Mr. Ace's Signature Spicy BBQ Beef Burger — fragrant, spicy, and with the sweet freshness of beef

Text & Photos /Ahmon

The Mr. Ace Burger in Yizhong Street is the only branch I hadn’t tried yet. I’ve been to the original Wuchang Street location and the Qianmei branch several times. They’re known for their hearty American-style burgers. When a friend heard they’d recently launched a business lunch, he invited me to check it out. Even though it was a weekday lunchtime, Yizhong Street was packed, and it took ages to find a parking spot. I’m guessing most of the crowd were students.

There’s a huge sign at the entrance advertising the value lunch deal. If you order the value lunch, drinks are unlimited, and there’s no service charge. Plus, pasta is automatically upgraded to a set meal, which includes soup and bread. It’s the first time I’ve seen Mr. Ace Burger selling pasta—it’s a bit different from what I’m used to.

Once inside the restaurant, I realized this branch is huge—probably the one with the most seating. About 70% of the tables were occupied, which is pretty good for a weekday.

The familiar soda machine and tea station are right above the counter. It’s so hot outside—I’m definitely going to drink a lot of soda later.

After being seated, we were given two menus: one for the value lunch and one for the regular menu. The business lunch is limited to the following nine options: six pasta dishes and three burgers. If you want to try them, make sure you order the right ones.

Beef Burger
 Includes unlimited bubbly drinks. Order other drinks and get a $30 discount. All meals can be upgraded to a set for an additional $60, which includes soup and salad. You can choose between single or double patties for the burger, depending on your appetite.

 Chicken and Pork Burgers

Seafood and Vegetarian Burgers
 Vegetarian options are also available for those who don’t eat meat.

 Grilled Sandwich

Pasta and Signature Dishes

Desserts

Burger Add-ons
 You can customize your own unique burger—this has always been one of Mr. Ace’s signature features.

 Drinks

Set Meals
 I’ve rarely upgraded to a set meal on previous visits to Mr. Ace because, with my small appetite, the drink and burger alone are usually enough to fill me up. But my friend, who eats more, always upgrades to the set meal to avoid getting hungry. The set comes with a few slices of toasted French garlic bread and a bowl of corn soup. I tried a sip of the soup—it was quite rich. Dip the garlic bread in the soup, and it’s pretty good.

Crispy Cod Nuggets $90
 Didn’t expect to find this here—it seems to be a new dish. The cod nuggets are cut, coated in batter, and fried until golden. They’re crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and they taste great with tartar sauce.

Peach Aloe and Lemon Aloe
 I was planning to just drink soda, but I saw aloe drinks on the menu and switched to aloe instead, haha—I’m such an impulsive person. The portion is quite large, and there’s plenty of aloe. The lemon aloe has a nice sweet-and-sour taste and is quite refreshing.

French Smoked Chicken and Wild Mushroom Pasta $149
 A lighter-flavored pasta, made with a French white sauce and wild mushrooms. The taste is fresh and not overly heavy.

Southeast Asian Lemongrass Curry Chicken Pasta $190
 My favorite of the three pasta dishes today. The thick chicken cutlet is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, absolutely delicious. Paired with the rich curry-flavored pasta, it’s the best value for the price.

German-style red sauce sausage pasta $149
k8~ These three flavors are the ones I’m least used to, probably because I don’t like spicy food. Although it’s called red sauce, the rich tomato sauce has a slightly tangy taste that’s quite appetizing. The sausage part is quite chewy and tastes good.

American-style charcoal grilled chicken thigh steak $149
Unlike the bread used for other types of burgers, this one is somewhat similar to panini bread, with a softer texture. Paired with the grilled chicken thigh steak, it’s tender and juicy, not dry at all. If you don’t eat beef, this charcoal grilled chicken thigh steak is definitely my top recommendation. The burger comes with extras like cucumber, tomato, and lettuce, allowing customers to customize the fillings to their liking, which adds more layers of flavor. There’s also a generous portion of golden, crispy fries that are really satisfying.

Spicy meat sauce BBQ burger $220 Peanut butter BBQ burger $195
The spicy meat sauce BBQ burger is one of Echo Burger’s signature dishes, as famous as the peanut butter beef burger, each with its own loyal fans. The spicy meat sauce is made from the store’s exclusive recipe, a flavor that’s been around since the Wuchang Street flagship store days. When you stack the lettuce and bread, it’s quite a substantial portion—spicy and fragrant, with the sweet juiciness of the beef steak and the savory richness of the cheese, offering a multi-layered taste that lives up to its popularity. The peanut butter is also homemade, rich and aromatic, with a slight graininess from the peanuts. When mixed with the bacon and beef steak, it turns out surprisingly delicious. I fell in love with this flavor after trying it at the Wuchang Street flagship store, and I’ve heard that many other burger shops have copied the idea from Echo XD

It’s stacked super high, and taking a big bite is actually a bit challenging. The Zhongyi branch maintains this great tradition by providing plastic gloves for customers, so you don’t end up with greasy hands or splattered sauce.

Seafood and beef combo burger $200
One is a tartar sauce cod burger, and the other is a Thai-style Kala chicken thigh burger. This meal is more suitable for those who don’t like beef. With two burgers in one go, it’s hard not to feel full.

Thai-style charcoal grilled chicken wings $90, Thai-style sweet and spicy chicken wings $90
I almost forgot about these two side dishes. These are apparently popular items too—one is chicken wings cooked with Kala chicken cutlet style and charcoal grilling, then drizzled with Thai sweet and sour sauce and BBQ sauce, each with its own unique flavor. Personally, I prefer the Thai sweet and sour sauce flavor, which is crispy, tangy, and sweet.

Dallas beef short rib burger $230
A dish that surprised me that day. It’s rare to see such a generous restaurant using premium American boneless beef short ribs for a burger. The beef short ribs are thick and large, with visible grill marks on top. They’re tender with a bit of chew, the juice is sweet, and it’s surprisingly delicious. I’ve heard it’s a new dish, and beef lovers might want to give it a try.

Overall
After trying so many dishes, the ones that left the deepest impression on me were probably the peanut butter beef BBQ burger and the spicy meat sauce beef BBQ burger—classic flavors, truly. Among the new dishes, the Dallas beef short rib burger and the Tasha chicken thigh curry pasta won me over. Over the past few years, many new shops have opened on Yizhong Street, and the food quality has improved a lot compared to before. I hope they can keep it up. The above is just my personal opinion, for reference only.
 

Restaurant name: Mr. Echo (Yizhong Branch)
Phone: 04-22253778
Address: No. 101, Yizhong Street, North District, Taichung City
Price: Minimum charge $100 per person
Dining date: September 2014

阿mon台湾趴趴走~Food, travel, photography, outdoor shoots
Walking around with a camera~ casual snaps~ unexpected moods