CYCLING home on Friday evening I could barely keep my eyes open.

I’d been at work for around 11 hours. Lunch had been missed and I’d kept myself going on a diet of stolen shortbread and cups of tea so strong you could stand you spoon in them.

My stomach was rumbling and my spirits low.

A day earlier I’d offered to do this week’s restaurant review. A colleague had dropped out and, having spent the previous week up North drinking Darlington’s Wetherspoons dry, the prospect of an expensed evening meal was certainly enticing.

I had been meaning to try Stacks Burger and Waffle for a while. For months, the two young men who ran the Rodbourne Road takeaway had been posting pictures to Instagram of slabs of minced meat oozing with juice.

From the outside, the restaurant could be any trendy cocktail bar or tattoo pop-up. The signage above the front window is black, with bold white lettering. A matte black grille partly obscures the window, half-shielding the kitchen from view.

Inside, the place smelled reassuringly of charred meat. Someone whose trainers could well have cost as much as my bike was sat on a high bar stool, finishing off his meal.

Above a wooden-clad bar, a girl smiled over the till.

At first glance the menu was simple. Burgers, chips and waffles.

But it’s deceptive. There are a bewildering range of options and extras. Do you want a brioche bun or a waffle for your chicken burger? Want cheese? Choose from American, cheddar, Monterey Jack or blue.

I plumped for a beef patty on a brioche bun, topped with salad and cheddar (£6). The girl behind the till ticked off the order on a pre-prepared order slip and handed it to one of the chefs flipping burgers over the hot plate.

I added a waffle to the order (£3.50). The girl seemed astonished when I asked for only maple syrup, turning down the offer of sweet toppings ranging from banana and strawberry to fudge or M&Ms.

It couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes before I’m handed a couple of boxes by the chef. He’s wearing his baseball cap backwards and has a fixed smile, having just heard an order come in for over half a dozen burgers costing almost £100.

The chef also gives me a box of fries. On the house, he says. Another customer seems to have forgotten them.

The boxes were squeezed in my rucksack for the cycle home. And it was only when I got home I realised my fatal error. I’ve put the bag into my rucksack sideways. Maple syrup from the waffles has dripped over my notebook, my computer, woolly hat and bicycle lock.

The burger, however, is pristine.

Growing up, I was a chorister at our local church. Very rarely, on the way back from choir practices, my mum would take my brother and I into McDonald’s to treat us to a Happy Meal.

Unwrapping the foil from the Stacks burger I felt that same excitement, remembered from those childhood trips to Maccy Ds.

The burger glistened with juice. Cheddar had slid down the side of the brioche bun.

Stacks say they source their meat from Wiltshire farmers. It shows in the taste. There’s an earthiness to the burger that you don’t get from a high street fast food chain offering. The saltiness from the cheese works well with the fresh lettuce and the mustard’s tang.

If there is a criticism it is only that the bun’s too fresh. It holds together well, but it was a tad too doughy for my liking.

The fries are thin cut and aromatically herby.

My housemate, who had cooked herself a veggie burger held in two pitta breads, looked over enviously at my burger. I think that’s what she was doing. We’re watching the new series of Vera on ITV, so she could simply be baffled at the tenuous plot twists.

I halved the waffle with my housemate. After the burger, I’m not sure I could have managed a full dessert.

It was everything a waffle should be: still slathered in maple syrup and so full of carbohydrates you felt like your stomach would burst.

So, the verdict? I would definitely give Stacks Burger and Waffle a go. For £1 more than a Big Mac Bacon, you get a towering slap of Wiltshire mince, cheese and salad.

And the waffles – which can be served with meat or chocolate – will keep any child happy. Whether they’re six-years-old or 60.

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