We love burgers. It's a love that dares speak its name over and over again.
We love burgers so much that we want to a) shout the word burger through the streets for one week straight, b) consider an ill-advised back tattoo of a giant patty and c) find out where the greatest burger in the UK lives. After being carefully talked down over the first two, we're pushing forward with the third.
Over the next few months, we're going to be trying out the very best burgers that the UK has to offer and we want your tips on where we should be eating. Send through your ideas to online@shortlist.com and we'll give it our very best.
Right, first we're off to get some elasticated trousers...
May 17th
Patty & Bun, London
Address: 54 James St, London W1U 1EU
Burger of Choice: Ari Gold (with bacon)
Toppings: Cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, ketchup, smokey P&B mayo, bacon
Chips: Crispy, with rosemary salt
Price: £7.50 (without chips)
Thoughts: One of the city's most respected pop-ups settled down in this central London location earlier this year and it's rapidly become a staunch reader favourite. We can see why. Their trademark burger, the Ari Gold, was exceptional. Although it's a total mess to eat (arm yourself with plenty of napkins), the creation couldn't be more precise. Managing to balance sweet caramelised onions with smoky house sauce and a perfectly seasoned patty, every ingredient is given its moment to shine without anything being drowned out. A glazed brioche bun that is lightly toasted but remains springy helps matter greatly. A tremendous meal.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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May 15th
The Harley, Sheffield
Address: The Harley, 334 Glossop Road, Sheffield S10 2HW
Burger of Choice: ‘If It Ain’t Broke’ - the classic cheeseburger
Toppings: American cheese, lettuce and Harley house relish
Chips: Regular Joe Fries
Price: £5.90 (with fries)
Thoughts: The people responsible for the newly launched Twisted Burger Company are obviously burger obsessives. The menu boasts eight different burgers and that's before we've got to the toppings. You can pretty much live out all your burger fantasies with their huge menu that includes slow cooked onion rings, Monterey Jack, guacamole, chorizo, corn relish, baconaise... we could go on. In the end we went for the ‘If It Ain’t Broke’ classic American style cheeseburger. Inside a light brioche bun, the meat, a double beef patty is delicious, perfectly seasoned and succulent. It comes with fresh lettuce, cheese and a special salsa that all compliment without over-powering the taste. We will definitely be going back, again, and again.
Rating: ★★★★✰
facebook.com/TwistedBurgerCompany
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May 13th
Old Red Cow, London
Address: 71-72 Long Ln Smithfield, London EC1A 9EJ
Burger of Choice: The Fat Cow
Toppings: Ogleshield cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato and a side relish
Chips: Thin chip shop chips
Price: £14.00 (with fries)
Thoughts: A charming boozer with an impressive selection of craft beers, the Old Red Cow is a great place to enjoy a burger. Their only burger on the menu is a decent dish although given the price tag, that's not really good enough. The patty was tender although lacking in seasoning, the cheese was sadly a bit tasteless and the relish was a tad too sweet. We'd also have preferred a warm bun. Overall, it's a solid option beside one of their varied beers but sadly, little more than that. Good chips though!
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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May 10th
Blackbird, Edinburgh
Address: 37-39 Leven Street, Edinburgh EH3 9LH
Burger of Choice: 8oz Scottish beef burger
Toppings: Smoked bacon, Scottish cheddar, tomato and chilli relish and salad
Chips: Home-cut chips
Price: £9.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: This is a nice looking burger. No, it's better than that. It's classy, refined, almost elegant - it's the sort of burger you'd take home to meet your parents. There's just one problem with that: a burger isn't meant to be something your mum approves of. It's meant to be a sticky, squidgy, messy pleasure. Sure, it's a lovely piece of meat, dense and chunky, with a tasty charred exterior but there isn't a hint of pink in the middle, which makes it a tad dry. Cheese is strong and moreish, but there's not enough of it, and the tomato and chilli relish doesn't have any real fire. The rolled oat bun is good quality and the salad is fresh, while smoked bacon is a juicy addition, and the chips are fantastic, but juices don't ooze down your chin when you take a bite, and fingers remain disappointingly detritus-free. It's a good burger, but it's missing that one vital requisite of a great burger - the guilt factor.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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May 8th
Burger & Shake, London
Address: 47 Marchmont Street, London, WC1N 1AP
Burger of Choice: House Burger
Toppings: 180g pure beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickle, American cheese, sweet cured bacon with horseradish and mustard ketchup
Chips: Fries (extra £1.95)
Price: £8.50
Thoughts: This was an odd one, to be honest. The beef they use is stunning. Five stars without a shadow of a doubt. And the first bite of the house burger was mind-blowing. The second was excellent. The third was good. The fourth was okay, and from then on it all got, well, less impressive. The horse radish went from being a total revelation to being a real tough customer, incredibly quickly. Just that one ingredient. Had we ordered the cheeseburger (which we definitely will when we go back - it's right by our office) this could have been a five-star bite. Very nice. Perhaps just a little too creative. (Pro tip: The salted caramel milkshake is God-like)
