Category: Pop up

Beast & Field, Box Park, Shoreditch

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A burger of contrasts

Burger source 

Honestly? I was trying to meet a friend at Dumbo Shoreditch after all the TikTok hype, but I didn’t realise that it was full-on, take-out only, so we retreated to the old faithful that is Box Park, and was delighted to find that Beast & Field had arrived since I last stopped in… Literal fresh meat.

Their mission, says their website, is simple. Make ethical eating easy and fun. In particular – they focus on getting grass-fed beef from farms they trust, cooking it well and pricing it sensibly. Did they succeed? SPOILERS.

The order 

They’ve only got one burger; a steak patty, with onion jam, crispy shallots, tomato, leaves, mayo and their own handmade organic burger bun. I added bacon (it’s an option!) and had a side of their chips, which come with smoked paprika and Himalayan salt, no less.

The meat of it

 

What’s wrong with this picture? Well clearly the bun is burnt; that’s not a deliberate look for it. But otherwise – strong melt on the cheese, good char on the meat, an elegant stack. The fake Lilt looks interesting, and the fries…. Well I’ll come back to that.

Cross section…

This started to restore confidence. Bright, fresh vegetables protect the lower bun. The meat is well proportioned and coarse ground, though perhaps a little well done for a thick patty. The onion jam promises some sweetness, the crispy shallots falling out the side promise some crunch, and the bacon is rended crisp but not glass-like in its texture. The bun has a good grain despite its overly browned state. In short; it’s looking good on the whole.

First bite… well, it’s definitely burned. The char on the bun adds bitterness and the bun is slightly dryer than intended. The meat is beautifully seasoned and has a lovely bite as you get through the well cooked exterior… but it slightly dryer than intended again from an over generous turn on the griddle. The bacon gives crunch, the shallots give crunch, the cheese adds further to unguent, umami goodness. There’s brightness from the veg and sweetness from the onion jam…. I find myself almost forgiving the burnt bun and the overdone meat as this burger strikes that perfect balance of sweet and savoury; of crunchy and comforting. If your home was made of 100% grass fed beef, this burger would taste of home – it is comforting and happy making, even with its flaws.

The sides?

Two things to speak of here; the chips first. They are glorious; tossed in a delightfully savoury set of seasonings (Himalayalicious), they are chip-shop cut – chunky – but double or triple fried so as to be brilliantly crispy and crunchy. The thickness means many of them maintain that pillowy fluffiness some people are so keen on in a chip; for me it was that on occasion, with a heavier dose of crunchy goodness that made these pretty much the paradigm of a chip. The sauce was a chimmichurri mayo; smooth, slightly sour, savoury, fresh and delicious. If only I hadn’t dropped half of it when I collected my order…

The fake lilt drink? Also delicious, though that was from Boxpark’s bar, so… can’t really count it.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  2.5/5 – major deductions for it being burnt.   
Build – 5/5 – can’t fault the construction
Burger – 4/5 – elsewhere this would have scored worse due to being overdone. But in gestalt, the quality of everything was aces 
Taste –  4/5  – better than expected; awesome flavour/culture contrast
Sides – 5/5 – cannot fault chips or dips
Value – 4/5 – £18 for burger and side, minus service (because Box Park, there is none) felt a lot given it was burnt. But it was a well constructed burger, the portion was generous, and inflation is a beast too.

Burger rating – 4/5 – the overall experience was joyous despite its constraints.

The deets 

There’s a few of these around; Boxpark, Mayfair, Ladbroke Grove & Shoreditch. Find your local; it’s worth a try. And if it’s burnt, sent it back and get them to do it right – it’s worth the fuss.

Saucy B*stards at the Newman Arms, Fitzrovia, London

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Delightfully messy double smashburger

Burger source

You might call it mindlessly doomscrolling top-10-burger lists, I call it RESEARCH and I do it in the name of science and the thousand or so people a month who seem to enjoy these burger reviews. You’re all very, very welcome.

Anyway, 15 clickbaity lists of burgers later, I finally find a burger that meets my criteria of being not-in-Hackney-and-therefore-convenient-for-a-midweek-meet-up-with-a-mate (honestly, Hackney seems to be some kind of burger utopia judging by these lists), and also sounding fab. I give you, Saucy Bastards at the Newman Arms, a few minutes from Tottenham Court Road station in the most central of central London spots.

