MORE TO BURGERS MENU THAN MEATS THE EYE!
AWELSH restaurant famous for its luxurious beef burgers has snapped up a national award for a vegan burger. Hills Brecon took home the Vegan Burger of the Year award at the National Burger Awards held in London. Chef Cai Williams won the award for his plant-based creation – and it’s not even on their menu yet.
Hills is known for its meat-based burger creations, even creating a gold coated burger that cost the same as 18 Big Macs. The Brecon-based restaurant has been open for five years, after owners Owain and Emily Hill took the caravan site in the Brecon Beacons and turned it into a foodie destination attracting customers from across the UK.
The menu features towering burgers with flavours including gravy and chips, buttermilk chicken, and New York pastrami and well as some imaginative specials. For instance, this month you can get a chicken carbonara burger or even a Lotus Biscoff cheeseburger.
Now home to the best vegan burger in the UK, the team says it is proud of Cai and his award-winning vegan recipe.
“We’re very proud of Cai for taking part and bringing home the best vegan burger in the UK,” Owain told Wales on Sunday.
Cai said that he was “shocked” and “very happy” to win the award.
He added: “We cook loads of beefburgers every day and to win a vegan award was very, very different.”
“We do try and change the menu for the vegan options every month so we’ve always got a really interesting vegan selection as well, so perhaps that will make people realise as well.
“It’s obviously a growing market and we get more and more requests for it, so we have over the years tried to really push it,” Owain said.
But the winning vegan burger hasn’t actually been on the restaurant’s menu yet, although Owain says that it now “definitely will be”.
The Asian-inspired burger consisted of a recipe including spring onions, pickled red cabbage, and a plant-based patty.
“I love Asian food at the moment and trying new things, so I thought why not try it out? I really enjoyed it when I tried it so I went with it,” Cai said.
“It’s nice to see more vegan options available in places now and that we can match the quality of the produce across the board. So, not just have really good beefburgers, but have an offering for everyone as well,” Owain said.