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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May 3rd
The Dog Bowl, Manchester
Address: 57 Whitworth St, Manchester M1 5WW
Burger of choice: DB Burger
Toppings: Cheese, onion rings and BBQ Sauce
Chips: Medium fries
Price: £15 (with fries)
Thoughts: After a work-out on the bowing alley, grab a booth and have a stab at the DB Burger – so mega and wobbly it has to be skewered to a board with a kitchen knife. The shoulder for the pulled pork, sourced from Pugh’s Piglets, has spent 16 hours smoking over hickory, the Cheshire beef brisket maybe longer, while the (slightly overcooked) beef patty jostles with melted cheese and smoked bacon. Chef Barry ratchets up the smoke factor with chipotle in his secret sauce and tops this cholesterol-packed skittle by tossing on an edible hoopla of crisp onion rings. After this overload you’ll definitely be glad of a Wisconsin Point IPA (£4) or, if you need a steady hand for your bowling, non-alcoholic Goose Island Root Beer (£3)
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
blackdogballroom.co.uk/dogbowl/
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May 1st
Meat Mission, London
Address: 14-15 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HG
Burger of Choice: Dead Hippie Burger
Toppings: Dead Hippie sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions
Chips: Fried pickles
Price: £7.50 (without chips)
Thoughts: As the East London offshoot of the famed MEATliquor, we were expecting a masterclass in how to make a tasty burger. But, things didn't quite go to plan. While it was far from a disaster, it didn't quite provide the fireworks we were hoping for. Despite containing two "mustard-fried patties", there was an underwhelming lack of savoury flavour in the meat. The burger was also dripping flavourless water, leading to the bun becoming soggy and cold: not ideal. But things weren't all lost. Their dead hippie sauce was still tasty and the fried pickles made for a refreshing change. But, we expected more.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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April 29th
The Globe, Brighton
Address: 77-78 Middle St, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1AL
Burger of Choice: The Juicy Lucy
Toppings: Lettuce, tomato and blue cheese
Chips: French fries
Price: £8 (with chips)
Thoughts: Lucy sounds like the kind of girl your parents warn you about. A huge beef patty moulded round a hunk of blue cheese, which oozes tangy curd goodness when you get stuck in. She promised so much, but Juicy Lucy wasn't quite as naughty as she made out. The burger was decent enough – thick with a nice chunky texture, if a little bland – and good marks for the slightly sweet soft bun. But there just wasn't a big enough blast of blue cheese and the lettuce, tomato and mayo were didn't add anything. Not bad, but could be a whole lot dirtier.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
www.drinkinbrighton.co.uk/globe
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April 26th
Duke's Brew & Que, London
Address: 33 Downham Road, De Beauvoir, Hackney, N1 5AA
Burger of choice: The Californian
Toppings: Monterey jack cheese, jalapenos, guacamole and bacon
Chips: Fries
Price: £12.95
Thoughts: "Try the beef ribs! Try the beef ribs!" It's all we heard when we told our Hackney-based pals about our impending visit to Duke's. It's as if they weren't listening when we told them we're on the search for the UK's best BURGER. Duke's is indeed famous for its ribs and they sell out most nights. However, why they're not famous for their burger is beyond us. The burger's better than the ribs. It's a great, big beefy wonderpunch to the head. "I worry that most burgers don't have the right ratio of fat to meat" said the incredibly lovely chef. "I worked on that for weeks. Then I started using brisket in mine which basically doubled the flavour overnight." If worrying about beef ratio is his business then worrying about toppings ratio is ours'. So often a burger comes heavily-laden with excessive dollops of extras, but at Duke's they have it nailed. The guacamole doesn't sodden the bread. The jalapenos don't overpower the beef. It's perfect matrimony. Hat tip to the restaurant in general for the wonderful atmosphere, cheery staff and perfect beer, brewed in-house. But all five of these stars are earned by the burger. Bravo.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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April 24th
Roseleaf, Edinburgh
Address: 23/24 Sandport Place, Leith, Edinburgh. EH6 6EW
Burger of Choice: Royale with Cheese
Toppings: Beef tomato, lettuce, mature cheddar, tomato relish and a sweet pickled dill gherkin. Oh, and some Stornoway black pudding
Chips: thin-cut, twice-cooked chips
Price: £10.55 (with chips)
Thoughts: Chances are that Vincent Vega never had this particular 'Royale with Cheese' on his trip to Europe, otherwise that scene from Pulp Fiction would have taken a very different course. Forget moaning about chips drowned in mayo, our Vince would have been busy extolling the virtues of this minced pork belly and beef burger, which is topped off with a soft, fragrant slice of Stornoway black pudding and sandwiched between a home-made toasted sesame-seeded onion bun. And despite Jules' claim that he doesn't 'dig on swine', after listening to his buddy bang on about how the pork kept the patty moist and juicy, the black pudding added a heady, savoury tang and the chunk of pickle provided some welcome acidic crunch, he'd have been on the first flight over here to try one, all washed down with a tasty beverage. Big Kahuna who?
