Big Boy Franks Review: Popular GastroBeats Smashed Burger Stall Opens New Outlet In Sembawang

Big Boy Franks with big burgers and beef chilli fries in Sembawang

If you haven’t heard, Muslim-owned Big Boy Franks—previously featured in GastroBeats—recently made the news when they opened a supper spot in the midst of Jurong HDB flats. To think you could have their hotdogs and burgers right at your doorstep if you’re a Westie! Now that they’ve added yet another outlet to their name near me in Sembawang, I decided that I should go check them out. 

Food at Big Boy Franks

Our meal started off strong with their Big Boy Mothership Burger ($25), which stars a whopping stack of eight certified prime Australian beef patties, with slices of melted cheese in between each patty. Even though the burger was made with smashed beef patties, it still stood quite tall, with the lady assembling it giving us a bewildered look, as it was her first time preparing this order.

As I bit into the burger—which I had to take apart before eating, there was a strong taste of mustard sauce which I didn’t mind. Unfortunately, I thought the beef was actually quite salty, which made it difficult to eat much of it. There’s also lettuce and Big Boy Franks’ special sauce, which was nothing to shout about.

Next, I moved on to their Big Boy Crispy Chicken Burger ($10), which sees a large chicken patty sandwiched between two brioche buns—which also featured in the beef burger. Due to the patty being bigger than the buns, it was a bit messy to eat. Nonetheless, I found that the chicken was tender, with a crunchy batter. Plus, its accompanying sauce, which also tasted strongly of  mustard, added a savoury flavour to the burger. 

While eating the chicken on its own, I also liked that it was not too heavily seasoned, as compared to the Mothership burger. My colleague thought it tasted quite similar to a McChicken. 

We continued our dining experience with Chicky Big Boy ($12): a hotdog roll topped generously with their signature chilli con carne. The minced beef was spicy and very flavourful, making it good enough to eat alone. I was told that the sausage is house-made, which is impressive because I enjoyed it very much. The brioche bun was also soft, and quite tasty as a vehicle for the chilli con carne.

We finished with their Chilli Beef Fries ($7.50), blanketed in chilli con carne and nacho cheese sauce. It was delicious, but don’t expect the fries to be crispy with all that sitting on them. It’s a huge portion, so you could get it for sharing among a few friends, though each burger already comes with fries. 

Ambience at Big Boy Franks

Big Boy Franks is a 14-minute walk from Sembawang MRT Station, which is a bit out of the way for most people. Once you get there, you’ll find that it’s a humble space, with just a few tables. I heard that they’re quite busy after 11pm, until they close at 2am on Fridays and Saturdays. It was rather quiet when we were there at 6pm, and there was only one lady tending to the store. She was patient and friendly, though, which made our dining experience feel homely. 

The verdict

Given that all of the meat items we ate are house-made, I’d give them credit for doing that pretty well. The food here was a bit too greasy for me, but you have to consider that I did eat quite a bit more than your average diner. Nonetheless, they have tasty burgers here that are worth a try. 

For another burger recommendation, read our Phat Fingers review for Korean-style fried chicken in the form of burgers. Otherwise, if you want more halal food, check out LUMI F&B at Marymount for their $6.50 lunch sets.

Sembawang
Address: 8 Jalan Legundi, #01-17, Singapore 759274
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 5pm to 10:30pm, Fri-Sat 5pm to 2am
Tel: 9127 6063

Jurong
Address: 165A Yung Kuang Road, #01-42, Singapore 610165
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 5pm to 9pm, Sat 5pm to 8pm
Tel: 9474 2246

Website
Big Boy Franks is a Muslim-owned eatery.

Photos taken by Hui Hui Lau.
This was an independent review by Eatbook.sg