The Medium-Rare Letter: Burger Shaming at Eggslut in Causeway Bay

I may be very well late to the game with this one. But I still don’t have an iPhone, I’ve never posted an Instagram story (and am not really sure how), and like Dr. Dre (aka Dre Brickhard the Mechanic) I still rock my khakis with a cuff and a crease (“still the beats bang, still doing my thing, since I left ain’t too much changed”). 

As a mindless, YouTube food show fiend, I was no stranger to an infamous L.A. breakfast sandwich and burger restaurant that, in name, appearance, and taste, appeals to both the gastronomic and prurient interests of generations cursed by crippling social media addictions and narcissism. I mean, with a name like ‘Eggslut’, it was set to catch your attention no matter what – even for those who take qualms with the crassness of its etymology. 

That’s ‘Marketing 101’ right there. 

I didn’t take as long as I did to patronize this promiscuous chicken restaurant because of any sort of moral high ground or pseudo-intellectual protest against social media self-aggrandizing, I just simply didn’t know that there was a location in Hong Kong. So, when I found out there was a (relatively) recently opened branch in Causeway Bay, I clucked with excitement and knew I better taste it before the sky inevitably falls. 

On the second day of Chinese New Year, after a quick gym sesh, I kept my smelly running shoes on and chicken ran out to this former fishing town turned densely populated mini-city of consumeristic tribalism to see if Eggslut’s burger was just fowl or actually foul. 

Here’s what I found.

Eggslut: Naughty Breakfast Sandwiches & Burgers From Cali to Hong Kong

Website, Address, & Details: https://www.eggsluthk.com/

• Location: 27-47, Shop 2 on G/F & Shop F-1 on 1/F, Fashion Walk 11-19 Great George Street, & Paterson St, Causeway Bay
• Price: $$  – The cheeseburger and a Coke Zero came out to $115, so it is definitely on the pricier side. 

First opened as a Los Angeles food truck in 2011 by Alvin Cailan, Eggslut came hot onto the burger and most importantly, (just kidding) Instagram scene with its sinful egg sandwiches and signature coddled eggs on pureed potato side (appropriately named ‘The Slut’). 

Is there any better feeling than when that buzzer lights up red and starts wildly flopping around on the table like a freshly caught tuna?

It quickly garnered acclaim and attention (clout?) due to its peculiar and risqué name, an ode to the popular phrase tossed around in the mid-2000s by millennials that habitually topped any and every dish with an egg, glowing features in Bon Appetit, and ever-so-Instagrammable fare. 

After opening a brick-and-mortar shop in 2013, in L.A.’s Grand Central Market, Eggslut took things globally, hatching eight additional locations in a handful of Asian cities (Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, and of course, Hong Kong), and select cities (Las Vegas, London, and Kuwait City – although, I believe the Kuwait location is now closed).      

You may have come across Alvin before on the popular food-culture YouTube channel or magazine ‘First We Feast’ (“Hi, I’m your host Sean Evans”), where he hosts ‘The Burger Show’ (running since 2018). This is what first put Alvin and Eggslut on my radar. He has also subsequently made countless appearances in the YouTube burger-verse – my favorite being with the “burger king” himself, George Motz. 

If you’re heading to Causeway Bay via MTR, take exit E to get within a dozen or so meters of Eggslut. If you made the trip on foot, just look for any early twenty-something doing a TikTok or K-Pop dance and head in their direction – that’s Fashion Walk for you. 

Pale Ale Travel Tip: If you’ve read any of my past posts on the site then you know that I’m on the hunt for the best burger in Hong Kong. And, coming hot off a dynamic, juicy burger at The Diplomat in Central, my expectations were high. Real high. 

Lewd, Lascivious, Salacious, Outrageous: Eggslut’s Cheeseburger

“Lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous!” – Jackie Chiles

As of the date of publication, Eggslut (in Causeway Bay) holds a Google rating of 3.7/5. I find this to be absolutely preposterous. Most of the negative reviews seem to focus more on service and long queues than it does on the quality of ingredients or dishes. Hong Kongers take their eggs seriously and make what I consider the finest, runny scrambled eggs in the business, so it’s telling that I don’t see a prodigious amount of criticism about them.

Maybe it was the melancholy of feeling a tad like a stranger in the city that I’ve called home for so long – I’m not entirely sure where these thoughts came from – or maybe it was because I had drunk three battery-charged double espressos and a Coke Zero before my stroll to Causeway Bay (and my stomach was in shambles) but all I wanted was a burger. 

Scratch that. I did try to order a homemade buttermilk biscuit as well but was told that they were sold out for the day. All I was in the mood for was just a burger and a buttermilk biscuit. While I do love a good hash brown (of which Eggslut sports a truffle hash brown), I wanted this sordid burger tryst to remain solely with the burger. 