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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April 22nd
Beard To Tail, London
Address: 77 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3BS
Burger of Choice: Charcoal burger
Toppings: Tomato, gherkins and lettuce
Chips: Double dipped fat daddy chips (their words, not ours)
Price: £11.00 (without chips)
Thoughts: Beard to Tail is one of the most meat-obsessed restaurants in London. The menu is a carnivore's dream, offering up everything from pigs trotters to faggots. So when it comes to the meat, their burger is spot-on. It's a juicy, well-seasoned patty that offers up a generous serving of beef. But sadly, its brilliance is somewhat stranded. Served with just plain salad ingredients and only a sweet relish on the side, it's an unimaginative and disappointing showcase for some high-class meat. Back to the drawing board guys.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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April 19th
The Burger Joint, Bristol
Address: 83 Whiteladies Road Bristol BS8 2NT
Burger of choice: Own creation
Toppings: Smoked streaky bacon, cheddar, roasted peppers.
Chips: Chunky, hand-cut
Price: Varies; above example £9.45, including two free sauces and one free side.
Thoughts: There’s a BYOB policy at The Burger Joint – build your own burger. According to a super smart friend of Shortlist (thanks Niall), the myriad combinations of patties, toppings, buns, and sauces mean that if you ate here for lunch and dinner every day it’d take 423 million years to exhaust the menu – an immortal T-Rex wouldn’t even have made it a quarter of the way through at that rate. But no matter which of the 300 billion or so options you go for, you’re almost certain to be satisfied. The flavours are deep and lasting, the ingredients clearly expensive (the meat comes from a posh butcher literally across the road) and the buns are toasted perfectly. The meat isn’t greasy and the burger will only be over-stacked if you make a mess of the order. We’d guess at least 10,000 potatoes have to die to cover the preposterous portion of perfect chips. Nothing is lacking here (the other sides are also faultless and the soft drinks unfathomable) but the burgers, whether beef, venison, wild boar or any of the other options, are the real stars. If you accept the limitations of the dish – a meat puck in an edible glove – it’s hard to imagine how they could improve. This is something approaching burger perfection.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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April 17th
Fornata, London
Address:15 Kingly St London, Greater London W1B 5PS
Burger of Choice: The Fornata Burger
Toppings: Pickles, tomato and cheese
Chips: Not included
Price: £9.50
Thoughts: While this wasn't a traditional choice of burger, the promise of a patty baked in pizza dough was too good to resist. Instead of turning into a calzone-esque dish, there was much more burger than dough. The pizza part itself was thin all over and encased the very thick patty. When cut into, the dish proved to be interesting but sadly as the meat was baked, a lot of the requisite burger flavour was not to be found. It was also over-cooked and poorly seasoned. An admirably ambitious failure.
