Aperol Spritz is the drink of the summer - but why just stop at drinking the cocktail when you can enjoy it in the form of a burger? One Manchester diner thought they’d give it a go - so I went down to try the final creation.
Fat Hippo, based inside Lane7 at Great Northern Warehouse, has teamed up with booze brand Aperol to create a limited edition chicken burger that quite literally tastes of summer.
The huge chicken burger is cooked in Aperol hot honey butter, and is perfectly matched with the iconic orange Italian cocktail.
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Embracing the popularity of the cult cocktail, the Aperol Chickz burger includes two pieces of buttermilk chicken on a seeded brioche, with a parmesan crunch, gem lettuce, cheesy garlic bacon crumb, creamy Caesar dressing and an Aperol hot honey butter.
The dish comes served with seasoned fries, or you can upgrade to Caesar Fries with a Caesar and cheesy garlic bacon crumb. The burger comes in at £13.50, while the fries upgrade is £1.50. Complete your order with a £7 Aperol Spritz and the bill comes to £22.
For those who haven’t enjoyed an Aperol Spritz before, the cocktail was first invented in the 1950s, and has a bittersweet taste created as the perfect pre-dinner drink to prepare the palette. Traditionally it’s made with Aperol, Prosecco, a splash of soda and a slice of orange.
Managing Director and founder of Fat Hippo , Mike Phillips, said: “We’re big fans of an Aperol Spritz so when it came to thinking of a new special to celebrate the summer, this was a no-brainer. Inspired by classic Italian dishes our chefs have been busy experimenting with the bittersweet, citrus flavour of Aperol and the end result promises to take this iconic summer drink to the next level.”
Fat Hippo don’t do portion sizes by half, and when my burger arrived, it was stacked tall with chicken dripping in Caesar and Aperol hot honey butter. I struggled to even pick it up, with sauce oozing over the edge of the sesame seed bun.
The chicken had a crispy coating and held the majority of the flavour. There was spice and sweetness from the hot honey, which gave the same sensation as an Aperol Spritz with its bittersweet flavour. And while I wouldn’t necessarily say the burger itself tastes of the cocktail, it was certainly very tasty and paired well with the drink.
Meanwhile the fries were extremely moreish - the Caesar dressing and a cheesy garlic bacon crumb were addictive and I kept thinking I’d been defeated by the mountain of chicken and chips, but couldn’t help but keep dipping in for just one more bite.
Of course, I washed it all down with an Aperol Spritz, the inspiration for the whole dish, and it really was a holy trinity of summer on a table. Who needs a holiday to Italy, anyway?
The burger launched on Wednesday, August 3 and will be available until August 29 in store, on Deliveroo and via Click + Collect.
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