We were on a mission to find out if BlackHorn Burgers really sells “St Andrews finest handmade burgers”.
Managing director of The Adamson, Hatch and The Physician, Julie Wijkström has fingers in many pies of the St Andrews food and drink scene.
For the latest Drive-Thru Review in our series, Julie joined me to taste test the offering at a well-loved Fife burger joint.
BlackHorn Burgers is an established foodie favourite just off the main drag in St Andrews.
Drawing in plenty of students and locals alike, the restaurant allows diners to eat in, takeaway or order online.
With the confident tagline of “St Andrews finest handmade burgers” – and slogan “all beef no bull” – we had high hopes when we entered the busy eatery.
How was the food at BlackHorn Burgers St Andrews?
There were already plenty of people in the burger joint on the sunny lunchtime we had our visit.
Many were tucking into delicious-looking burgers and Julie and I couldn’t resist following suit.
I ordered the BlackHorn Burger (£5.50) – their most popular item we are told – which is a cheeseburger, with lettuce, tomato and their BlackHorn Sauce.
This was very filling, with a thin patty – made on the premises with meat from John Henderson butchers in Glenrothes – and a lovely fluffy burger bun sourced from Fisher & Donaldson just across the road.
There was a lot of flavour to the meat and the BlackHorn sauce added a tasty, salty hit. I would highly recommend ordering this burger on your visit.
Joanna: 5/5
Julie, who cannot eat gluten, ordered a beef burger (£4.50). While they didn’t have specific gluten-free options on the menu, BlackHorn were very accommodating and offered her a lettuce wrapped burger.
She had to assemble this herself, but this did mean that she could choose the perfect lettuce to meat ratio.
Admitting that this was slightly dry without a sauce – I felt rather guilty with the moist BlackHorn sauce in my burger – she knocked half a point off.
Julie: 4.5/5
You simply cannot have a burger without fries and neither could we on our BlackHorn burgers review.
The sweet potato fries (£3.50) from the St Andrews restaurant certainly looked and tasted the part. But for me, their texture was slightly disappointing.
I found they were a little soft for my taste but Julie – a self-proclaimed sweet potato lover – had no complaints.
Julie: 4.5/5
Joanna: 3/5
Salad and a shake?
Another option which BlackHorn were able to make gluten-free – by removing the croutons – is the Spicy Chick Salad (£6).
This combined chicken, avocado, harissa and rocket, topped with a lime yoghurt dressing.
This was a huge portion for £6 making it great value for money, and the flavour combinations worked excellently.
The spice on the chicken wasn’t overpowering, and paired well with the mild flavour of the avocado chunks.
If my lunch date wasn’t ordering gluten-free food, I think crispy croutons would have been a great topping to add variety in texture.
Julie: 5/5
Joanna: 5/5
Finally, went for a Speciality shake (£5.50), specifically the toffee popcorn flavour. This was utterly gorgeous, with ice cream from Luvians, another local nod.
The flakes of toffee throughout added an intense sweetness, which was mellowed by the cream.
Julie: 5/5
Joanna: 5/5
For more of our Drive-Thru Reviews, check out our YouTube channel.
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