The BurgerBoys
Visits:
The Smash (the Pipe)
Govert Flinckstraat 122
We return to De Pijp. After having been faced with a closed door the last time, we are going to visit Le Smash again. The week after our last review (BurgerBar de Pijp) they announced via Instagram that, due to their great success, they could add an extra day to their opening hours. Luckily for us, this falls on a Wednesday, our regular review day. Le Smash is one of the newest places in the Amsterdam hamburger landscape. They also focus a lot on social media (Instagram and TikTok) and that is how they came our way. Given the many positive reviews that their visitors have left, we naturally wanted to know more about this. They have been active for 2 months and they also serve a limited number of burgers per day. The BurgerBoys review Le Smash: must or bust?
Location
Distance
De Pijp is a 15 minute metro ride from Central Station. Take line 52 towards Zuid and get off at stop de Pijp.
Environment
De Pijp, always busy and cozy. If not because of the Albert Cuyp market, then because of the various terraces.
Realm
1 street behind the Albert Cuypstraat is the Govert Flinckstraat. It is a narrow street that is mainly intended for residential traffic. Le Smash is located at the beginning and there is no atmosphere there. They are then just on the wrong side of the street.
Choices
Beer
No choice really. We could only get Birra Moretti. Due to delivery problems there was no special beer available.
Burgers
The choice is quite minimal. You can choose 2 burgers, each of which is also a meatless variant. What is available?
Le Classic: dry aged beef with cheddar, onions, pickles, ketchup & mustard
Le Special: dry aged beef with cheddar, onions, lettuce, pickles & special sauce
As an extra topping you can add bacon.
Also check out the Le Smash website .
Click on the image to enlarge
From Burger
Diablo and Irv chose Le Classic while Slimmefik went for Le Special. All with bacon of course. You order directly at the cash register and mainly all self-service. The burgers are served in a piece of paper. Neatly wrapped and a sticker indicates which burger it is. A good presentation which also makes unpacking a party. It is immediately noticeable that the bun is of a good size. The meat and the toppings are clearly visible, a bit messy but we can appreciate that. With the first bite it was immediately clear, this is delicious and they have clearly paid the necessary attention to it. The meat is well prepared, nice and tender and juicy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Is that bad? On the contrary, it gives their burger more character. The burger also has something familiar in terms of taste. By using ketchup and mustard they have managed to create that specific signature taste of the McDonald's hamburger. But this is clearly more, call it McDonald's Premium++. According to Slimmefik, their special sauce is inspired by the Big Mac sauce. Also interesting and certainly worth mentioning, the menu states that there is a pickle on Le Classic. However, there is not a single pickle to be seen. That is because it comes in the form of a sauce and is applied to the bun using a piping bag. Very cleverly thought out. Diablo really appreciated this since he does not like loose pickles on his burgers. And even the onions, not whole but chopped. It may be clear, a nod to McDonald's but with care and love they have given their own twist to it. And let's be honest, the burgers of the Mac are miles behind these burgers.
We are also very pleased with the bun. Good size and well toasted on the inside. Where most places give you a bun that is only toasted on the edges, this one is not. It certainly did not get soggy, the burger and ingredients stayed neatly in place. There was no sliding involved. We therefore think that this is a very bona fide burger, everything is just right.
The Fries
Diablo and Slimmefik for the cheese fries. The fries are somewhere between French fries and regular fries, which we rate as French fries+. They are well done, but Irv's fries were noticeably gritty. Diablo and Slimmefik noticed less of that because of the cheese sauce. We were very pleased with the sauces we got with our fries. We also bet that Le Smash makes them themselves. Slimmefik had a brainwave and created self-made animal style fries by pouring the sauce over the fries. What also finished it off was that parsley was sprinkled over the fries and that was reflected in the taste. Or was it coriander? We were sure it was parsley because coriander has such a typical soapy taste. You either like it or you don't. "Coriander divides society" quoted by Slimmefik. Another point of attention is that our fries were not very warm.
Judgement
Pros
- Bonafide smash burgers, everything was right
- Homemade sauce
- Bold citizens with character
- It shows balls to serve McDonald's inspired burgers
- Perfectly toasted buns
Negatives
- Location
- Grit in fries
- Fries were not warm
- Beer choice, but this was due to delivery problems
Overall rating
What can we say? We love it. Le Smash is a definite must. Everything was right for us. The meat, the crunch, the bun and how they maintain that signature taste. The burger was perfectly seasoned and we have rarely seen a bun that is so well toasted on the inside. Every bite was to savor even more. And it shows real balls to us when you have burgers that are inspired by those of McDonald's. Unfortunately we could not ask if this was really the case because the chef was busy. Feel free to stop by in De Pijp and give them a try!
Irv: 8,4
Diablo: 8,5
Slimmefik: 8,4
Also check out our other burger reviews .
