October the 11th, 2024 – In addition to all of the impressive delicacies on offer, the latest edition of the Zagreb Burger Festival won us over with a tangible amount of emotion and commitment from each of the participants. Come, enjoy their creations, vote for your favourites and have a great time at Franjo Tuđman Square until October the 20th!
After a longer than usual wait, we were finally able to welcome the oldest and (to many) favourite street food festival, the Zagreb Burger Festival. It opened on Thursday, October the 10th at Dr. Franjo Tuđman Square, where carefully selected chefs and grill masters will delight visitors with their hit burgers and their latest creations until Sunday, October the 20th.
We’ve been used to the Zagreb Burger Festival arriving in the capital in September for years, so this year we were really ready for it given that it began later on. On the very first day, we hurried to check out what was on offer at thirteen huts surrounded in the spacious park coloured with the orange and red tinges of autumn.
burger bar
We started out with our tasting session under a clear and sunny sky at 24 degrees Celsius, and we first enjoyed two powerful burgers from the Burger Bar. With their Signature 2.0 and Smoked Chilli burgers, they once again showed uncompromising courage in both their combinations and approach. The Signature 2.0 is made from light brioche pastry toasted with butter, 20 dkg of 100% beef steak, pancetta, caramelised onions, rocket, sweet gorgonzola and homemade mayonnaise. The Smoked Chilli also comes in a light brioche bun toasted with butter. It consists of 20 dkg of 100% beef steak, Edam cheese, fried onions, jalapeño peppers and homemade smokey spicy mayonnaise.
grof lovski
We continued in style with Grof Lovski’s amazing venison burgers. Grof Lovski its premiere presentation at the Zagreb Burger Festival unforgettable – we tasted everything and loved it all, but if we really had to single out our favourites, then we’d have to recommend the Lovski Smash burger with venison in a brioche bun with yellow sauce, cheese, pancetta, fried onions and Chinese cabbage, as well as the Shish Burger – shish kebab coated with cream in an oblong flatbread.
thai thai
The sun was still warm when Thai Thai’s turn came around. It’s a true oasis for all those on the hunt for more exotic combinations. Visitors will be more than delighted by their Pad Thai beef burger coated in rich peanut sauce, Cheddar cheese, Asian coleslaw salad, pickled onions and peanuts. For those those who want more intense flavours, there’s the Tom Yum beef burger with tom yum sauce, bacon, Cheddar cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickled fresh cucumbers and fried onions. They also have bao buns and classic pad thai as well as mango sticky rice, fries and sweet potatoes – that’s when we realised that we’d have to come back again.
rajska tomatoes to help the burgers go down…
Our first Zagreb Burger Festival experience for this year was then further enriched by the presentation of Rajska tomatoes from Sveta Nedelja led by Marin Nekić. Marin expertly suggested which tomato would best cleanse the palate for the next burger.
oui chef
Next in line was Oui Chef by Vedran Stojanac. We’d already fallen head over heels in love with his pasta delicacies from cheese rolls and black risotto, but this time he disarmed us even more with his incredible burgers. Nima tice do prasica is a unique combination of burgers in homemade sourdough focaccia with slow-roasted pork neck steak, coleslaw and green salad, romanesco sauce, grated cheese, and black pig lard. Pobuna u kokosinja is a crispy chicken burger wrapped in no less than Pringles chips with aurora sauce, marinated onions, green salad and grated cheese. We can’t possibly forget Kravlje, madness Vol. 2 with beef, onion jam, homemade pickles, melted cheese, BBQ sauce and salad.
institut za burgere (the burger institute)
To be frank, we thought we already knew everything about the Institut za burgere by Mate Janković, but we were wrong. Mate managed to knock us off our feet with ease with his smash variations of the burgers we know and love. We’d single out the Onion Cheese Smash, which is made in a burger bun with 100% domestically grown beef, Cheddar cheese, honey mustard, melted cheese spread, onion jam, jalapeño peppers and fried onions. These are all just letters on paper until you actually bite into this mouthwatering and perfectly balanced fantasy.