Star rating: ★★✰✰✰
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April 15th
The Alchemist, Leeds
Address: First Floor, Trinity, Leeds
Burger of choice: Prime Aged House Beef Burger
Toppings: Bacon and Cheese
Chips: Skinny skin on
Price: £8.25 (fries £2.75 extra)
Thoughts: Choices choices choices. We’re always told we want them. We’re always told we need them. But you know what, sometimes you get the best results by just concentrating on doing a few things right. And so it is with The Alchemist’s burgers - a simple decision required – chicken or beef? In the spirit of this column we naturally selected beef and the rest was history. We just sat back admiring the rooftop view out of the window and waited for this juicy wonder to arrive. Simply topped with cheese and bacon, some crisp leaves and just the right amount of pickles, The Alchemist delivered a drool-inducing patty, perfectly cooked with char outside and nicely pink inside to satisfy the most ardent carnivore. Although perhaps lacking in quite enough flair to get top marks, very definitely a burger at the top end of 4 stars.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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April 12th
The Cabin, London
Address: 148 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, W4 1PR
Burger of Choice: The Wagyu Beef Burger
Toppings: Home-made tomato relish
Chips: Thin fries
Price: £14.90 (with fries)
Thoughts: When there’s a Wagyu burger on the menu, that’s easily the one we’ll choose. Their website makes a concerted effort to describe the diet of the cows, which includes beer, and their regular massages which help to improve the quality of the meat (something to do with fat marbling). While the meat did have a good texture, the burger in general was merely fine, nothing to write home about. The bun had a good thick consistency and was nicely grilled on the inside, adding an extra chargrilled taste. A low three stars.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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April 10th
Bo'Vine, Glasgow
Burger of choice: Bo'Vine Burger
Toppings: Lettuce, tomato, onion ring
Chips: Triple cooked, chunky chips
Price: £16 (with chips)
Thoughts: Unashamedly upmarket, this delicious burger is afforded a rich, luxuriant texture thanks to plentiful foie gras in the garlic and rosemary seasoned patty, a distinctively smooth taste crushing into a fistful of juicy beef that you just want to cram into your face. Cooked to order and served in a mildly sweet, savoury brioche Kaiser bun, the onion ring is superfluous, but there's a cheeky peach and chilli chutney dip that's tremendous with the chips.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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April 8th
Old Bengal Bar, London
Address: 16A New St, London, Greater London EC2M 4TR
Burger of Choice: The Bengal
Toppings: Dopiaza onions, raita & tamarind chutney
Chips: Triple cooked, chunky chips
Price: £14 (with chips)
Thoughts: There are two kinds of brilliant burger on earth. American-style and gourmet. If you don't know the difference have a look at Giant Robot's burger on this very page. That's a wonderful American burger. This, this New Street Grill burger right here, is a wonderful gourmet burger. If you want exploding grease and cheese with salty fries and onion rings, move along. If you want a superb meat patty with meticulous seasoning, and small pots of well thought out extras, it's ideal.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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April 5th
The Kings Arms, Bristol
Address: 168 Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2XZ
Burger of choice: El Diablo
Toppings: Homemade chorizo, home-smoked cheese, onion rings and salsa
Chips: Skinny fries
Price: £10.95 (available as part of 2-4-1 burger offer, Tuesday-Friday, noon-5pm)
Thoughts: El Diablo is one of those burgers that has other diners whispering to their partners: “Cor, did you see the size of that?” Standing at a mighty five or six inches tall, depending on your perspective, it’s hard to not notice the waitress bringing it out of the kitchen like a clown balancing a broom on the end of their finger. The height primarily comes from three giant onion rings (two too many) that act as a kind of well for flavoursome homemade chorizo and salsa. The tasty inch-thick patty is made in-house too, but there’s a diabolical amount going on with this offering – bits sliding off the side, an overload of ingredients in every awkward bite – making it a little unruly. Napkins galore required.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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April 3rd
The Ship, London
Address: 41 Jews Row, Wandsworth, London. SW18 1TB
Burger of Choice: Chargrilled beef burger with cheese
Toppings: Pickled cucumber, cheese and lettuce with mustard and ketchup sauce
Chips: Skinny fries
Price: £12.00 (with fries)
Thoughts: It would be rude of us not to go into detail about the sheer brilliance of The Ship’s burger, not just because it’s one of the best we’ve eaten so far but because they clearly spend a lot of time and effort perfecting their formula. Encased in a brioche bun, the meat, from local producers, is 20% fat and 80% meat, and is bought ready minced, which they make into the patties themselves. In terms of toppings, there’s a delicious mix of lettuce leaves and a special part ketchup and part mustard sauce. There are also gherkins but you won’t find any tomatoes in the winter as The Ship leaves them out as they don’t taste so good in the colder months. As if that attention to detail wasn’t enough, what really impressed us was the cheese. They even make it themselves. While the chef wasn’t keen to divulge precisely how they make it, he did say that the cheese was made with extra cream to ensure when it melts on the burger, it does so perfectly. This was all topped off by the fact that everything had been seasoned to perfection. Clearly these guys know what they’re doing. We’ll definitely be going back again.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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March 27th
The Parlour, Manchester
Address: 60 Beech Road, Chorlton M21 9EG
Burger of choice: Handmade Beef Burger
Toppings: Cheese, caper and gherkin mayo
Chips: Proper fat chips
Price: £10.75 (with chips)
Thoughts: The Parlour has won a national award for Best Sunday Roast and its few-frills burger similarly benefits from immaculately sourced beef from acclaimed butcher Frost’s of Chorlton. Hand-cut and cooked quite rare with thyme, rosemary, onion and garlic, the juicy filling gets added wow factor from lashings of the sharp caper and gherkin mayo. A slice of bacon is extra at £1. The seeded bun is a springy cushion that barely contains the ample cheese ooze. Surprising stars of the show were the ultra crisp beer batter onion rings. Match it with a beetroot stout or Seville orange flavoured IPA from Red Willow’s Faithless range (£3.50 a pint).