They promise dry aged burgers, snacks, sauces & more sauces, courtesy of a Michelin trained chef, and guarantee a messy shirt at the end of it. Did they deliver? Did they ever.

The order

The burger part of the menu is relatively simple. There’s a choice of a double smash burger (the saucy bastard), a crispy chicken burger (the cocky bastard) and a veggie burger… called… no, you got it. That’s it. Naturally I went for the saucy bastard with extra bacon.

Because we were feeling indulgent, we also went with a “small plate” of Korean fried chicken, and the off-print but on-digital menu of jalapeño poppers. For fries, we shared a “salted” fries and a Cajun fries. Yes, we got too much food for two people, but again – in the NAME OF SCIENCE.

The meat of it

Let’s start with the burger.

This is pretty neat. Hot, soft bun; precisely smashed burger patties with amazing crunchy, crenellated edges – a bit like a sort of Slartibartfast had really put his Magarathean magic to work in designing fjord-esque edges in the smash process. The cheese is perfectly melted – and you can probably just about make out the slather of burger sauce and the hefty chunks of pickle in there. Let’s take in the cross section.

Channeling my best Nessa, I think I’d characterise this as ‘tidy’. It’s perfectly stacked – burger sauce, pickles, patties, cheese melt, and a wide layer of crisp bacon before you hit the top bun. You can see how thin and wide those patties have been smashed. The drizzle of grease and burger sauce also promises flavour… does it deliver?

First bite… crunch – beautifully crisp, well seasoned patty, with a delightful dry-aged funk. Double crunch from the crisp, salty, generous bacon topping, adding even more umami. Soft, open crumbed bread just about holds it together. Thick, sweet pickle cuts the savoury contrast down, and smooth vinegary, luscious burger sauce binds and moisturises. Is this a burger or a beauty product, you might ask? If beauty products were anything like this, I’d spend a lot more time wearing a face mask, that’s for sure. As it is, I have terrible skin but an amazingly refined burger palate.

In short; it’s hard not to want to inhale this burger. Every bite leaves you wanting more until you’re uncomfortably full. It’s perfectly formed – with an amazing flavour profile, incredibly high quality ingredients, and does indeed deliver on the promise of mess. Highly recommended.

As to the sides…

To each in turn.

  • The fries – well seasoned, but unevenly cooked, these were a bit disappointing. My friend Matt had the Cajun fries, where were more uniformly crisp on the outside, squidgy on the inside, whereas some of these were, in fact, soggy. The Cajun seasoning didn’t add much flavour but they were a better portion.
  • The poppers come in a light, sort of tempura batter, with a lovely goo from the cheese and a light pop of spice from the mild pepper. The sweet chilli added a good flavour contrast. But there were a lot of these; probably share between four, especially if you’re having another side.
  • The Korean wings were a little disappointing. They were over fried, so whilst the coating had a delightful crunch, the meat was dry and the sauce didn’t compensate – it was slightly saccharine in sweetness and underspiced for heat, IMO, though I’m hardly an expert in the ways of Korean fried chicken.
  • We had a ‘flight’ of sauces for £4. The jalepeno relish was more sweetness, and the ‘Hot Seoul Sauce’ was again too sugary, but with an unexpectedly bitter soy sauce edge. The ranch was the best of the three, smooth and luscious, would have again.

Overall, this was a great experience. The pub had a fab vibe and it felt like quite a nice take on a traditional boozer, freshened for the 21st century. Good selection of drinks on tap downstairs, QR code table service for the food from a resident burger artiste upstairs, very nice. Can recommend.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  4.5/5 – occasionally gave way to the heft of grease and sauce but otherwise aces
Build – 5/5
Burger – 5/5
Taste –  4.5/5 – just a smidge too much seasoning for me
Sides – 3/5 – burgers are better than their sides, though the sides are decent 

Value – 4/5 – £30 for burger and sides; would have been more reasonable if we’d ordered a more reasonable amount of food, but we (inevitably) got carried away.

Burger rating – 4.5/5 – would go back tomorrow. Night. When I’m less full.

