Smashies Burger @ Metro Genting, Setapak

Every suburb deserves its own burger parlor; with that philosophy in mind, starting this month, Setapaks residents can munch on Smashies burgers, a half-hours drive from KLs city center.

Naysayers will nitpick that Smashies seems more like an imitator than innovator, borrowing inspiration from Seaparks MyBurgerLab & Subangs Crayon Burger. That feels true, but its no reason to deprive legions of burger lovers of having more hangouts to conveniently choose from, especially since demand remains robust.

Buns colored with natural ingredients are among Smashies hallmarks. The charcoal-black ones will be familiar to fans of MyBurgerLab & the pink buns evoke Crayon Burgers red yeast creations; the more novel introductions are yellow buns laced with lentils & orange ones made faintly tangy with the Mandarin fruit.

Basic burgers here contain smashed beef patties, cheese, beef bacon, caramelized onions & hash browns, scoring reasonable marks for both juiciness & flavor. In other words, even though Smashies isnt exceptional, its still enjoyable enough.

Well-versed customers might justifiably feel a been-there, eaten-that lethargy, but well keep a positive attitude toward Smashies. Sure, to use the cliche, theres nothing to shout about here, but folks constantly looking for something to shout about can get irritating.