The Ritz.  Such prestige, such class.  Even though I can’t afford to stay at one of their hotels (yet), I’m happy to take advantage of their bar.

The Churchill is located on the 3rd floor of the Ritz Carlton (丽思卡尔顿), Guangzhou.  “A Man’s Bar” is what a friend to it as, and a man’s bar it was indeed.   Smothered in rich mahogany, claw-foot furniture, horse head lamp bases and canvas pictures of Churchill, I was truthfully surprised to find such a delightfully cliche place in this city.  But as intriguing as the scenery was, the real reason we came was for the burger.

Oh, the famed burger of the Ritz.  We had heard about this burger from a handful of our friends- a $20 burger that took about 45minutes from order that was worth both the price and the wait.  Of course, we had to see for ourselves.

The DiploMan and I had initially planned to make this our Christmas dinner.  Seeing that we never got around to do it, we decided to ring in the new lunar year with this burger (again, probably breaking cultural traditions of all sorts).  Saturday night at the Ritz was pleasantly low-key, as I had prepared myself for something akin to the W Hotel in Westwood.  Greeted at the Churchill door by the friendly bow-tie clad waiter, we were escorted to our chairs.  The DiploMan then leaned over, as if he had a secret password, and muttered “We’ve heard you have…a burger…here.”  The waiter smiled, said yes, and pulled out my seat for me.

He presented us with a thick, leather bound drink menu the size of my torso, along with two half-sheets of paper and pens: their make-your-own-burger list.  Shifting the drink menu to the side we set our eyes on our priority.  Among the standard “Australian Beef” patty were the options of Wagyu beef, ostrich, and lamb patties.  Sticking to the traditional, we vowed to come back for the other options in the future.  From there we chose our choice of bun, cheese, and any other condiments and sides, waved our papers to the waiter and ordered our drink.

No more than 20 minutes later- a lot less than the famed 45minutes we had been told, our burgers arrived on a do-it-yourself arrangement of a plate.  I clapped my hands in delight and took about 30 pictures.

The patty was slightly underseasoned, but full of flavor nonetheless.  The bun was buttery and perfectly toasted;  the fact that they did the bun right, in China, was a feat miraculous in itself.  The cheese was expertly melted, and to my delight the sides and condiments came in their own little tapas-style portions.  Maybe I’ve been deprived a good burger for too long, but altogether the trip to Churchill was well worth it.  A great new tradition to ring in the new year if you ask me.