The deets

You can find them on Rathbone Street or in Islington, as well as on Deliveroo. Deets here. Recommend.

Supra Burger, Salusbury Road, Queen’s Park

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Saucy smashburger perfection

Burger source

I was meeting some friends in the area and they mentioned Supra Burger, a pop-up installation in the local high-end French style healthy rotisserie chicken restaurant. I could try to tell you more about how such a juxtaposition came to pass but I think it’s more joyous to let Supra tell you about themselves in their own words, because honestly – this is possibly my favourite ‘about’ content for any restaurant, company, charity or government – ever. Some selections:

Supra is a pop-up burger joint created in collaboration with Cocotte Queens Park, offering a unique dining experience that merges quality with community spirit.

We believe that quality is synonymous with honesty: we exclusively use fresh, superior grade products, sourced responsibly and locally.

We want you to discover a whole new world every time you visit Supra. We always strive for improvement, both as a team and in the products we offer. We persistently pursue superior goods, innovative sustainable materials, and uphold absolute transparency in all aspects of our operations. Our aspiration is for you to embark on a new journey with every visit to Supra..

Burgers act as a unifying link amongst us all. Each burger mirrors our community’s spirit, ensuring no one is left out.

That’s not a boilerplate; that’s bloody poetry. I love it so much; and I share the philosophy. Burgers ARE a unifying link amongst us all. And the friends we share them with? That smells like community spirit. Or maybe that’s the hot sauce, let’s see.

The order

I always try to get a bacon cheeseburger – or closest equivalent – when I order. This place, however, had an eponymous Supra Burger – exactly the same as their bacon cheeseburger but with additional pickle and supra sauce (alongside double smash patty, melted American cheese, and a toasted brioche). So I did the only sensible human thing: I asked them to add bacon to a Supra burger. It was served with french fries and we shared a portion of tenders.

Sauce seems to be a fairly central feature of the menu; so we had four (indulgent, but… when in Supra) – we ordered (off menu) the burnt chilli, as well as the ‘spicy’, the n’duja and the garlic mayo. More on all of the above shortly.

The meat of it

Let’s take a look.

This is immediately promising. Toasted brioche, crisp streaky bacon, healthy slices of pickle, brilliant char on the meat, fantastic melt on the cheese, tidy plating. Let’s continue.

In cross-section, the near perfection continues. The bottom bun is a little compressed, but it’s holding up. The top bun is light and airy with a good crumb. The burger meat is tender bur robust against the knife. The Supra sauce, a vibrant orange, spills out, promising… well, something.

First taste… you can actually taste a delightful char to the burger – it’s crisp on the outside, and tender on the inside. Just like Dime bars (let’s see if my audience gets this reference). The bacon is crisp as it promised; the cheese binds and adds savoury umph to every mouthful – but isn’t overwhelming. The sauce adds moisture, sweetness and an unctuous mouthfeel. The pickle adds bright freshness, sweet and sour sparkles around the edges of everything else. Meat, cheese, sauce, bacon, bread, pickle – all provide separate inputs into a glorious gestalt that honestly just tastes of joy. This is one of the best smash burgers I’ve ever had, and I would have it again RIGHT NOW if I wasn’t so full. It was a thrill. I had to search for any notes – and if I had to give one, it’s that I prefer a thinner sliced, fresher pickle – like those quick-brine ones you can do in the summer at home with cucumbers, in a sweet-salty base. But it wasn’t enough to deduct a point (spoilers).

On the sides…

The tenders were… a bit meh, tbh. Juicy, well fried, but lacking a little on the seasoning front and needed to be sauced for flavour. Which is just as well as we had plenty of sauces!

The fries were pretty much a paragon of a modern french fry – crisp, well seasoned (salt and pepper) and pairing well with the sauces.

On the sauce front – I didn’t get photos of them all – pictured is ‘burnt chilli’ (sweet with a edge that definitely tasted of chilli), a ‘spicy’ sauce that had a deeper red lustre to it and chunks of peppers – tasty, savoury, lightly spicy but more conventional. The garlic mayo was good – strong garlic flavour, more crème fraiche in texture than mayo. The n’duja sauce tasted a bit like the burnt chilli, but with chunks of n’duja in it – so not bad in any way, really. I’m not sure this was £10 worth of sauce, but we definitely enjoyed the variety. A must for the tenders, and a nice complement to the fries.

