built Custom Burgers has a great concept going on - a no-frills, self-service outlet serving great burgers with fresh ingredients, made to order. If you're bored of the common burger and yearn for something different, something handcrafted, something you can build yourself, do visit Built. Time to plan another visit!