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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March 25th
Sam's Brasserie, London
Address: 11 Barley Mow Passage Chiswick, London W4 4PH
Burger of Choice: Sam’s Cheeseburger
Toppings: House relish, beef tomato, cheese
Chips: Skinny, salted
Price: £11.00 (with fries)
Thoughts: While not a show-stopper, the cheeseburger on Sam’s bar menu is good, solid and tasty enough to fill a hole while you sip a quick pint. The lightly toasted sesame seed bun is filled with a meaty patty, fresh salad leaves, beef tomato and melted cheese. The homemade relish is lightly spicy and sweet, giving this otherwise fairly tame burger a dash of interest. The skinny fries are salted to perfection and the surprise knock out from the dish is the impossibly fresh and crunchy gherkin - giving a new found respect to a previously much feared vegetable. Sam’s Cheeseburger does exactly what it's supposed to do but sadly not a lot more.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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March 22nd
The Lansdowne, Glasgow
Address: 7 Lansdowne Crescent Glasgow G20 6NQ
Burger of choice: Beef Burger
Toppings: Mozzarella, rocket, tomato and caramelised red onion
Chips: Crisp wedges
Price: £8.50 (with wedges)
Thoughts: Served in a lightly toasted, mixed seed white bun with a little flag, the Lansdowne’s burger is otherwise pretty nondescript, the toppings nice enough but with nothing to excite the imagination. The beef patty itself is more appealing though, lightly seasoned with coriander, Cajun spice and garlic, attractively pink, with juice sluicing all over the wooden serving board after each bite. Best of all are the accompanying potato wedges, fat, golden and crispy but wonderfully fluffy inside. A choice of additional toppings would be appreciated.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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March 20th
The Diner, London
Address:21 Essex Road, Islington, N1 2SA
Burger of choice: The Diablo
Toppings: 8oz USDA burger made from rib, sirloin, filet & chuck topped with bacon, jalapeno mayo & US cheese
Chips: Diner Fries (Cajun spiced - £3.10)
Price: £8.80 (not including fries)
Thoughts: Order rare if you dare, mainly because you can. Their nearest competition, Byron burger (just around the corner), refuse to serve their burgers this way. The meat is delicious, the jalapeno offers just the right amount of heat, the cheese isn't lost in all the flavours and it's exactly the right level of messy. On a trip to New York the owners of The Diner taste tested all the famous burgers out there: Minetta, Spotted Pig, Five Napkin, Corner Bistro. Based on that they decided to try and get USDA chuck into London, and were able to source and blend that chuck flap with Fillet, Rib and Sirloin from Scotland to form the Diablo which was originally launched for their Halloween menu. Apparently feedback was incredible so they made it the house special. On top of that cajun fries are a delight and the hardshakes are gorgeous (though pricey). The only quibble is that it gets incredibly busy at weekends, with people standing around waiting for a table. Which can give the place an 'eat and get out' sort of a feel. Although that doesn't come from the staff.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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March 18th
The Pour House, Leeds
Address: Canal Wharf, Water Lane, Leeds, LS11 5PS
Burger of Choice: Pour House Burger
Toppings: bacon, mac & cheese, Monterey Jack, onion rings
Chips: Skin-on
Price: £15.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: “£15-95 for a burger?” we hear you cry. But if you knew that after gorging on this monster you wouldn’t have to eat again for about two weeks that would suddenly make a lot more financial sense. Packing in over a pound of local beef patty, this burger has already made a statement of intent before you even unearth the onion rings and bacon in there. Tell you what, let’s throw in some mac & cheese as well to really make it a burgerish behemoth. As an added bonus the accompanying chips are no afterthought – lovingly tended in pristine oil to give the perfectly seasoned and crisp side dish. The only down side is by the time you’ve managed to plough through all of this filling, the bread bap has got a bit soggy from all the juices soaking into it. But our guess is by that point you’ll already be struggling for breath and reaching for the fat pants.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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March 15th
