Tag: Pub

Shoulder of Mutton, Hartley Wintney

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Country gastropub vs. London mainstream – a different burger experience.

Burger Source

The Shoulder of Mutton is a classic country pub, upgraded to Gastropub cuisine standard with the accompanying reviews and crowded tables you’d expect of an excellent pub. The burger seemed to feature reasonably prominently on its menu, and I thought – why not, this place has amazing reviews, the burger should be interesting.

And it was interesting, if a completely different experience from the London scene, for a number of reasons which I’ll get into in this review.

It’s also 15 minutes drive from me, so a perfect location for a night out with Amanda; thanks to Sophie for the recommendation.

The order

The ‘home made beef burger’ is billed as: “fresh minced beef infused with our blend of herbs & spices, tomato, lettuce on a grilled bun served with baby leaf salad and hand cut chips.”

The critical point here is the ‘blend of herbs’ – most burgers these days seem to emphasize salt and pepper over all other herbing and spicing, something I don’t tend to argue with. But I was interested in the treatment this pub would give it…

The meat of it

The preparation and the presentation made for an interesting display. The burger sat atop a bed of thick cut, likely double fried (and duly crispy) chunky chips. The soft white roll was warmed (possibly grilled as promised?), making for a soft yet surprisingly capable foil to the 6oz burger patty. The thick cut bacon sat on top of the meat, coated in a thick layer of cheddar which had not simply been melted on but also crisped up under a broiler, giving a good crust and crunch to the cheese, which was unexpected. The burger itself had a good crust, made of coarse ground, loosely packed beef (my fave), with a pink medium-well shade to it (I like them slightly rarer, but it wasn’t bad at all).

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Such a thing as too much cheese?

The meat was relatively lean (which explains why the standard white bun survived) and unadorned by further sauce or relish. For some reason the promised tomato and lettuce wasn’t in there and I didn’t notice at the time so didn’t make a point of it.

The taste? Well, it was definitely herby, which was an interesting change of pace. Tasty; though my palate couldn’t figure out what was involved but I suspect parsley featured centrally (it was scattered liberally around the plate too). The lean meat (or possibly the broiling?) meant the burger wasn’t as juicy as it should have been but it was still pretty tender. The cheese was somewhat overdone, and the bacon could/should have been crisper in my book, but they were all quality ingredients.

The chips were outstanding, though an excessively large portion. The salad was unnecessarily dressed with a thick squirt of salad cream, which should have been applied more sparingly.

The overall impact? Not as good as it should have been. The burger needed pickle or relish, and – for my mind – a different sort of flavouring. The herbs alone make it taste slightly medicinal (or at least, more meatloaf than burger) and the lack of sweetness in relish or salad or pickle within the burger itself made it overwhelming salty – too much cheese and bacon, a phrase I never thought I’d say, much less write. A better fat/lean ratio would have improved the taste of the burger as well.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  4/5
Build – 4/5
Burger – 3/5
Taste –  3.5/5
Sides – 4/5
Value – 4/5 – £50 for two including pudding and a round of drinks, incl service. Pretty good.

Burger rating – 3.5/5 – It’s really not a bad burger, but the peculiarity of the flavouring and the slightly unsatisfactory toppings mean it’s only maybe something I’d order again. I think maybe the steak next time; the service and atmosphere is outstanding so it’s definitely worth a return visit.

The deets

Whilst the Shoulder of Mutton claims to be part of Hartley Wintney, it’s clearly far closer to Heckfield, just off the A33 between Basingstoke and Reading. Full details: Hazeley Heath, Hartley Wintney, Hook, Hampshire RG27 8NB. Phone: 01189 326 272. Recommend booking – it was busy on a Saturday night.

The Salusbury, Salisbury Road, Queens Park

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Gastropub tries to do good burger, doesn’t quite manage it.

Burger Source

If you read my appeal to publicans, you’ll know that I don’t generally review pub burgers. I made an exception for the Salusbury as the pub clearly makes a feature of its ‘aged short rib burger,’ so I thought I’d give it a try.

An independent pub under the same ownership for 15 years, the Salusbury boasts the talents of Andrew Fila, former head chef at the Medcalf, Exmouth Market. The aim to deliver the best food, drink and service. The service is excellent, and I can’t talk to the drink… and the food is generally OK.

