Following on from February’s guide to finding the best fries in London, we bring you the burger lowdown.
BRGR:
This may be one of the juiciest burgers in London. At BRGR you can choose your blend of meat cuts (p.s. they’re all pretty delicious, whichever way you go), plus get involved with the tasty house dips, including the malt tarragon aioli and horseradish mustard yoghurt, which are free. As a bonus, if you feel a burger craving coming on mid-afternoon, check out their ‘Afternoon Tea’, which includes three sliders – beef, chicken and lobster, three mini desserts, a tiny vanilla milkshake and a bellini. What more could you want from your burger loving life.
Honest Burger:
Tip number one: go to the Kings Cross branch. People haven’t quite caught on it’s there yet, and you can normally get a table. Tip number two: you might want to ask for your meat ‘medium well’, unless you like quite a bit of pink. My dining companion described her burger, cooked to Honest Burger’s standard medium (pink) level as ‘still mooing’. A straightforward, indeed honest, burger with rosemary salt fries boasting a dreamy crunch/fluffiness combination make this one worth a pit stop.
Patty and Bun:
When Patty and Bun first opened, you could slip in early on a Monday with not too much bother, settle yourself into the tiny cavern behind Selfridges and smugly await your dinner to be served by jovial Australian waiters. On a return trip more recently however, a long line of locals and tourists alike was snaking out the door before it opened at midday in the middle of the week. The Smokey P&B mayo makes the signature ‘ARI GOLD’ cheeseburger a hit, but go for the Smokey Robinson with mounds of caramelised onions for extra smokiness.
Meat Liquor:
At certain times of day, the roped-off queue at Meat Liquor, hand stamps and all, will make you feel like you’re queuing for a night club rather than a burger restaurant. The loud music and dark red lighting inside perpetuates this illusion. But the food, oh the food. The Dead Hippy burger, with two patties and Dead Hippy sauce, is the best way to go. And don’t skimp on the sides – chili cheese fries, onion rings, deep fried pickles with blue cheese dip – all of this will come on a sharing tray which you and your buddies will lean over, grease and satisfaction dripping from every side.
Five Guys:
Five Guys proudly displays its accolades on the walls of its restaurants, in the form of magazine articles and quotes from reviewers. One of these large print boards reads “The best burger you’ve ever eaten in your whole life”. This may not be strictly true, but they are pretty good. Double patty as standard with all the free toppings you want, plus extremely generous portions of spicy Cajun fries and speedy service make this a top lunch spot.
Dirty Burger:
This is my winner. The chaps behind Soho House have brought their tasty fare to the masses – and by masses I mean those with a burger hankering strong enough to persevere in navigating the unlikely setting of a corrugated iron shack behind Highgate Road. The genius is in its simplicity – cheese burgers, crinkle cut fries and onion rings. Brioche bun, perfect patty, moist meaty goodness. You will leave feeling like grease is seeping from your pores. In the best way.
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