I had a mixed fruit juice to drink (sorry, again no pic, what was I thinking!) – tasted mostly of apple, but was very nice for all that it had carrot and orange in it too.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  4.5/5 – not often you get both a soft give and a toasted crunch in one bite
Build – 5/5 – perfect construction
Burger – 5/5 – flawless
Taste –  5/5 – the parts were great and the whole was even greater
Sides – 4/5 – small deduction for lackluster tenders 

Value – 5/5 – £33 for burger, share of tenders, fries, drinks and service (which was super) felt very reasonable in this post-Covid, post-inflation era of eating out.

Burger rating – 5/5 – this is up there with the best of them.

The deets

You’ll find it in Cocotte, just across the road from the Salusbury pub, a few minutes walk North from Queen’s Park Station. It’s a joy. Go now. Tell your friends. And let this burger feed your community spirit. Mike and Leia – a joy to partake in this community moment with you.

Tender Cow, Mackie Mayor, Manchester

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Small, salty, but otherwise spot-on burger

Burger source

We were visiting one of Amanda’s closest friends in Manchester over the ‘twixmas period and she was keen to take us to Mackie Mayor, a food court in a Victorian market hall in central Manchester, for the atmosphere and variety. The variety included ‘Tender Cow’, a beef specialist steak place focussing on obscure cuts. But they had a burger on the menu, so my choices were made for me.

Tender Cow’s mission is an interesting one and not one I’ve heard before. The burger didn’t promise to be made of a blend of anything in particular but it looked and sounded simple but fantastic so I was excited…

Here’s how they describe their ambition:

Our aim is to offer the lesser-known cuts of beef from some of the best producers and farms in Britain. Very rarely, unless its a very special piece of meat, will you see cuts such as sirloin, rib-eye or fillet on our menus. Instead we go for the less heard of and sometimes newly discovered cuts of steak. Flat iron, from the feather blade, is our steak of choice but this will be joined on our menu by cuts such as sirloin pave, spider steak, hanger steak and Jacobs steak.

The order

On the menu it’s simply billed as the ‘Mackie cheeseburger and chips’, at £15. I think the description promised burger sauce, onions and pickles too. There wasn’t much else to it! Zoe (9) joined me for a burger (minus pickles and burger sauce), whilst Emily went for Ramen, Amanda, Izzy and Nicky went for pizza from the exciting looking sourdough pizza place.

The meat of it

As you can see – it presents well. Brilliant melt on the cheese, and intriguing peppery texture to the burger sauce, a shiny toasted bun that’s still soft to touch, and a good char on the burger you could see. The pickles – home made pickled cucumber from the look of things – looked promising.

In cross section:

There’s a pinkness to the meat, which promises tenderness and juiciness, which is a little surprising as the patty is so thin. It looks like a 4oz total – closer to generous smash burger territory than the full heft of a gourmet-style burger patty. But clearly it’s been cooked well. There’s no unnecessary grease, and the stack holds together post cross section.

Time for the first taste. The umami hits – salty beef, salty cheese, neutral bun, and even a bit more savoury flavour from the burger sauce. It needed more sweetness – which does come in small, bright moments from the crisp, sweet and sour cucumber pickle slices and the bright, fresh sparks of onion. But the balance is off; the savoury overwhelms slightly and I found myself applying small amounts of ketchup to take the edge off.

The meat, however, is clearly high grade, and is the perfect texture. A light crunch on the sear, and soft, delicious and tender throughout. Coarse ground, loose packed but well enough to hold structural integrity despite its slender construction. The balance of most of the burger – between the sturdy but pliant roll, the lovely pickle, the melty cheese – binds beautifully. I’d have preferred a little more beef – 1-2oz more would have made all the difference – in managing the ratios here. But there was little otherwise to complain about.

As to the fries…

These are rustic, hand-cut, skin-on chips, that look like they’ve been double fried. Like the burger, they went a bit heavy on the salt seasoning them but don’t think they got the second fry quite to temp – a good proportion of the fries are a little floppy. But there’s good potato flavour and – when you get a properly cooked one – it’s a lovely crunch. Really enjoyable.