When you get a third involved, someone inevitably gets more attention than the other while the other catches feelings and existentially contemplates their self-worth and hope of ever finding true love …Hmmm… I don’t even know if I’m talking about cheeseburgers and sides anymore.

I Beefed It Ordering the Beef (But I Recovered)

Closer. Come closer.

Little did I know when ordering that the cheeseburger came with a dijonnaise sauce, a mayonnaise-based aioli with dijon mustard. You might already know that mayonnaise is my kryptonite and something that sends me into a sad, dejected walk similar to Charlie Brown after Lucy pulls the football away for the umpteenth time. But unlike the time I ate fugu in Japan, this minor hiccup didn’t kill me. 

Note: I have no idea what a ‘mayonnaise-based aioli’ is considering I thought the difference came down to olive oil (aioli) vs. neutral oil (mayonnaise). 

Frankly, I was expecting a smashed burger. Anytime you hear ‘burger chain’ thrown around, that’s typically the style in which the burger is made. However, like that time I misjudged a fart at a Halloween party when I was 20 years old, which unfortunately for my khakis was not a fart, I incorrectly judged this restaurant’s burger depth and the staff’s prowess on the grill.

Upon close inspection, the patty sat slightly fatter than a morning breakfast sausage patty, just big enough that you could make out a hint of pink in the center. This was incredibly well-received as I’ve given up on the clunky, large beef patties an alarming proportion of burger joints in the city think they are capable of cooking to a reasonably close medium rare. 

Hint: they’re not.

What I think Eggslut especially nailed was the encapsulation of varying flavors and textures in a single bite. Isn’t that what we chase after all? Not having to deconstruct your hamburger and all of its various toppings just to achieve a manageable bite – like a spry, enthusiastic Belgian bachelor in the 16th Century working through how to unbutton and remove his paramour’s chemise, corset, busk, and tinkerer’s workshop of layers, all in the name of “making the beast with two backs (Othello).” 

From the well-seasoned and slightly salty crusted burger patty, which sat somewhere between a smash and a classic (and was cooked a formidable and juicy ‘medium’), to the lightly sweet and pillowy brioche bun (which was accentuated by the caramelized onions), rich, slightly runny and jammy over-medium egg, and crunchy, tangy pickles, this burger worked on many levels. Lather on a well-proportioned amount of creamy, sharp dijonnaise to draw out some sharpness from a mild cheddar, and you have Angus-certified comfort food. 

Can we all just agree that in the burger bun hierarchy, a brioche bun is only second to a potato bun? Followed by sesame and then from there, bun-wise my rolodex is empty. 

On a day when I was feeling a tinge of loneliness watching families out celebrating the Lunar New Year, Eggslut’s cheeseburger was familiar and brought me back to the compact, juicy, salty-sweet, and easily scarfable burgers that my mother would make me in batches of three back home. 

Pale Ale Travel Note: I’ve been back on the Subway sandwich grind lately and have to say, I love their cookies. I’m usually more of a meat tooth rather than a sweet tooth but a good cookie is a good cookie. Eggslut’s salted chocolate chip cookies displayed right at the counter looked marvelous and almost had me like Quick Draw McGraw with my credit card. 

Where Does Eggslut’s Burger Rank Amongst the Best of Them?

Frankly, the Eggslut burger is pretty damn high up there on my Hong Kong burger power rankings. It was salty, gooey, rich, well-seasoned, and surprisingly light. Further, it wasn’t overly greasy or packed with unnecessary toppings that ultimately detract from the essence of the burger. I have no hegemonic rule over what makes a great burger, however, if a burger that contains mayonnaise has ascended and nestled comfortably on the top rung of my favorite burgers in Hong Kong, then you better damn well know it’s good. 

Ignore the GMB and OpenRice critics. March on over to Causeway Bay to check it out for yourself. This IS definitively a burger worth waiting in line for so don’t be deterred if there’s a gaggle of Instagram-thirsty Gen Z’ers with selfie sticks and graphic sweatshirts in full force.  

Unlike Dimmesdale at the end of The Scarlet Letter, this is not my final burger swan song (sermon?) where I confess my greatest sin (eating something with a mayonnaise base) and pass into the next life. No, this burger quest goes on. What an enjoyable journey it has been so far.

Finally, while I didn’t try the signature bacon or sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich, the burger did instill a lot of confidence in me that Eggslut is the real deal. Granted, there are not many places to even go for traditional American-style breakfast sandwiches in Hong Kong, but even if there were, I could see myself becoming a regular at Eggslut. 

If you’ve been to Eggslut in Hong Kong (or L.A.), I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Let me know what you ordered and if you think it lived up to the Instagram hype. 

Eat well everyone,

Big Boy Toy Body