Britain's biggest burger found in lay-by near Birmingham

Nov 15 2009 by Zoe Chamberlain, Sunday Mercury

WHOPPER!

IT IS the biggest burger in Britain.

A pit stop challenge for the trucker with the heartiest of appetites.

Transport café owner Dave Owen has started offering ‘The Super Dooper Burger’ to hungry drivers just off junction two of the M42, near Alvechurch, Worcestershire.

Piled high on a burger bun, it boasts:

* FOUR burgers

* EIGHT slices of cheese

* EIGHT rashers of bacon

* SIX slices of tomato

* LOADS of lettuce

* HEAP of fried onions

The heavyweight hamburger weighs heavily in the pocket, too. It costs £8, although that includes a drink to wash it down with.

Rising to the challenge, I went to try it out.

Bear in mind, I’m 5ft nothing, eight-and-a-bit stone and the kind of girl who normally only puts two rashers of bacon on a sarnie and calls it lunch.

Dave laughed at me when I ordered it from his Dave’s Catering stand on a busy Thursday lunchtime.

“You’re going to eat it are you?” asked the sceptical 56 year-old, who has been running the stall for 19 years, and has had bacon and egg butties every morning for the past two decades.

He could barely see me as I peeped over the top of his counter on tiptoes.

“Yes,” I squeaked back, trying not to think of my waistline.

So, the cooking began. By the time he’d finished, the entire griddle was covered by the contents of my sandwich.

I could barely hold it, let alone get it in my mouth. This was like the leaning tower of Pisa, like trying to eat two Big Macs and four Burger King Bacon Butties – all in one go. I have to say Dave does a mean burger.

It was delicious and meaty, and I thoroughly enjoyed tucking into it.

But ten bites later, it still didn’t look as though it had been touched. The damn thing just would not go down.

I ploughed on, starting to feel a bit like a camel stocking up ready to cross the desert.

Britain’s biggest burger was enough to feed a family of four, not just little old me.

By the end, I was triumphant but severely bloated.

One of the truckers who’d stopped to watch – there were, by now, quite a few – said he’d never seen a woman eat so much.

“Thanks,” I said, proudly then wondered if perhaps it wasn’t such a compliment.

Much as I couldn’t knock Dave’s cooking, I will be quite happy not to see another burger this side of Christmas.

And, according to the British Heart Foundation, that would be no bad thing. “That’s a huge amount of food to eat in one go,” warned Victoria Taylor, dietician for the British Heart Foundation.

“And the type of food would mean it’s got very high levels of salt and saturated fat.

“One meal will not make or break a person’s health but you need to think about what you’re eating overall on a daily basis.

“We would recommend people choose healthier options instead.”

* Do YOU know of a bigger burger? What’s the biggest meal you’ve ever eaten? call 0121 234 5567 or e-mail zoe.chamberlain@sundaymercury.net