Curiously sauced, otherwise perfect smashburger
Burger source
This growing chain of independent smashburger restaurants was founded in 2021 and has multiple UK sites now; the Marylebone branch provided me with my burger via Deliveroo. It seems like it’s grown fast, its concept of simple burgers (singles/doubles/quadruples/etc), UK sourced quality meat, and french style brioche bun burgers seems to be doing pretty well. Let’s get into it.
The order
The menu is pretty simple. Multiples of patty, brioche bun, cheese and burger sauce (with a few specials on the side). I went for the ‘L’ – Brioche bun, three smashed beef patties (premium UK-Sourced meat), top-tier cheese and a homemade Junk sauce. The patties are pretty small, so this isn’t as indulgent as it sounds, as you’ll see from the pics. The combo – came with skin on seasoned fries, and a pot of sauce – I chose their junk sauce. Let’s check it out.
The meat of it
It pretty much looks like the paragon of a smashburger. Small, maybe, but the softest bun, the most impressive melt on the cheese you’ve ever seen, and a perfect crust on the meat.
In cross section…
The cross section reinforces my initial observations. This is perfectly formed. The coarse ground beef is fully crisped and flattened, the pile up with the cheese provides an unctuous pile, soft and steaming – this is looking good. First taste – it is a perfectly bound thing.
First bite… and in addition to the perfect seasoned beef, the crisp crunch, the soft cheese, the soft bun… and the slightly weird, vinegary burger sauce. In the burger it sort of works – sweet bread, and some light sourness from the sauce, crisp sear and soft bite of the burger itself, savoury goodness and gooey cheese binding it all beautifully. It’s a good burger. A little overly savoury, and there’s only so much of that sauce I could take. But it’s really good on the whole.
The fries made me sad I had delivery. They looked perfect. But were slightly steamed in the box, so not as crisp as I’m sure they would have been fresh. They are perfectly seasoned; a lingering crisp on the outside and soft, fluffy, starchy interior.
But the junk sauce? Nuh-uh. Too much vinegar. Not sure what it wants to be. There’s something that feels like a mayo base, there’s no sweetness from any pickle or relish, it’s just sour. Acrid. Poor. But maybe it’s an acquired taste.
Monkey finger rating
Bun – 5/5 – soft, sweet, and yet sturdy enough to do the job
Build – 5/5 – perfect construction for what it is
Burger – 4/5 – near perfect smashburger construction. Possibly better meat/bun ratio would have improved it slightly.
Taste – 4/5 – that sauce man. So weird.
Sides – 4/5 – great fries. Weird sauce.
Value – 4/5 – £15.50 for burger and fries, plus deliveroo fees put it at about £17.
Burger rating – 4/5 – the whole is diminished by the sauce.
The deets
They’re all over. Find more here, and/or check out Deliveroo.
Burger Source 