Limoges – Jean Burger

A visit here is part of my on-going plan to dine at the best rated burger restaurant in every city that I go to. Jean Burger is very slightly away from the main tourist areas of Limoges, but only a short walk to get here. It’s easy to find as the signage is clear and it faces a main road.

I liked this, located just outside of the main door. It’s easy to understand, it’s clear and it’s not too gaudy. Restaurants with complex prix frie arrangements perhaps just make themselves look unwelcoming to visitors.

And this is beautiful in its implementation. Being British, I’m often not entirely sure what to do when entering a restaurant or cafe. Is there table service? Do I order at the counter? Do I take a seat myself? Is the food brought over or do I collect? The arrangements here are easy to understand and the menu is visible again for those who need a reminder.

The server was full of energy and he was more than willing to explain the menu and the options available. It was a true friendly welcome, and there was a pride in the different burgers, hot dogs and sides that customers could choose from. I went for the Basque burger, which the server then said was his favourite, which had cheese, chorizo and rocket.

The server said that the burgers were served rare, which is to be expected in France. I usually think I’m being brave when ordering burgers to be medium, and that is my usual preference, but I went with the flow of having a burger that was only partly cooked. It’s important to get the full experience…. Oh, and they had Dr. Pepper, my preferred drink in the United States, so that was a bonus.

So, the food. The curly fries were excellent, there weren’t greasy, they had a pleasant seasoning on and they were firm on the exterior and fluffy on the interior. The burger bun was particularly good and was one of the best I’ve had, with a crispy texture and a real depth of flavour. The burger itself was rare, and that is a texture I’m not entirely used to, but the quality was excellent. It had a pleasant flavour and the other ingredients in the burger added extra taste and crunch.

Overall, I thought that this was a well run location, with customer service really under-pinning all that they did. I got there at 11:50, deliberately just before lunch as I had read that it got busy. And busy it definitely got, but with an interesting range of clientele. There were school children, older customers, staff seemingly on a lunch break and the atmosphere was laid back and comfortable. I didn’t see any other tourists to the city, or not that were obvious to me, but it’s clear from reviews that they do get a lot of them. Definitely recommended.