One of my very best friends moved to Newcastle recently, which was an excellent excuse for a trip to visit. I had never been to Newcastle before, and three of us made a weekend of it: arrived on Friday evening, left on Sunday afternoon, and over the span of 40 hours, we ate, drank and visited an ancient Roman archaeological site.

The key highlight for me, however, was a visit to Brack Burger. Arriving on the Sunday to the pseudo-industrial site located under one of Newcastle’s many bridges, we were initially turned away. Not accepting customers to eat in, we were able to obtain takeaway.

I’m glad we did.

Their main burger is super unusual, in that it is a smashed burger which is smashed beyond anything else that I’ve ever tasted before. The bugger patty was incredibly crispy, with truly outstanding levels of crunch – in a burger patty! Sometimes, in a burger, a piece of bacon, lettuce or other addition will protrude from the burger bun – but here, the patty was so incredibly crispy, the beef patty itself stuck out.

This was an outstanding burger, and great to enjoy.

Michael Josem is a long-term consumer advocate, most prominently as a global leader in combating fraud in the online gambling industry. He was in part the inspiration for the 20th Century Fox Movie, Runner Runner, starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake.

Josem has over a decade of experience as a senior business leader working across various high-tech and online industries, and takes action to build a better community. His primary volunteer roles include service for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and Graih, the homelessness charity.