Rich, sweet and savoury feast
Burger source
Not gonna lie, when I got to Granger & co, I picked up the Vegan menu and got a little flustered. The friend who we were celebrating has something of a flair for the dramatically plant-based and whilst that would have been fine, the menu also had a higher words-to-event ratio than a Jane Austen novel, so it took a bit of parsing.
Eventually, my middle aged eyes differentiated the vegan menu from the omnivore menu and found that they had a burger – and it sounded great! Who knew that this is what the spirit of Australia would feel like.
Everything about Granger & Co. reflects the ‘Australian’ spirit: sunny, light, vibrant, and always generous. Our warm, welcoming neighbourhood restaurants offer all-day dining that makes you feel good and at home.
The order
This place is too fancy to name its dishes, so I had the descriptively named Grass-fed beef burger, dill pickles, butter lettuce, caramelised onions and herbed fries 22 + gruyère. I also had a £6 glass of home-made ginger ale, and split a pudding – am £11 choux bun. This place carries some heft.
Being offered a choice in how the burger was cooked is ALWAYS a good sign, and the staff were pretty proud of it. Good for them, good for us.
The meat of it
Let’s take a look.
That is some fancy and yes, ostentatious presentation. Well seasoned (albeit pale) herbed fries notwithstanding, the salad is bright and fresh, that heritage tomato does make tomatoes as a whole perhaps look appealing. The meat has excellent char, the bun is toasted well – at least somewhat – on both sides – and the gruyere has an superb melt.
In cross section, two pics – with/without flash:
They did indeed deliver on the promise of a medium finish (though this is more plainly visible on the flash-image on the right). The layer of caramelised onion is thick and consistent, the gruyere is melted atop the onions – adding structural bind. A thin layer of relish finishes the top layer, and the bottom bun is bare – a flaw in the self-assembly presentation of salad on the side of plate, as every burger aficionado, knows the salad needs to protect the bottom bun. Whatever the emoji says🍔 – and it was too messy to self assemble the correct way.
On first taste… the burger is soft, melt-in-your-mouth, dry-aged meat with a light hint of the expected funk. At first the flavour seems mild, then you’re hit with a depth of umami from the excellent seasoning, the unctuous, salty bite of the gruyere, the sweet hit of the caramelised onions and the meh of the relish – which is lost in that avalanche of sweet-and-savoury flavour. The meat is coarse ground and loose packed, which – alongside a high fat ratio and a perfect cook – leads to an extraordinary texture. The bun holds up, providing bland contrast to this taste explosion.
In fact, it is almost a perfect mouthful, and the build is so elegant that virtually every other bite follows the same profile. Consistently excellent, deep, rich, savoury, sweet and fulfilling. The only slight criticism is that texture contrast is limited – it’s quite a mushy mouthful – and some fresh onions, or crispy onions, or streaky bacon – would have completed the experience. And perhaps a burger sauce instead of the relish – at times the thick layer of onions could overwhelm somewhat with sweetness, and I didn’t taste the pickles at all – so there was no vinegary hit to cut through the almost cloying sweetness of the onions.
Still, these are small notes on an exceptional burger.
As to the side, the salad, the drink and the pud?
The salad was salted, and the tomatoes as fresh and sweet as you could hope for two months into the UK’s autumn. The butter lettuce likewise – fresh and bright, though I do prefer a shredded iceberg, perhaps that itself a sign of a misspent youth.
The fries looked pale and anaemic but were in fact perfectly crooked – crisp and fresh, brilliantly seasoned with a clean tasting herb salt that hit of parsley (I think), and were fabulous dunked in generous pots of mayo.
The choux bun – full title: choux bun, orange and fennel seed craquelin, citrus curd and crème fraîche – was a surprise with every mouthful. I don’t know what craquelin is when it’s not on a roast pork joint, so didn’t really know what to expect – but the soft puffy ball is textured like a chewy profiterole; the creme fraiche is unsweetened and the fennel seed adds to the savoury bite. The sweet and sour curd reminds you this is, in fact, a pudding, and despite the confusing blend of flavours and textures – this dish mysteriously works. And is a fresh, bright, palate cleansing joy.
Monkey finger rating
Bun – 4.5/5 – slightly dry but not bad, well balanced against the burger
Build – 5/5 – not even going to take points off for DIY salad because the rest of it was so well done
Burger – 5/5 – some of the best quality, best cooked, best seasoned beef patty I’ve had in a while
Taste – 4.5/5 – small deduction for too much sweet and not enough crunch
Sides – 4.5/5 – very strong fries, very interesting pudding
Value – 4/5 – at nearly £50 for the meal (and admittedly friends had wine, so that pumped up the averages somewhat), this was a punchy meal. But a brilliant vibe, delicious food, and excellent service
Burger rating – 4.5/5 – very little to fault here. Hurrah for the Australian spirit.
The deets
There’s a few locations. Find your nearest one here. The Kings X one is literally out the main entrance, out the back, heading up to Coal Drops Yard.
Burger Source 