smash burger – Page 2 – Burger Source

Messy, tasty vegan “smash” burger

Burger source

From one of the early investors in Beyond Meat and F1 superstar and non-meat eater Lewis Hamilton comes Neat Burger, a fast-scaling vegan food chain that “aims to convert meat eaters” to sustainable, plant-based alternatives.

As I continue to explore burger options near my office, this vegan offer drew me in, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Low carbon, highly recyclable everything, this chain has some admirable ambitions.

The order

I had the smash burger (Double Neat Meat patty smashed with onions, cheese, mustard, neat sauce + stack sauce). Came with a side of fries and a drink for £13.99.

I was also tempted by some no-chicken chicken nuggets…

The meat of it

So… interesting presentation. First job… get the burger out of its vertical wrapping.

It slipped out, and sauce went everywhere. Things slid all over the place. Hands got very sticky from the very chunky pickly burger sauce. Pickles fell out too.

As to the taste…

Soft bun, amazingly gooey melty vegan cheese, salty and sweet with the oodles of burger sauce, phenomenally seasoned patty… genuinely hard to tell its not meat. That said, as ever, the texture of the patty is every so slightly off – like a steamed burger instead of a genuinely smashed patty as you’d expect. But not so you’d complain.

The burger sauce is slightly overpowering – chunky, chunky pickles, over-generously applied. The balance isn’t bad but a more finely chopped pickle and slightly less heavy on the sauce would have improved things. Anyway, a very fine thing, and more filling than you’d expect despite its initially diminutive appearance.

As to the sides, the no-chick chicken nuggets are texturally not bad at all – decent bit, well seasoned, proteiny chew and no off-meat eccentricity. The fries – are superfine and less convincingly potatoey than they could be. Despite being well seasoned and crispy – I quite like the starchy, fluffy potato that come with slightly more substantial fries. The extra burger sauce was a bit of a mistake – just too chunky to be a dipping sauce.

Monkey finger rating

Bun – 4.5/5
Build – 2/5 – literally slipped out of the bun
Burger – 4/5
Taste – 4/5
Sides – 4/5 – plus for the nuggets, minus for the fries
Value – 4/5 – £19 for burger, fries and nuggets and side, ish. Which is a lot, but it was more food than was needed and the vegan premium is modest for the quality of the food

Burger rating – 4/5 – a great vegan burger for meat lovers.

The deets

There are branches all over London, the Bishopsgate one just a couple of minutes from the Bishopsgate exit of Liverpool Street Station. Can recommend. Find your nearest here.

Possibly the best smash burger in London

Burger source

A friend with excellent taste in both bourbon and BBQ suggested we meet at this pub for a couple of drinks and dinner, and – seeing a double smash burger alongside a variety of ribs options, I felt confident that good things would follow.

The pub has high standards – from its menu:

ALL SMOKE – NO MIRRORS – we’re all about authentic London barbecue, with influences from around the world. Our meat is dry-rubbed, smoked in-house, low and slow, over British hickory logs. Our meat and poultry is ethically sourced, free range, and from local farms wherever possible, and our fish comes from day boats off the south coast of the UK, and is delivered to us daily.

Well. Expectations, much.

The order

We shared a half dozen crispy BBQ wings (my friend couldn’t cope with buffalo spice option), and naturally I had the Smash burger: double beef, double cheese, onions & pickles. I added bacon too, because… greed. To drink? House red, and I may have had an unusual bourbon because it’s a whisky bar too.

And I was tempted by a pudding. I’ll come to that.

The meat of it

Take a look at that. That’s nice. Shiny bun, beautiful char on the meat and melt on the cheese, well balanced with the pickles and onions.

Let’s take a look at the cross section and see what we’re really dealing with here. I received a groan from my friend when I did this (as I often do).

I can’t explain this. It’s a smash burger – at most, two slender, three ounce patties. And yet there’s a clear and evident pink, uniform through the centre. First bite and you are hit with a wall of savoury – coarse ground, amazingly seasoned meat provides bite… and then soft, tender chew. the flavour is smoky, with depth but none of the funk that comes with dry-aged beef. The cheese binds and adds yet more umami; the bacon almost pushes it over the top, but the sweet pickle and onion tempers it. The bun is soft and holds together against the surprising heft of the burger. I force myself to take slow, thoughtful bites. Savouring each mouthful as the full extent of this creation – this masterpiece – of a burger works its way over my palate. Simon is jeering at me as a reverent look passes over my face; each bite surprises, delights and astounds me. This burger is glorious, I have zero notes. Not one. It is unimprovable.

So. Wow. Breathe. And then the sides.

The fries are – as you can probably see on close inspection – crisp on the outside, thick cut by the standard of American fries but thin for English chips. They are substantial enough that they taste of actual hot, fluffy potato; they are beautifully seasoned with salt and pepper, crisp without being greasy. Possible the archetype of what chips should be, could be, when they grow up. Without the ostentation of rosemary of any of that fancy stuff – simple, uncomplicated, perfect.

The wings are presented beautifully – I love the slim, angled slices of spring onion scatted over the – evenly coated but not dripping – BBQ wings. The sauce is smoky and sweet, but not overwhelming, nor particularly distinctive. The wings crunch as you bite into them, and the meat comes off clean – but is a little tough and chewy. Enjoyable, but I’d probably go for the buffalo if I went back, and hope that they would be more generous in the saucing process, with a meatier and more tender wing. Good but not great.

I was pretty full from the meal, but as regular readers may know, my kryptonite is sticky toffee pudding. It is the ‘BEYOND GODLIKE’ of dessert options for me and – generally – even a mediocre pud is a thing of joy. This time – it presented SO beautifully after being pitched to me by the waitress (it’s excellent, she said)… but then proceeded to have the texture and flavour of a mouldering brick. The waitress acknowledged that a knife should not be required to break a STP apart and graciously took it back, and off the bill. I’ll discount it from my scoring; suspect I got unlucky.

Monkey finger rating

Bun – 5/5
Build – 5/5
Burger – 5/5
Taste – 5/5
Sides – 4/5 – minor deduction for tough, slightly undersauced wings. Fries were a 5.
Value – 5/5 – it wasn’t cheap but it was WORTH it

Burger rating – 5/5 – genuinely one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.

The deets

You can find the Lord Wargrave pub a five minute walk from Edgware Road station, tucked unassumingly behind the main thoroughfare down to Marble Arch from the Marylebone Road. The extensive selection of whisky, beer and wine is another reason to go back. Simon had ribs, which also looked glorious. Atmosphere and service, great.

Tag: smash burger

Neat Burger, Bishopsgate, London

Lord Wargrave, Nr Edgware Road, London