A good balance on the whole, and very cosy in the bright, airy, unrushed halls of Mackie Mayor – unlike somewhere like Seven Dials in London, there weren’t people hovering over the table waiting for you to leave, the staff were attentive and quick to help clear tables, and the prices were more reasonable (though I still flinch slightly at the inflationary impact, post Covid/the Ukraine war).

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  5/5
Build – 5/5
Burger – 4/5 – point deducted for salt and size
Taste –  4/5
Sides – 4/5 – soggy fries penalty 
Value – 4/5 – £15 for burger and side

Burger rating – 4/5 – lovely.

The deets

If you know, you know, but for visitors to Manchester – it’s a few minutes from Manchester Victoria, or five minutes from Exchange Square or Sudehill tram stops. More here.

Burgerism @ NQ64, Old Street, London

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Capable halal double smash burger, enormous fries, with added gaming nostalgia

Burger source 

Clearly there’s a growing movement to serve the halal market and these guys are doing a classy job. A business focussed on high quality (and certified) ingredients, there’s clearly a great deal of pride going into the sourcing and production of the food here. More on their approach, food sources, etc. here – James arranged for us to sample their wares at their residency at NQ 64, an arcade gaming bar near Old Street. 

Truly, the geeks have inherited the earth. VIBES!

The order 

I had the “baconed” (their cheesed with added turkey bacon) with skin on fries, for £14.40. Drinks at the bar were from NQ64, not Burgerism, but were not unreasonable by London prices – £6 pints, £10+ cocktails. The burger’s full description:

2 smashed patties, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and Burgerism sauce in a seeded brioche bun + added turkey bacon.

The fries – self identify as “double fried skin-on chips tossed in our almost spicy seasoning.”

Decent online ordering experience. Let’s get into it.

The meat of it 

Presentation is quite fast foodie, though that’s no criticism. An absolute heft of fries (left unfinished), a pot of tasty ranch (£1) and the burger, in their respective pots, well packaged, eventually announced themselves to us via text after we used their online ordering system. Bonus sweetie provided a free pudding (the desserts on their menu weigh in at a chunky £7 or so, so you’d have to be VERY hungry to need them).

A closer look…

It’s not a tidy stack. Massive salad overspill, escaping pickles, but… a nice looking bun, good looking patties/bacon, a good melt on the cheese… Colour me intrigued.

Looks improve with cross section, but it’s a messy stack to handle due to the absolute explosion of salad. Look at the detritus on the wrapper, it’s mad.

First bite… the bun’s untoasted, but that’s not a crime; it’s soft and pliant and holds up to the heft of the double stack. The cheese – American – is melty and unctuous. The turkey bacon adds bite and salt and isn’t noticeably different in flavour contribution to regular bacon. The salad is fresh if present in needlessly voluminous quantities. The burger sauce is reminiscent of big mac sauce – sweet and savoury and adding a helpful moisture. The beef – is decent, well cooked – decent crust but not overcooked to a hockey puck, a light shade of pink in the middle, good bite and well seasoned. The pickles add occasional shards of sweet and sour, the salad is fresh, crisp and sweet. And there’s a light spice to it. It’s very good – improved maybe with some dry-aging on the meat, a toasted bun, and better stacking, but these are points to finesse – on the whole, this is solid.

The fries, and the ranch? In a word?

Lush. Lovely spice profile – ‘almost spicy’ I think translates to salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder, but I could be wrong. Consistently crispy without being crisps, soft and fluffy in the middle. Amazing dipped in the ranch, which smoothed off the slightly overgenerous salt profile. One portion between two is plenty, though, unless you’re very hungry…

And the drinks – I had a ‘Mega Daisy’ – all the drinks are named for geek pop culture and video games, and this is NQ 64 now, not Burgerism – was a brilliant twist on an Aperol Spritz, with both prosecco and Aperol, but also lychee liqueur and some other bits. Not as sweet as it sounds and very refreshing.

