This American Smashed Cheeseburger Joint in Delhi Should be on Everyone's Radar - Al Nihar in Okhla Vihar

Doomscrolling on social media may be one of the most unproductive things one can choose to do with their time. You’re frying your dopamine receptors for an ounce of joy, draining your mind with bucketloads of fabricated content, sowing seeds of insecurity, jealousy, toxicity and despair in your hearts and minds, gaining little in return, apart from the answer to “what’s the theme of Puneet Superstar’s 50 latest reels” and “which generic redneck Republican did Hurt Cobain QT-dunk on again” (I write, as I have already opened twitter eight times since I’ve started writing this piece. The notifications on my cooking posts are just too addictive ;-;). And on one such fine day, I had skipped college (as DU grads often do) in favour of lying in my bed and doomscrolling Twitter and Instagram instead (as lame DU grads like me often do). The Instagram stories of my mutuals bored me. There are only so many normie memes one can scroll through before you decide to go back to playing video games again. But then, I stumbled across an ad which caught my eye, and my tongue. On display was a smoking hot meat patty covered with oozes of melted cheese, a sight that was mouthwatering to my procrastinating self. I went to their Instagram page, which featured a variety of reels, mostly consisting of minced meat patties being smashed on a grill, and it immediately appealed to me. I sent some of their reels to a friend, who started salivating instantaneously. Hoping they stood for something good, we planned to go there, and check out their fare to see if it were as good as advertised.

Cheese Burger from Al Nihar

A week later, we reached the spot, located in a small basement on Tikona Park Road, the true definition of a “hole in a wall”, as clueless bystanders could easily miss the place if they aren’t paying attention. We walked down the stairs to the place, greeted by the aroma of smashed Chicken, Mutton and Buffalo meat patties cooking on the grill located just outside the door, quite a contrast to the area around it, Okhla and Zakir Nagar being known for its Old Delhi-style Kebaab and Nihaari joints, and not necessarily very popular for their American fare. In fact, Al Nihar used to be a Nihaari shop before they took a westward turn! Hence the name “Al Nihar”. The menu is pretty simple - they serve an assortment of smashed burgers in one of three meats - chicken, mutton or buffalo and loaded fries with minced meat and a cheese sauce, with a couple of flavoured sodas to go on the side.

As for the burgers, they’re quality you can taste. There’s a bunch of them to choose from - the “Cheese Burger” has lettuce, grilled onions, tomatoes and their special sauce, the “Loaded Cheese Burger” has pickled jalapenos and cheese sauce, the “BBQ Loaded Cheese Burger” is a Loaded Cheese Burger with BBQ Sauce added, the “Double Patty Cheese Burger”, which is my favourite as it nails the ratio between the bread and the meat, is the regular Cheese Burger with an extra cheese slice and patty, and the “Keto Cheeseburger Box” doesn’t have a bun, instead, has extra lettuce, an extra patty, tomatoes, grilled onions and pickles. They also serve a “Triple Cheese Burger”, which is the Cheese Burger with two extra patties, but that’s too much meat in my opinion. Their Loaded Fries are covered with a blanket of minced meat, their burger sauce, their cheese sauce and jalapenos. Its a perfect side to accompany the burgers.

Triple Cheese Burger from Al Nihar

Loaded Cheese Burger (foreground) and BBQ Loaded Cheese Burger (background) from Al Nihar

Al Nihar lived upto the excitement. The reason why I’m lovin’ it is because they keep things simple and nail the basics - the patties are thick and very well seasoned, and grilled to a charry, meaty perfection, their smoky edges jagging out from the bun, a perfect contrast to the much juicier and softer interior of the patty, with a cheese slice on top which, in classic American style, is seared to a perfect, melted consistency. Quality is their recipe, and you can taste how impeccably fresh the ingredients they use are. The buns are fluffy and laced with sesame seeds that break up the flavour of the bread. The loaded fries are a perfect companion to the bun, with each layer revealing something joyous underneath it - first the delicate cheese, then the chewy, spiced meat, and lastly the crispy, salted fries.

Loaded Fries from Al Nihar

Blue Ocean and Spicy Guava from Al Nihar

The burgers and fries, combined with their sodas (I’ve had the “Blue Ocean” and “Spicy Guava”, both of which are very refreshing, and are akin to a chilly breeze that cools you down on a hot and humid Bombay summer day, which is much needed, as traversing your way through Zakir Nagar’s crowded pathways tends to heat the body up, which is further intensified by the fact that one is having a rather hot cuisine in freshly grilled burgers), transport me to an era I have never witnessed. Their fare is a perfect gameday meal, and with every bite, I am transported to America of the 1950s, a land quite different from the locality we’ve just visited, ours being known by its dense, jampacked, busy lanes with Mughlai joints and kurta shops interwoven with residential housing, and theirs characterized by the vastness and emptiness of the suburb, one that allows families to link up in barbeque parties on the weekend and grill burgers in open air. With every bite, I imagine myself sitting in the old Yankee Stadium, witnessing Stengel’s Yankees establish themself as the greatest dynasty in world sport since the invention of monarchy by some anonymous Ancient Egyptian (of course until Dhoni’s Super Kings came about), munching on stadium fare, which really is what Al Nihar’s food is perfect for. With the sport season peaking starting this September through November, you’ll see me ordering from their place more often, and honestly? I’d recommend you do so as well. For I may never be able to witness munching on some greasy burgers while the Yankees humiliate the Red Sox at the old Yankee Stadium, I sure can recreate that experience sitting in the comfort of my couch, and you bet I will.

Recommendations : Double Cheese Burger (9.5/10), BBQ Cheese Burger (8.75/10), Loaded Cheese Burger (9.25/10), Cheese Burger (8.5/10) Loaded Fries (8.25/10)

Location : 278-A/1 Lower Ground Floor, Tikona Park Road, Opposite. Al Falah, Delhi, 110025

Note that rating on the various burgers is highly subjective. I’ve rated them according to my personal taste, but they’re all great. I’d recommend ordering what you like based on the descriptions.

Also note that they’ve opened a new branch, which, unlike the description in my review, is something you can quite visibly notice from the street. They only allow sit-in orders till around 2100, after that its takeaway.