March 12, 2010 | Hong Kong

Weather: Broken clouds, 17 °C

Issue #826: Farewell Wing Lee Street
Hiking Book

Duke’s Burger

The place: Duke’s Burger

  • 5 Staunton St., Central
  • Phone: 2526-7062
  • Daily 12:30pm-10pm

“A chic burger restaurant” – you know the fast-food industry is getting out of hand when that’s how you describe the new burger joint in SoHo. Taking over what once was the newsstand opposite Pepperoni’s, the elegant ambiance and fashionable clientele of this place immediately suggests a world far away from your local McDonalds. The main menu is strictly burgers-only, with a small selection of salads for those Life Café-goers forced to indulge in their significant other’s ground-cow-sandwich craving. From the classic burger to wagyu oxtail, crab to short ribs, it’s a varied selection of burgers that you can’t find anywhere else in the city. But once you’ve tried and tested a few, it makes you wonder what the point is, really – let’s be honest here; a burger’s a burger, it’ll never be fine dining. The lunchtime flame-grilled you grabbed at Burger King ain’t really that far off from this place. Sure, the meat here is fresher, better prepared and more appetizing, but at $200-$300 a pop (including wine, fries, and a service charge), you’re left wondering if the cholesterol-heavy meal you just had was really worth it