Bunsen opens its first store outside of Ireland, in Barcelona!
If you have been visiting Ireland in recent years and you are a true foodie (and especially a lover of hamburgers) I'm sure you've followed very closely in the footsteps of this Irish chain that already has seven stores in the country, distributed between Dublin, Cork and Belfast , either through recommendations from friends, acquaintances, forums, magazines or online restaurant rating platforms.
And it is that for many, ** Bunsen is considered one of the best hamburgers in all of Ireland ** and its best known place, located a short distance from the famous Temple Bar , is a place of pilgrimage for lovers of this delicious snack.
And now, fortunately, they have decided to internationalize and For a few months Barcelona has had a new place to be in the city: Bunsen is here to stay!
The venue can be found in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, specifically on Calle Ferran 46, a short distance from the Liceu metro stop, the perfect area to enjoy the true essence of Barcelona in one of its oldest and liveliest enclaves.
The God of the Three and Elisava's students design the windows of the Bunsen hamburger restaurant
BUNSEN, THE MOST KNOWN BURGER STORE IN IRELAND
It was six years ago when two Irish cousins Finn and Tom Gleeson , after passing through Michelin-starred restaurants such as The Fat Duck or Le Bernardin , They decided to pursue their own dreams and started this business venture that does not stop giving them good news.
“Bunsen started in 2013 on a back street in Dublin. First came the hipsters and then the bloggers”, tells Tom Gleeson to Traveler.es. Later came the avalanche of positive reviews, foodies and tourists who did the rest.
Its motto or company philosophy is "Keep It Simple" , because you don't need many pretensions, nor an extensive menu or a wide variety of ingredients to make something great.
It is enough to know how to specialize in something specific and carry it out always seeking maximum excellence. If that is achieved, the rest will follow. And in Bunsen, what if it has arrived.
The MESURA studio signs the decoration of the Barcelona premises
The great secret of its success is so simple that it is even complex because not all restaurants today can boast of it: the great quality of its products and an unbeatable cover letter.
“We use 100% Irish meat, specifically Black Aberdeen Angus supplied by FX Buckley which comes from the Irish fields. We chop our burgers fresh every morning at every restaurant and add salt and pepper before cooking as the only seasoning. If we sell all the burgers ahead of schedule, we close that day,” says Tom Gleeson.
A business project that is focused from the outset on offer excellence in both meat and bread served daily in each and every one of the chain's stores.
And let's talk about your bread! Because what bread... This is a revision of the classic American-style bagel (known as Amish) and this time it follows the same recipe as that of the locals in Ireland, but it is prepared in a local bakery of friends of the owners located in Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona). The rest of the ingredients are 100% fresh.
"We chop our burgers fresh every morning at every restaurant"
A LETTER THAT FITS IN A BUSINESS CARD
Bunsen's cover letter deserves a separate recognition. As soon as you enter the premises you discover that this hamburger restaurant does not have a proper menu, but rather the four burger options that you will have to choose from are located on a small business card.
Choosing has never been so easy! It's time to say goodbye to the dozens of possible combinations that torment the most indecisive when it comes to making the perfect burger.
You can choose between the normal burger, double, with cheese or double with cheese. And to these add pickle, onion, lettuce or tomato. And the final touch? The sauce that mixes mayonnaise, mustard and tomato sauce achieving a combination of flavors that will conquer even the most demanding palates.
Accompany the hamburger some crunchy potatoes to choose between homemade, extra-fine or sweet potato. A piece of advice: if you are a person passionate about sweet potatoes, you have to try theirs yes or yes.
You can choose home-cut potatoes, extra-fine or sweet potato
THE DECORATION OF BUNSEN IN THE CITY OF CONDAL
Although the most logical thing would have been to open in England when internationalizing as a company, Tom and Finn decided to expand in Barcelona as a first option.
Firstly because of the economic and political situation in the United Kingdom and secondly because both partners are passionate from each and every one of the corners of Spain this country being one of their favorite places to visit, so one day they thought.
"Why not open a Bunsen here?" Said and done. Tom Gleeson recounts that it took more than two years to find the premises in Barcelona until they finally found the one on Ferrán street.
“The obvious expansion for an Irish business is to go to the UK, but We always have more fun going to Barcelona and we prefer to spend time there”, says Tom.
Are we facing the best hamburger in Barcelona?
And once found, it was time to reform it. For its fine-tuning they have had the experience and professionalism of MEASURING , an architecture and interior design studio with headquarters in Barcelona.
This collaboration arose as a result of the fact that one of the founders of the study spent a period in Dublin and thanks to mutual friends the best of Measure and Bunsen came together in the capital of Ireland.
This synergy meant that years later, they were the ones who were in charge of all the reform of the premises to which they have dedicated a total of 1,000 hours.
As for the decoration, from Measure they have it clear: “We wanted a fluid and open space, very similar to the Mediterranean culture in which it is located. We like the project to be local: the neighborhood, the shapes and the alleys of the Barri Gotic", they explain.
"From the first moment, Bunsen wanted to work with an architect from Barcelona, because he did not want to seem like a multinational that came to conquer the land but to integrate itself within its context”. And everything seems to indicate that they have succeeded.
Your motto? keep it simple
The result? A decoration inspired by the labyrinthine and curved streets of the Gothic Quarter that responds to the urban and informal spirit of the hamburger chain and of the city of Barcelona as a whole.
For its part, Bunsen couldn't be happier with the end result of the project. “It was great to see the standard of design in Barcelona and the passion creative people have for making things great and beautiful,” says Tom Gleeson.
THE FUTURE OF BUNSEN
Now that it has started to expand, it is foreseeable that new openings of establishments will arrive in Spain very soon and who knows if in other European cities.
The reception could not have been better and in just the few months that it has been filming it has already become one of the reference hamburger restaurants in Barcelona. So, for the moment, we have Bunsen for a while.
His great long-term plan is to become the No. 1 hamburger restaurant in this country. Because as they say: “If we are the first in Ireland, why not be the first in Spain as well?” Time and people will tell!
The new place-to-be in Barcelona