Having been salivating for months at the thought of the new array of restaurants opening at Regent Circus, MIKE BENKE finally gets to satisfy his tastebuds

Gourmet Burger Kitchen Regent Circus, Swindon SN1 1FA 01793 423063 and gbk.co.uk/location/swindon

Open Monday toThursday 11.30am to 11pm; Friday to Saturday 11am to 11pm and Sunday 11am to 10pm

Living nearby, I have spent the past 18 months watching in anticipation as the Regent Circus development... well, developed.

As the list of restaurants due to move in was announced, my eagerness for it to be completed only increased.

So when the opportunity to review Gourmet Burger Kitchen came up, there was no way I was going to turn it down.

I’d not been to a GBK before but I had heard positive things from friends who had.

My colleague, Beren Cross, and I went on a cold, wet Sunday evening, so it wasn’t at peak time but there were still quite a few people there when we arrived.

We were instantly greeted by a cheery waitress who showed us to our seats, near the open plan kitchen.

As you would expect, burgers make up the main part of the menu but there are also other dishes, including chicken and salads.

While there are side dishes on offer, there aren’t really starters as such, so we went straight into the main course.

I ordered the standard cheese and bacon burger with an extra burger, skinny fries and grilled halloumi bites. Beren went for the same, but added an egg and had onion rings on the side.

To order, customers have to go up to the bar, which wasn’t a problem for us as we were seated close by but anyone sitting upside might find it an irritation.

The food arrived in little over 15 minutes, and while there was a slight mix-up with the drinks, it was rectified quickly and without fuss by the staff.

I found my burger to be fantastic. It was cooked to perfection, and, as I like it, slightly pink in the middle.

It was stacked high, making it difficult to eat, but – who cares! – it was very tasty. The only issue was the amount of sauce, which made an already difficult challenge even harder....

Beren, who had already been to Gourmet Burger Kitchen’s launch night and was impressed enough to come back a second time, was equally impressed with his meal.

He locked his jaws around his bacon and cheese burger with its extra egg and reckoned it was “jaw-achingly delicious”. The meat was pink and the dressing fresh and egg gooey.

The burgers cost £9.25, with an extra £3.25 for my extra burger and a sizeable £1.65 for Beren’s egg. The sides cost £3.35 for the onion rings and £2.95 fries, while the halloumi bites were £3.75.

It’s not cheap, and the wallet took a bit more of a hit as we each had a 500ml bottle (just under a pint) of Budweiser at £5.75 each.

We both declined a dessert in favour of a milkshake to go. Costing £4.10 each, these were a nice way to round off the meal, but again, on the expensive side.

Overall, neither of us had any complaints about the service or the food but at £52.35 for two people with no desserts or starters, your bog standard burger might have to be a gourmet treat for special occasions.