We had a go on some classic games around the edges – Dance Dance Revolution, Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, Out Run 2, Ghost Squad – it’s amazing. And the crowd – such as it was of a Wednesday evening – was relaxed and diverse. A good all round cobination.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  4/5 – better if toasted
Build – 3/5 – messy
Burger – 4/5 
Taste –  4/5  
Sides – 4/5 – really good fries, slightly oversalted
Value – 4/5 – £14.40 for burger and fries (enough for two!) and a pot of sauce.     Take-out style so tip not required. Decent value if a little basic in aspect.

Burger rating – 4/5 – A good option. Would go again.   

The deets 

Branches in Salford, Liverpool and beyond, as well as in Shoreditch. Available by Ubereats if you live in the right places. If you’re in London and are a child of the 70s/80s, check them at at NQ 64, just a fab fibe with paid for arcade games (buy tokens at the bar) and free console games on offer, alongside a brilliant selection of drinks for those inclined – non alcoholic versions available too. More info here.

Salt Shed, Box Park, Shoreditch

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A beautiful burger despite an exceptionally robust bun

Burger source 

Salt Shed is a pop up in the Box Park at Shoreditch, and like so many Shoreditch Box Park pop-ups it has a brilliant story. From the website:

Laurence & Frank began curing salt beef to feed and educate some of their less cultured friends from university on one of the greatest London delicacies, The Bricklane salt beef bagel. This quickly became a popular dish at gatherings and university barbecues, once they graduated they wanted to take their cooking to the next level and Salt Shed was born.

The business started as curing meats but then the barbecue aspect really came into play, pastrami (smoked salt beef) began to fly they now serve an array of cuts that are slow smoked or hot grilled with some very complementing sauces.

So whilst a burger isn’t their core offer, it’s clearly a staple and it called out to me from the lush, lush photos on Box Park’s online menu/ordering system.

The order 

I had the ‘sweet one’, consisting of an aged British beef patty, smoked pancetta bacon, American cheese, toasted sesame bun, bacon & caramelised onion jam (hence the sweet one, there’s a variant that skips this) and beef dripping mayo. 

The meat of it 

I mean, look at it. Picture perfect. Toasted bun, crusty beef, crispy pancetta, melty cheese, reassuring grease marks on the paper (a good burger needs a good fat ratio), and a few dribs and drabs of sweet, sweet caramelised onions reach escape velocity around its edges.

First taste? The bun is chewy and slightly too robust – firm instead of pliant, it adds just a smidge too much breadiness to the bite. The burger is brilliantly seasoned, and the crunch of the crust, the goo of the salty cheese, the crisp of the pancetta and the sweet sunshine of the bacon jam, all lubricated by the sweet/savoury mayo, bind beautifully. It’s a tasty burger.

But it is slightly overcooked, and so a little dryer than it should be in the patty (my friend Dan had a regular cheeseburger that was showing pink in cross section – this one just spent slightly too long on the grill). And the ratios mean that some of the flavour balance is off – hard to know exactly how to remedy it but I think a different bun choice and possibly a bit more salad would have helped balance it better. But really very good on the whole.

The fries, a supplemental £3.50, were pretty much perfect. Crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, perfectly seasoned, hot and tasty. They needed more than the token packets of ketchup we were given to lubricate them, though, they were a huge portion and the salt got overwhelming. Share one between two!

Great combo. £12.50, no service payable at the box park, so value for the quality as it goes. Nice work, Salt Shed.

Monkey finger rating  

Bun –  3/5  – just too big
Build – 5/5 
Burger – 4/5 – just a smidge overdone
Taste –  4/5 
Sides – 4.5/5
Value – 4.5/5 – valuelicious by Central London standards.  

Burger rating – 4/5 – would have again 

The deets 

Unit 53 at the Box Park, just by Shoreditch High Street and 10 minutes or less from Liverpool St Station. Take a friend!

Refuel @ Soho Hotel, Soho, London

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Tasty but messy beef and chicken burgers

Burger source

A seasonal special, the Soho Hotel has let its chefs go wild and create their burgery delights for the Summer. Only available until 30th September! Here’s the blurb:

This August, the talented chefs at Refuel Bar & Restaurant have each created their own ultimate burger inspired by flavours from around the world.

