Sumptuous, rich Oklahoma style tribute

Burger source 

I’m confident in my mid-life crisis here, so I’ll confess that I saw this place blowing up on TikTok, and it was conveniently close to the office. Particularly on a day when the tube strikes meant my route required an Overground train, so I *had* to walk past it after a slightly late finish at the office…

The conceit is Essex-farmed, Essex-sourced, local high quality produce; dry-aged beef ground daily, ‘custom spec brioche’ (maybe it has upgraded RAM? – I took this as code that they don’t make it but ask for an extra egg yolk or something in there) – all cooked fresh on site, daily.

The videos and photos I’d seen made this look truly drool worthy, so was excited to see how it shaped up.

The order 

This was tough, on the burger front. I mean, obviously I wasn’t going to order the peanut butter burger because I’m not Elvis, but otherwise… Classic, Oklahoma style (‘the car boot’), Stilton (usually better than I expect it to be), cheese and bacon (well, pancetta), or a classic cheeseburger… Even with a small menu, I felt spoilt for choice!

And so naturally, I opted out of the decision – I asked the server what she recommended and when she called the Car Boot, that was decision made. I had a side of ‘skins’ – rough cut new potatoes, triple fried and heavily seasoned.

The meat of it 

It’s a pretty burger. It arrived wrapped, which probably helped the melt on that glorious cheese. The char on the burger and the onions is in obvious evidence – Oklahoma style, for the uninitiated, involves layering a large pile of thin-sliced onions on the raw side of the patty after it hits the grill, then flipping it and charring them in. The bun is toasted, warm and soft to touch. It’s good.

No cutlery, so first bite is also the cross-section…

Ok, maybe I had a couple of bites.

The melange of flavours and textures is an immediate joy. You get the char, the slight bitterness from the crisped onions, the sweetness of the rich, juicy, well-seasoned beef and the velvety unguence of the cheese, blended into a glorious gestalt. The bun holds up and adds sweetness and bready flavour contrast in one; it’s almost in perfect balance. The dry-aged beef is uncomplicated, but that’s not a criticism – it’s simple, delicious and high grade. The lean/fat ratio is spot on, making it juicy but not outrageously messy. It’s cooked to a perfect pink, as you can see, with coarse ground, loose packed meat – just how I like it. The patty has a good heft, too, probably in the 6oz territory, making this a pretty well packaged, pretty well sized bundle of joy.

As to its limitations, it’s hard to critique this as I haven’t had a lot of Oklahoma style burgers in the past so I don’t have much of a frame of reference. From what I’ve heard, they sometimes have a bit more sweetness and crunch from the onions, and the burger does want somewhat for textural contrast. It’s very… soft. But that’s lovely in its own way; the onions cooking on the grill are meant to steam the burger and leave it tender and fresh. From a sweet/savoury contrast perspective, I don’t know if you’d pollute Oklahoma style with some burger sauce or relish, but it was *very* savoury. I love that, so happy with it as was, but thoughtful about the possibility.

All in all – excellent.

As to the side… No fries here, just these skin-on new potatoes, cut into uneven chunks. The result is a mix of crispy corners and chunky, fluffy new potato clouds, all heavily salted and served with a sauce of your choosing (at a premium of 2 quid per sauce pot). I went for a garlic aioli, which added a slick tempering of the – extremely but justifiably – heavily salted new potatoes. I normally gravitate exclusively to the crisp chunks but the fluffier, chunkier lumps were delicious too. I unexpectedly inhaled the substantial portion; can recommend.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  5/5  
Build – 4.5/5 
Burger – 5/5 
Taste –  4.5/5  
Sides – 4.5/5 – think I marginally preferred the new potatoes at The Plimsoll, but it’s a close call.   

Value – 4/5 – £23 for burger, side and drink feels reasonable.  

Burger rating – 4.5/5 – this one is up there

The deets 

The Commercial Tavern is a well known and well-liked drinkery a few minutes from Liverpool Street, Shoreditch High Street and Aldgate East. Highly recommended for the newfound residents, kudos Meat Stop.