The Burger Coy: Gourmet quality burgers at an affordable price in Amoy Street Food Centre

There’s a reason why nearly all fast-food restaurants have burgers and fries on their menu. It’s renowned for being part of a balanced diet. The carbs from the buns, proteins from the patties, dairy from the cheese and greens from the lettuce effortlessly cover the food triangle. The good ol’ burger’s health benefits have resulted in it appearing more often in the hawker scene, with The Burger Coy being one of its latest additions.

In case the sarcasm flew way over your head or if SETHLUI.com has any future Health Promotion Board sponsors, the first paragraph is a joke. Burgers and fries are delicious and should be eaten in moderation, just like everything else.

The Burger Coy is a Muslim-owned burger pit stop at Amoy Street Food Centre that opened on 1 June 2022. It is easily accessible via the Tanjong Pagar MRT station. In a place where hawker sign boards are plastered haphazardly with low-resolution images of food, The Burger Coy stands out with its sleek and clean logo.

Seriously, those orbit (or old-fashioned) sign board designs have got to go!

Before I could even take a proper look at the menu, I was already impressed by seeing patties being ‘pattied’ before my eyes. They were sprinkled with salt and pepper, shaped and measured, before being placed on a tray of patties. The chicken breast was also seasoned on the spot with peri-peri seasonings.

Your move, fast food restaurants.

What I tried at The Burger Coy

Understandably, there weren’t many choices, which made choosing your food easier. Having had countless cheeseburgers, I had to try The Cheeseburger (S$6.80 for single patty, S$9.30 for double).

I never liked chicken burgers (yes, even the McSpicy) but The Peri-Peri Chicken Burger (S$7.80 for single patty, S$10.30 for double) was calling out to me with its non-battered chicken breast. 

Each meal came with a side of French Fries that can be upgraded to Cheese Fries (S$2.50) or Truffle Fries (S$3.50) and I had the latter.

Other burger choices include The Truffle Mushroom Beef Burger (S$8.80 for single patty, S$11.30 for double) and The Black Pepper Beef Burger (S$8.80 for single patty, S$11.30 for double). 

I know I said I had countless cheeseburgers, but this was unlike anything I had before. Instead of the usual ketchup and mustard sauce, it had homemade Sriracha sauce. The pickles were replaced with fried garlic flakes and there was lettuce on the base. 

Do you remember the first time you had candy floss? How bewildered you were as the flossy candy literally dissolved in your mouth? That was exactly how I felt after my first bite, minus the drooling saliva.

I’m really not sure which melted first— the brioche bun or the patty— as my first chew lasted five seconds long. This was a really, really good burger. 

Every ingredient, from the brioche bun to even the fresh and crunchy lettuce, was working in tandem with one another. Even the crunchy garlic bits, provided some earthy notes with their slight bitterness.

I did enjoy the homemade Sriracha sauce, as it added a slight spice element that worked well with the creaminess of the cheese. I’d be lying if I wasn’t fantasising about how good it would taste with some good ol’ ketchup and mustard, but hey, we’re all about trying something new here in SETHLUI.com.

It was almost unnaturally juicy, especially given how thin the patty was and not to mention, it was made from actual minced meat.

The French Fries were most certainly frozen, but they were cooked to order and were really warm and crispy. It was seasoned with seaweed and salt, but it tasted pretty normal and was lacking in another pinch of salt.

Up next, The Peri-Peri Chicken Burger. There was nothing you wouldn’t expect out of a chicken burger: chicken breast marinated in peri-peri seasoning, lettuce, cheddar cheese and peri-peri mayonnaise sauce.

I have to point out again how impressed I am with them using non-battered chicken breast. Not only can you appreciate the taste of the chicken, it is also healthier (but still to be eaten in moderation please).

It didn’t have the juicy bite that I was expecting and the flavours were pretty mild compared to the salt and pepper seasoned patties that I had. The sauce was much better than the first, though it tasted a tad too similar. It had an extra kick of spice that I could appreciate, but that was about it.

I’d still have this over any chicken burger, but the limitations of cooking chicken breast on a grill were magnified by its dryness.

The Truffle Fries were also a slight letdown as the parmesan cheese and truffle flavour weren’t really prominent. I could only get a hint of truffle flavour no matter how many fries I devoured.

In hindsight, I would have gone with the Cheese Fries. Despite it being your typical store-bought cheese and mayonnaise combination, at least I know that it’ll coat my fries in flavour. (It’s cheaper too!)

Final thoughts 

I have to admit, there was a sense of betrayal that overcame me as I was chewing the leftovers on my bed. All those gourmet burgers that I had in the past never came close to tasting as good as what I had at The Burger Coy.

They even had the cheek to charge double and sometimes even triple of what I paid for my meal earlier on. Never again.

Before this starts to sound like a corny villain origin story, I cannot recommend The Burger Coy enough. This is a no-frills delicious food experience and the price fairly reflects that.

If the prospect of having thin patties still bothers you, just add another! If my opinion on The Peri-Peri Chicken Burger turned you off, know that it’s miles above whatever fast food alternatives that you can get. 

One thing’s for sure, I’ll never look at a Quarter Pounder the same way ever again.

Expected damage: S$6.30 – S$7.80 per pax

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