Try Renaldo’s ‘Greek Island Paradise Burger’, a lamb burger with rosemary, lemon, oregano, feta, tomato and grilled onion with pickle and cucumber tzatziki or ‘Shannon’s Dirty Burger’, a twist on the classic created with a double beef patty, Applewood smoked cheese, golden onions, smoked bacon and topped with a blue cheese dip.  Each of the specially created summer burgers are paired with a refreshing Asahi beer.

More at the website.

We were curious and needed a new burger place to try in Soho, so thought, why not?

The order

Jimjamjebobo and I shared SAM’S EIFFEL TOWER BURGER (Buttermilk chicken, streaky bacon, caramelised onion with smoked paprika mayonnaise and crispy onion rings) and SHANNON’S DIRTY BURGER

(Double beef patty, Applewood smoked cheese, golden onions, smoked bacon, blue cheese dip). Sides of truffle Parmesan polenta chips, french fries and ‘hand cut chips’ were shared. Asahi came bundled with the burger.

The meat of it

To each burger in turn, then the sides.

Shannon, let’s talk.

I mean, what do you even call this stack? The double burgers are SIDE BY SIDe instead of on top of each other, bottoming (tomato, salad) cause the burger to slide around further, the toppings are literally falling out the side – it’s presentationally a mess. But… that bacon, onion, melty cheese, fresh salad – all looks good. What lies within?

A reasonably coarse grind but very little pink (oddly, Jimbo’s half looked better). It’s still sliding all over the place but we’re ready to taste now…

And gosh, it comes together. The meat is uncomplex but well seasoned and with a good crust. The moisture from the sweet bun, the cheese and the fresh salad makes up for the slightly overcooked burger. The cheese is extremely gooey and adds a lovely mouthfeel. The bacon is ultra-crisp streaky and adds a delightful crunch to each bite. Shannon, it may have looked a mess and been difficult to eat (at one point, I just flung the tomato out), but it was delicious. That said, I could do nothing with the blue cheese sauce. It was too thick to dip, too solid to spread, and it added nothing to the burger. It came on the side and was left on the side.

Now, for Sam’s turn.

In contrast, Sam’s stack is rather more elegant. Look at that cheese! Look at that bacon! Plated beautifully, well done. Look at that crisp breaded chicken, topped with crispy bacon… mmm…

So, to the tasting:

The chicken has a crisp, if somewhat uninspired breading – buttermilk chicken in my head has associations of the Deep South of America, but instead this is (as the name would suggest) a rather more elegant, continental breading. The meat is unbelievably moist, perfectly cooked. The cheese is a delight, gooey and luscious, binding the flavours rather beautifully. The bacon is hard to detect; it’s sparse and can’t compete with the other flavours, so was probably surplus to requirements. The burger did need the paprika mayonnaise that came on the side (it was just a bit too much salt without it) but I found that rather strong flavoured and so went without. Really a very credible effort.

As to the sides… A few to mention.

The coleslaw – which came with the burgers – was a bit too mayo-heavy for me and didn’t really add to the experience.

The pickle (aka Pickle Rick, because it was enormous and we like Rick and Morty): was great; fresh, crisp, and, well, big. Eaten on the side, I would have preferred pickle slices in the Dirty burger, I think. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

The polenta fries… were grim. But that’s because I don’t like polenta fries. They were crisp, the Parmesan topping added a salty tang, but I don’t like truffle and I don’t like polenta. They are just a poor imitation of a thick cut chip and they should stop making them.

The regular fries… were just ok. Well seasoned but not universally crisp, and some of them were a little overcooked.

The hand cut fries… were too significant fractions of a potato for me to enjoy. Hand cut just a little bit thinner next time, I didn’t want roast potato size wedges with a burger then, and I never will.

And last, but definitely not least – the onion rings. Possibly the best onion rings I’ve ever had. A thick round of sweet onion encased in a crisp, extremely well seasoned batter. A lovely contrast of freshness and decadence. It came with Sam’s Eiffel Tower burger, so wasn’t an orderable side, but it should be.

Monkey finger rating

To each in turn…

Shannon:

Bun – 4/5
Build – 1/5
Burger – 3/5
Taste – 4/5

And Sam:

Bun – 4/5
Build – 4/5
Burger – 4/5
Taste – 4/5

Sides – 3.5/5 – even the delightful onion rings can’t redeem the other chips
Value – 3.5/5 – £22.50 for burger, sides, and an Asahi.