The Rookery, London
Address: 69 Clapham Common South Side, London, SW4 9DA
Burger of Choice: The Rookery Cheeseburger
Toppings: Homemade Pickles, Onion
Chips: Fries
Price: £12.50 (includes fries)
Thoughts: This was as close as you can get to an archetypal "solid triumph". The Rookery's effort doesn't try to be anything that it's not: it's a straight down-the-line, simple and effective burger with tasty homemade pickle and onions giving it a nice friendly zing. The patty was cooked to absolute perfection and it was just the right size - not too big, not too small. Accompanied by perfectly-cooked thin cut fries which were, again, the perfect portion. Don't expect a gastronomic journey from this burger: just a simple, elegant affair, perfectly executed. And that's no bad thing at all.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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March 13th
Jack Spratt, Manchester
Address: 11 St James’s Square, John Dalton Street, Manchester M3 6WH
Burger of choice: Jack Spratt’s Primo Burger
Toppings: Caramelised onion and bacon jam, Maker’s Mark BBQ sauce, pulled pork, smoked Applewood Cheese and an onion ring.
Chips: Twice-cooked fries
Price: £15.95 (with fries)
Thoughts: The Primo is a mega burger that defies you to finish it – a stack of 6oz chunks of coarsely ground beef chuck, flat iron and short rib beef served medium rare and a mite under-seasoned. A springy glazed brioche bun struggles to contain the substantial filling dominated by a the smoked cheese slices and the caramelised onion. There’s crisp coleslaw and salad in abundance and some terrific dark, salty fries. To accompany you need a cocktail that’s equally mega. Try RU Bobby Moore?!? which combines (or should that be collides) vodka, whisky, sauvignon blanc and apple juice.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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March 11th
Dirty Burger, London
Address: Rear, 79 Highgate Road, London NW5 1TL
Burger of choice: Cheeseburger
Toppings: Cheddar cheese, mustard mayo, lettuce, tomato and pickles.
Chips: Onion fries
Price: £5.50 (without fries)
Thoughts: Unassuming doesn't even begin to describe Dirty Burger. In an artfully distressed shack in Kentish Town, the choice of just one burger, at a suspiciously cheap price, had us expecting very little. But, unlike some of the ritzier, and pricier, places on the list, this place truly delivered. And then some. The burger is modelled after a classic American cheeseburger but it replaces processed cheese with Cheddar and ketchup with mustard mayo, therefore becoming something a bit more special. Oh and then there's the patty, cooked with a mustard mayo crust. Genius. Probably the best value burger on the list.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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March 8th
A Nation Of Shopkeepers, Leeds
Address: Nation of Shopkeepers, 27-33 Cookridge Street, Leeds, LS2 3AG
Burger of Choice: Avocado, blue cheese and bacon
Toppings: Red onion, tomato and lettuce
Chips: Double cooked
Price: £8.95 (including chips)
Thoughts: It might sound like something you’d throw together using the remnants in your fridge at the end of the week but this combination is delicious. The chargrilled patty in glazed bun would be great on its own but the tangy cheese, creamy avocado and crispy bacon all combine perfectly for a deep, rich taste sensation. And if that’s still not enough for you, try adding one of the specialist Tabasco table sauces – who knew there were so many varieties available? All this for less than 9 quid too.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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March 6th
Beach Blanket Babylon, London
Address: 19-23 Bethnal Green Rd, London, E1 6LA
Burger of choice: BBB burger
Toppings: Grilled Portobello mushroom, cheese and bacon
Chips: Fries
Price: £15.50 (with fries)
Thoughts: Like a good marriage or even a good murder, a good burger needs to have every element working perfectly in unison for success. Which brings us to the BBB burger. Instead of offering up an expertly balanced bite, it all felt a bit unrehearsed. The bun was too big and had a bland, 'your mate's BBQ' taste to it while the patty alternated between tasteless and overly seasoned with rosemary. The cheese was nice and strong which helped matters but overall, it was a burger that was lacking in anything above and beyond. Given the price, that's a large problem.