Ivan Pažanin’s Chef’s Burger arrived at 2024’s Zagreb Burger Festival with seemingly familiar names, but they were all upgraded in turn. This year, we’ve got the 2.0 versions of the hits: Crispy Kapule, Original Cheese burger and Creamy Pomodoro.
We then tasted the Creamy Pomodoro 2.0, which is homemade beef in a potato bun, with Cheddar cheese, basil garlic mayonnaise, cherry tomato jam, purple onion and arugula. Here, too, we were completely enchanted by the balance and juiciness, which isn’t easy to get when you’re working with tricky potato pastry. We appreciated the creativity and passion that everyone brought to each of the served burgers so much that we didn’t even notice when it started to rain. Not only did the rain not hinder us, but it actually enhanced the afternoon charged with the palpable emotions of the participants.
good food
It was then Zagreb’s popular Good Food’s turn, where we decided on the Crispy Chicken Slaw burger, which wins with perfectly prepared crispy chicken fillet, Cheddar cheese, coleslaw salad, fried onions and sweet’n’sour sauce. We’ll definitely be back to try their Fresh Feta and Caprese Pesto burgers as they both sound absolutely irresistible.
bold.burger, guloso burgers & more, picnic mingle & fun and ice cone
Last but by no means least, we have four amazing aces left: Bold.Burger, Guloso Burgers & More, Picnic Mingle & Fun and Ice Crone, but we had a break from this hedonistic adventure to wash down the burgers with some excellent Ginglebells cocktails.
They have 23 delicious cocktails on the menu, but this time we stuck to the best Mojito that you’ll ever taste at any festival, made with refreshing Yuzu Collins and Teranino spritz. This was followed by a phenomenal selection of smash burgers from Bold.Burger, which has become a cult Zagreb gastronomic sensation in just a few days since the opening of the restaurant on Britanski Trg (British Square).
That cult status is more than justified, and we easily concluded that after tasting their Kaj, Bacon and Brisket burgers, the recipe for which was made by the legendary Ivan Zidar, who once again showed that burgers are not a trend but a true passion.
Dubrovnik’s Guloso arrived with its heavyweights which have been crowned with numerous awards already, and we decided on last year’s winner of the international burger festival in Belgrade, the Cheesy Special. Here, once again, the technique and the balance of flavours are so perfect that it’s unnecessary to list the ingredients – trust us, you just have to try it. With great joy, we ended our first visit to the Zagreb Burger festival with Picnic’s refreshing Prawn Burger and another novelty – the Blue Cheese burger, which they make with gorgonzola, fig chutney, apple, dijon aioli and pancetta.
Believe it or not, we’d left just enough room for the popular dessert – Ice Crone – which is soft serve vanilla or chocolate ice cream in a hot croissant topped with any sauce you like – from salted caramel, pistachio to strawberry, and sprinkled with hazelnut, pistachio or colourful sprinkles.
We’re happy that there are ten more days of this year’s Zagreb Burger Festival still ahead of us, because we’ll definitely be back, and for two reasons; the first is because of the food we didn’t try on the first day, and the second is because of the varied and rich programme that accompanies that food.
On Friday, October the 11th, the popular Pinelli and wine workshop is scheduled. On Saturday from noon, Krešimir and Gregor from Zg Street Art will arrive, and they’ll teach everyone interested how to make stickers. On Tuesday from 17:30, there will be a fun and educational Food quiz by Metro hosted by Ribafish, on Wednesday there’s a free concert from the duo Kuzma and Shaka Zulu, and the Connect concert has been moved from the opening to Saturday, October the 19th.
There’s the huge Zagi kids zone with adrenaline adventures for the youngest visitors to the Zagreb Burger Festival available. All users of ZABA Mastercard cards can also enjoy a 10% Happy Hour discount every day from 12:00 to 15:00, and most importantly, all visitors can vote for during the Festival via QR codes on the booths.
On October the 20th, we’ll get to find out which of the participants will take home the prestigious title of winner of Zagreb Burger Festival Zagreb.
Follow the Zagreb Burger Festival on Facebook and Instagram for all the news, surprises and registration methods!