Burger rating – 4/5 – overall, really a good experience. The Soho Hotel is a nice place to eat, there was a good vibe (even on a Tuesday), the service was great and the burgers were interesting. Try it out whilst the offer is on, and you will walk away happy and (very) full.

The deets

Just off Dean Street in Soho, look for Richmond Mews. You can book online.

Bleecker Street Burgers, Pop-Up until Sept 30th 2016, South Bank

Posted in Bacon, Pop up, Restaurant, ReviewsTagged , , , , 2 Comments

The best burger in London? Very possibly.

Burger Source

Zan Kaufman, American founder of Bleecker Street burgers, came to London in 2011 and launched Bleecker Street with a van and a mission to serve the best American style burgers on the streets of London. Having learnt everything she could from an East Village burger joint called Zaitzeff, she wanted to bring the same experience to London. As to the beef itself, and the burgers? She puts it better than I could: “There is zero compromise with our ingredients. Burgers are about the beef. We use rare-breed, pasture-fed beef from small farms in the UK. It comes to us from the geniuses at The Butchery in Bermondsey, where it is dry-aged for about forty to fifty days, giving it an intense, beefy flavour. The finishing touches: a sesame seed bun, scratch burger sauce and good old American cheese. We like to keep things simple.” Does the Bleecker Street reality live up to the promise?

The order

The menu is simplicity itself, especially at the South Bank pop-up where the Blue-Cheese special is not available – single, double, bacon and the Bleecker Black – a black pudding slice sandwiched between two substantial burger patties. Having seen people being served singles, which looked like 4.5oz patties at most, my hunger conquered me and I went for a double – and, because I’m greedy – added bacon, alongside the skin-on fries. The South Bank pop up does a good trade in  American beer, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The meat of it:

BleeckerDoubleClose-up
Now for my close-up

The burger doesn’t look that extraordinary there’s little to the presentation, the sesame seeded bun is toasted and looks very standard fayre… and the patties look surprisingly small. The camera adds a few ounces of flattery in the picture above. Even a double doesn’t have the heft of a P&B burger, for example. And mine, surprisingly, was cooked medium well rather than the medium rare a friends’ Bleecker Black came with. I suspect the guys struggle with consistency in the small confines of the pop-up kitchen as other friends’ doubles were also rarer than mine. The fries come in a generous sized cardboard cup and are crisp, well-seasoned and delicious dipped in the plentiful ketchup, mayo or mustard that adorns the few small tables outside the Bleecker Street Shack.

Medium well double cheeseburger
Very pink Bleecker black

As to the burger… OMG. The aged beef delivers a gamey taste and, despite being cooked medium well, the coarse ground meat is unbelievably juicy – literally spilling onto the cardboard plate as I took my first bite. It’s really well-seasoned too; though simply – no unusual flavours, spices or herbs. The American cheese singles are completely melted in to create wonderful mouthfeel, and whilst I had initially feared that the sesame seeded bun was dry and overtoasted, in this world of soft brioche, in the end it proved necessary for it to stand up to the juicy intensity of the burger. There was some onion in there, but it didn’t really factor in the taste behind the beef. The bacon – thinly sliced, not-entirely-crispy streaky bacon – was somewhat lost in the beef-fest, which is probably why they don’t do a double bacon cheeseburger as standard. Occasionally the burger got dipped in mustard or ketchup (wow), but it was fine on its own too. I suspect a fat/lean ratio of 75/25, and the result on the taste and the texture… well, wow. I want to go back. This, Honest Burgers, and Lucky Chip are currently in top contention for my personal best burgers in London, but there’s still far to go on this burger gastronomic adventure.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  4.5/5
Build – 5/5
Burger – 5/5
Taste –  5/5
Sides – 5/5
Value – 4.5/5 – I missed out on the ‘deal’ by ordering a custom burger. You save a quid or two otherwise.

Burger rating – 5/5 – very possibly the best burger in London. I want to go back for lunch.

The deets

The pop up supposedly runs until 30th September. You can find it under the Hungerford bridge, by the Royal Festival Hall on the Queen’s Walk, right by the river. A straight walk over the bridge from Embankment tube. From 11.30am to 11pm daily.