CHOWING down on a big beefy burger wouldn't normally be my first choice for lunch. For my 12-year-old daughter it most certainly would be numero uno chow-down choice every day, if given the chance.

With chips and ketchup smothered on top if she could possibly wangle it. And a bottle of Fanta if she could swing that, too.

She doesn't get a fast food fix very often but, boy, she likes to make the most of it when we do indulge.

But this particular day a little lunch treat was in order. We had a rare day mooching in the Metrocentre just the two of us while big sis was enjoying a break in Blackpool with a friend's family.

So we decided to give The Handmade Burger Co a whirl. It's in the Qube shrewd move as it's handy for the cinema and looked busy.

On first impressions from a quick peer at the menu from the outside, I was surprised at how good it looked.

I suppose the clue's in the name - burgers are handmade, and the emphasis is on quality foodstuffs.

I was initially expecting a typical burger joint - plastic furniture, queue for your food and bright lights, all to the tune of eat faster music.

But this actually had a touch of the country cosy about it, with decent wooden tables and chairs, attractive lighting, comfy booths, and even an accent wall of floral wallpaper.

Slogans proclaiming the provenance of the food were displayed on the walls. This being one: Beautifully prepared, handmade char-grilled gourmet burgers, using traditionally reared, grass-fed, 100% fully traceable Scotch beef. Sort of sums up what they do.

However the music was loud probably to drown out any noise from the malls and of the eat faster variety.

Then came the surprise that the restaurant - part of a family-run chain started in the Midlands - actually offer a range of more than 40 burgers.

Wow, where to start? It took me a while to navigate my way through the menu. Burgers are indeed made from scratch and hand-pressed every day. As well as beefy choices - everything from classic and Mexican salsa to avocado and bacon - there are also chicken fillets with myriad flavour options, lamb dishes, salads, veggie patties and junior burgers.

I was at first swayed by the salads, while Olivia decided from the off it was a Jimmy's Farm burger made from rare-breed, free-range beef for her. She recognised the cheeky chappie from his TV shows Jimmy's Farm and Jimmy's Food Factory.

We sipped our drinks, Fentimans Victorian lemonade, £2.25, and Fanta, £2.10, while waiting for our meals, which took about 10 minutes.

My choice in the end was a char-grilled chicken breast fillet with Brie and cranberry sauce, mayo and salad, £7.95. It came served up in a sesame seed sourdough bun and, my goodness, it was a whopper. Slices of gooey, creamy Brie, sweet and tangy cranberry, tomatoes and lettuce and large fillet of chicken, all skewered together. How to eat without making a complete mess?

Well, halving it helped, and it was utterly delicious - the chicken good quality, the Brie and cranberry a decadent touch and, as a quick-fix, filling meal, it just hit the spot. Quality ingredients, super-fresh. Nothing too fancy. It works.

Olivia's choice of Jimmy's Beef Cheese Classic, £8.25, drew oohs and aahs when it arrived with a flourish. It too was quality meat (apparently marbled and matured for at least three weeks), juicy and herby, cooked through, but usually cooked medium if not specified, although junior beef burgers are cooked well done.

It came in a skewered sourdough bun, with tomatoes and lettuce, and a caramelised onion relish which was singled out for praise - sweet and smoky, perking things up no end.

We also tried a dollop of Boozers Relish, made with Newcastle Brown Ale. Made by Sandy Higson of Coquet Valley Preserves, it usually accompanies a local burger offering, topped with Northumberland Original Cheese. It was cooling and very different in a good way. We also tucked in to sides of onion rings, £2.70, super-fresh batter encasing slivers of onions, and chips, £2.95, freshly peeled, cut and double-fried - a rival to any homemade chips.

The food was good and filling, just hit the spot, and was as far from the typical fast food offering as you can imagine.

We finished off with tubs of mint chocolate chip Marshfield Farm ice cream, £2 creamy, and of a decent quality.

We ate at 1pm and we were both still full at 7pm. You can't often say that after an outing to a burger joint.