Star rating: ★★✰✰✰
www.beachblanket.co.uk/shoreditch
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March 4th
The Tempus, Edinburgh
Address: 19-21 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PB
Burger of choice: Crombie beef burger
Toppings: Mature cheddar, cured bacon, pickle, tomato and a sprinkling of salad
Chips: A neat stack of 'real' chips
Price: £13.95 (inc chips)
Thoughts: In the trendy bars along Edinburgh's swanky George Street, the 'gourmet' burger is now a ubiquitous fixture on menus, each dressed up in an increasingly ludicrous fashion in order to differentiate itself from the competition. The burger at the George however, prefers to go about its business in a more understated manner. A sesame seed bun in, whisper it - wholemeal - adds an unexpected touch of variety, familiar enough to be comforting, yet distinct enough to distinguish it from the run-of-the-mill. An 8oz beef patty, supplied by noted local butchers Crombies, is admirably chunky and comes topped with Scottish cheddar, sweet maple-smoked bacon and a hint of greenery. The lightly-cooked tomato slice is a neat touch, straddling the line between inappropriately raw and fried-breakfast-mushiness. But while it's a nice burger, it's not a knockout - requiring a side, a sauce, a something - to raise it towards greatness. It is, quite simply, the Everton of the burger world; managing to keep itself ahead of its flashier, louder neighbours through a combination of simplicity, endeavour and the right mix of good quality components, but lacking that one true superstar ingredient capable of inspiring it to title glory.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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March 1st
Belushi's, London
Address: 28 Hammersmith Broadway, Hammersmith, London, W6 7AB
Burger of choice: The Belushi Burger
Toppings: Bacon and cheddar
Chips: Thick cut
Price: £8.45 (with chips)
Thoughts: After debating whether or not to go for the BBQ special, it was finally decided that the house burger would be the best option (after trying a bit of the BBQ one it was definitely the best choice as that one had far too much sauce which dominated the rest of the burger). The patty is made from Scottish beef and the bun was made on site, which was ciabatta-esque. The toppings were fine although there was nothing particularly notable about them. They worked well with the burger but the lack of seasoning prevented it from being truly memorable.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 27th
The 23 Club, Liverpool
Address: 23 Hope St, L1 9BQ
Burger of choice: 12oz Ranch burger
Toppings: Brioche bun, mayonnaise, grilled bacon, beer battered onion rings, Monterey Jack cheese, barbecue sauce
Chips: Hand-cut chips
Price: £12.50
Thoughts: Save for Chuck Norris wearing the chef’s hat, the double 12oz Ranch Burgers at this basement whisky bar couldn’t be more American if they tried. That’s because it’s all about size: rich toppings, all densely packed onto the top of some melted Monterey Jack cheese, feel almost as heavy as the lofty slab of beef itself, presenting the danger of beer-battered onion rings plummeting back onto the plate before you’ve even sank an incisor into that tender 100 per cent beef showstopper. Moreover, once you finish the meat – which is terrific – there should be enough of the nicely grease-glistened bun, coated inside with a barbecue sauce of pupil-dilating proportions, left to mop up any remaining leftovers. If you make it to the finish line, that is.
