Smash Daddy's Burgers: Finally! someone does something different and good

Burgers are a type of food that is available all over the world no matter where you are. It's just one of those things that everyone likes for whatever reason. I am no exception. The problem with most burger places is that they are extremely uninspired as far as their offerings are concerned because burgers are kind of seen as something that everyone can do, even if they suck at it. The end result is that in Chiang Mai alone, there are probably a hundred burger joints and almost none of them are actually good or memorable.

Smash Daddy's changed that all for me.

I had heard about this new place because of word of mouth. People were saying that it "really is different" but I had to try it with my own mouth in order to believe it. Hype travels so quickly these days that I halfway expected it to be overpriced, promoted crap but honestly guys, it is anything but that.

There really isn't a whole lot that you can do with a meat patty in order to make it better but this place does something that I feel is so important when making a burger memorable: The sauce.

The various sauces that they add to things are just exceptional and when I looked into it I found out that co-founder John Jasins is actually a real chef with experience working in multiple Michelin-rated restaurants in multiple places in the world. This is evident from the first bite.

I had a chance to sit down with John at one point for a bit and he discussed a few things that are beyond my ability to understand as far as "chef stuff" is concerned but he is of the mindset that if you can't find the necessary ingredients that made one of their offerings it is better to just not have the item available that day than it is to have a lower-quality alternative. I totally agree with this notion and am happy to report that they very rarely ever run out of anything because they stay on top of their stock.

Are all smash burgers the same? Well, I am sure a lot of people think so and before going to Smash Daddy's I would have been the first person to say that you can't re-invent the bicycle in relation to burgers. But they did exactly that and have already built a wonderful (and deserved) reputation for themselves.

You can expect this place to be busy during all hours but they have enough staff that you will not have to wait very long. While I am not familiar with their cooking process I know that the times I have been there it was busy, but my product was consistently good.

Now it is more expensive than other places and there are certain points in your life that you simply have to admit that there is a correlation between price and quality. For me, I would much rather pay a bit more and get something that is good rather than pay almost nothing and get some sort of minimart processed food product for 50 cents.

$6 seems like a lot for a burger in SE Asia, and there are certainly cheaper options available at probably a hundred other places in just this city, but I am the kind of person that wants to enjoy their food and well, that's the price you have to pay for excellence.

While not directly downtown in the tourist / moat area of town, it is close enough that you can walk to the location and in my opinion, it is definitely worth it. In a world of common burgers being ubiquitous, I find it really refreshing that a place like this exists in Chiang Mai. It's just a pity that it is 14km from my house but whatever man! I'll make the journey because it really is that much of a difference.