But how did they fayre with that pub kryptonite, a genuinely good burger?

The order

Just one burger on the menu, the ‘aged short rib’ burger served with chips. I was asked how I’d like it done and opted for medium, which was a good sign. I was eating with family, who ordered fish and chips, amongst other things, which looked excellent.

The meat of it

This burger should have been good. It was clearly good meat; it was cooked perfectly – look at the cross section shot. But a few crucial things went wrong, sadly.

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The meat was underseasoned; so didn’t taste of much. The toppings didn’t add enough to counter it (not even that substantial pickle), and the (very, very) firm eggwashed roll just added too much chewiness. I abandoned half of it immediately.

The burger wasn’t juicy enough; I put this down to too high a lean/fat ratio. It was slightly too tightly compacted too, despite being coarsely ground, which means it was a dense thing to eat your way through.

This sounds incredibly nitpicky, but the end result was a substantial burger that tasted of very little. Not bad… but not good either. And it’s frustrating because the ingredients were clearly top quality.

The chips, however, were crisp, fluffy and delicious with the provided mayonnaise. Which, to be fair, also helped bring the burger together somewhat , packed as it was with salty goodness.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  1/5
Build – 4/5
Burger – 2/5
Taste –  2/5
Sides – 4/5
Value – 1/5. This thing is not worth £14.50.

Burger rating – 2/5 – A few things for the Salusbury to fix; they clearly have the technical skills but some of the core ingredients – in particular the bun and the beef – need some thought.

The deets

If you’re keen to stop by, the Salusbury is near Queen’s Park tube station in North London; 50-52 Salusbury Road, NW6 6NN. I’d have the fish and chips.

White Ferry House, Sutherland Street, Victoria

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White Ferry House cheese burger and fries

Well-seasoned, surprisingly juicy, very brioched burger. Soggy fries.

Burger source:

White Ferry House is part of the small pub chain ‘Pub Love,’ which seems to own a few erstwhile independent pubs across London.  As well as an extensive gin menu, it gains admission to the Burger Source staple as it does many of the things I asked of publicans in my recent missive in its ‘Burger Craft’ kitchen, and more. Specifically; fresh, locally sourced beef, fresh burgers handmade daily, course ground, well-seasoned meat etc… but I’m getting ahead of myself. You can be reassured that the burger’s heritage here is of quality.

It’s a regular fixture of my company’s ‘night out’ schedule and always features great, speedy service.

The order

I went for a basic cheeseburger with bacon (and fries), weighing in at about £9.50, which, given its location less than ten minutes’ walk from Victoria station, is pretty remarkable. Skin-on fries came as standard. The menu also features a double burger – the Juicy Bastard – that may be cause for a return visit at some stage.

The meat of it:

The ~5oz, course ground patty is well seasoned and delivered sandwiched between a very melty American cheese, topped with tasty, salty, chewy thick cut bacon, sat on a bed of  wilted salad… all of which is sandwiched in a sweet brioche – which is a good counterbalance to its salt-tastic contents. Like many of its kin at the moment, it’s an ‘add your own sauce’ burger (ketchup helped even out the savoury explosion further), and it was surprisingly juicy, given it was cooked medium well, if not well done.

White Ferry House burger cross section
Look at the melt on that! Surprisingly juicy for a medium well burger.

I’d have to be hunting to criticize, and – as such – I’d probably only be able to improve on this burger with some thought  on the sauce situation. Perhaps some mustard cooked into the beef and/or relish for the burger. But I suppose then it would be a different burger!

The fries, sadly, were undercooked – they look lovely but were a bit greasy and soggy, so were donated to the colleagues I was out with. The overall presentation was a bit flat as – essentially – it was just a burger and chips on a plate. Only so much you can do with that, but it was – at least – a very nice plate.

Monkey finger rating

Bun –  4/5
Build – 4/5
Burger – 4.5/5
Taste –  4/5
Sides – 2/5
Value – 4/5

Burger rating – 4/5 – A very solid burger outing which would probably get a 4.5 overall had it not been for the mediocre fries. Worth a stop.

The deets

The White Ferry House Victoria is to be found at 1a Sutherland Street, London, UK SW1V 4LD. Map etc., here.