The Good Burger?

Market research is never an enjoyable way to spend time - there's always too many people who love the sound of their own voice and everyone tries to throw in sly boasts about themselves that don't really interest anyone else (good for you, prime minister's EXECUTIVE assistant!) but they can work out to be cost effective.  Keeping things efficient, while we were in the neighbourhood, me and the boys decided to try the new burger joint, The Counter.  The menu from the web site seemed gourmet but not too gourmet - and the very salty kumera fries seemed to bode well for what was coming.  An interesting method of ordering - a tick the boxes menu with a mix of traditional and relatively unique ingredients was a bit disconcerting - too many choices of traditional and "premium" extras and far too many sauces - there were some standards on the menu but they didn't really appeal.  I'm not a big fan of the build your own burger - I always end up putting things on that I like individually or I like in other burgers but don't really gel when they're put on in the combinations I choose.  I want someone else to design my hamburger - if there's something on it I don't like or something extra I want I can always change the order.  The vast variety of ingredients that can go into a hamburger means an almost infinite variety of burgers but in truth there is only a very FINITE number of great burger designs - The Third Pounder with Cheese (from BurgerFuel), the classic Milk Bar with beetroot is another, even the Big Mac for all its faults is a brilliant design, having conquered the world.  The problem was not the combination, I don't think, the bun was cold and not toasted, the sauces were substandard (and I had to apply them myself!), the patty was too thick and too raw (truth be told, I had ordered a big one and we were warned it was only medium) and in the end the whole thing was just way too thick and it almost fell to pieces as I struggled to wrap my laughing gear around it.  It needed to be flatter (a Doofer wouldn't have gone astray although I don't think there's been a Doofer constructed that would hold this monstrosity).  The decor was eminently forgettable but I could get a beer and the waitress was nice.  These things are not important when it comes to enjoying the sandwich - don't get me wrong, it was tasty, it was a good burger but it wasn't a great burger.