Corky's, September 19th 2007

Corky's Van
UEA
University Plain
NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom
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Twenty past one, Wednesday morning. The end is nigh for another LCR, drunken students begin to tail away exposing the mass of empty bottles and plastic pint glasses which lie on the sticky floor underfoot. Outside, the night is clear and cold. Gaggles of students huddle together excitedly talking about the night that has just been, and oh God you're hungry, so incredibly hungry. And there it is, Corky's burger van, dispensing burgers to the masses like Moses with the fish and loaves of bread. The only way it could be any easier for you as the consumer, is if the propriators fed you the burger and helped you digest it. It's an institution, it's always there, long after you've granduated the van will still be there.

ass

On to the burgers themselves, they're not great. Not that it's of great significance, Corky's could serve gruel and it would still make money, and they know it. This is cheap meat, cheap processed cheese, cheap buns, real bottom rung quality produce. Do the customers care? No, of course they don't. Corky's isn't trying portray itself as anything more than it is. It's a back to basics operation, supply and demand. You know what you're getting, you can rely on it. Long after the current class have all graduated, that van will still be there dishing out instant relief to the early morning munchies. Not that they're the only ticket in town, there are other vans pushing the same thing. I vaguely recollect one which was actually barbequing them, but I only saw it was which has made me wonder if I was actually just so drunk my memory concocted it.

Verdict: Given the poor quality of the ingredients, it seems a bit of a travesty to give Corky's three stars, but there's a time and place for fine dining and the immediate aftermath of a student night isn't it. What Corky's do may be simple, but they do it well and it's hard to argue with that.