Stars: ★★★★★
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February 25th
Christopher's Grill, London
Address: 18 Wellington St, London WC2E 7DD
Burger of Choice: Christopher’s 8oz Classic Hamburger
Toppings: Monterey Jack cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise
Chips: Shoestring fries
Price: £10.95 (bacon is £1.50 extra and cheese is £1.25)
Thoughts: When you're relying on the basics of a bacon cheeseburger, you need to add something a bit different to ensure your burger doesn't get lost in the mix. So at Christopher's Grill, they've swapped a traditional Cheddar or "American" processed cheese for Monterey Jack which makes for an interesting change. However it's not enough variation to distract from a disappointing patty which is desperately lacking in seasoning. A healthy portion of tasty bacon helps matters though.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 22nd
Gorilla, Manchester
Address: 54-56 Whitworth Street, Manchester M1 5WW
Burger of choice: Herbed Lamb Burger
Toppings: Aioli, red onion chutney, butterhead lettuce
Chips: Seasoned fries
Price: £11.00 (with fries)
Thoughts: Folksy serving on a wooden board with your seasoned fries tumbling out of a white enamel mug in this converted Victorian railway arch. They bake their bread in-house, so the sesame brioche bun is springily top notch. The filling is 100% Cheshire lamb, loin and shoulder minced friskily with rosemary, garlic and substantial salt and pepper. Further garlicky kick from the aioli. Trade up to the parmesan and truffle oil deluxe fries for an extra quid to encourage a thirst for a bottle of Thornbridge Jaipur (£4.50) or house Carmenere (£4.25) served in picnic tumblers (what else?). Afterwards there’s a gin parlour under the rafters.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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February 20th
Bleecker St Burger, London
Address: On the move, check the site for details
Burger of choice: Cheeseburger
Toppings: American cheese, lettuce and their own sauce
Chips: Hand-cut, skin-on, thin chips £2.50. Angry Fries, topped with blue cheese sauce and buffalo sauce, are £3
Price: £4.50
Thoughts: Set up by an American former lawyer who worked in a burger joint in the Lower East Side of New York before recently relocating to London, Bleecker St Burger keeps things simple with a short, authentic NY-style menu served from its stylish, black, mobile van. The burgers are small, perfectly formed and well-priced. So perfect, in fact, it left us regretting not going for the double cheeseburger. The simple nature of the burger is what makes it a winner – the medium rare patties are soft and perfectly grilled, juicy and full of flavour, the cheese melted to just the right consistency and the sauce has a sweet edge that made us consume the burger in six bites.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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February 18th
Oracle, Leeds
Address: 3 Brewery Place, Leeds, LS10 1NE
Burger of Choice: The Greek
Toppings: Tsatziki
Chips: Fat Chips
Price: £9.45 (with chips)
Thoughts: That’s right – we went a bit leftfield and ordered ‘The Greek’ – not a half-witted East London gangster but a lamb burger. Great idea but not quite right on this occasion – the lamb patty was tasty but a bit dry and the pitta looked like a bit of an afterthought (it probably was – we think we saw it being panic-shipped over from Sainsbury’s local during our drinks – that’s local produce for you). After playing hunt the tsatziki for a while and bemoaning the lack of feta (you’d have to upgrade to The Feta Club for that) we did at least take solace in the fact that we seemed to receive an accidental portion of onion rings on our plate – result! But the chips deserve special mention, fluffy potato obelisks perfectly cooked.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 15th
Kua 'Aina, London
Address: 26 Fouberts Place, London, W1F 7PP
Burger of Choice: Avocado burger
Toppings: Sliced avocado, onion, tomato and lettuce (bacon & swiss cheese as extras)
Chips: Sweet potato fries
Price: £12.70 (with chips)
Thoughts: Adding a unique Hawaiian flavour to the London burger scene, Kua 'Aina does its best to transport you to a brighter food destination. The burger had a good patty- thick, juicy and meaty, and although it was a bit overdone, it was all the better for it; a firm structure, slightly charred on the outside and tender on the inside. The toppings of avocado, bacon and swiss cheese certainly added a smokey flavour, but were messy to deal with. The star of the show was perhaps the sweet potato fries which were deliciously crunchy and sweet. Fact fans: the original Hawaii branch is a favourite with Obama. For reals.
Star Rating: ★★★★✰
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February 13th
Slouch Bar, Glasgow
Burger of choice: The Greedy B
Toppings: Mozzarella & cheddar cheese, two slices of bacon, spicy onion rings. And another burger
Chips: Thick, skin-on chips
Price: £11.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: Dispensing with the notion of a burger you can eat comfortably without dislocating your jaw, this skyscraper of red meat slathers two thick patties with mozzarella, cheddar and crispy bacon, topping the lot with a couple of onion rings. The burgers are ever so slightly over-cooked, which combined with the bland white, toasted bun could make for a nondescript meal, were it not for the sheer mass of toppings loaded between the baps. Satisfyingly chunky, salty chips are served with a lovely peppercorn sauce.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 11th
Bar Boulud, London
Address: 66 Knightsbridge London, Belgravia, UK SW1X 7
Burger of choice: The Frenchie
Toppings: Confit pork belly, rocket, Dijon tomato compote and morbier cheese
Chips: Pomme frites
Price: £12.75 (without chips)
Thoughts: When you're told by the senior maitre d' that the restaurant you're eating in started the burger revolution, hopes start to reach stratospheric levels. The burger that arrived certainly had a lot of thought put into it. Perfectly sized and served with a portion of crispy yet soft pomme frites, it's clearly the result of years of experience. It also tastes pretty good, with a strong mustard and tomato compote adding something unusual to the typical ingredients. But the thinly sliced confit pork belly could have been bacon while the meat was served much rarer than requested. A pleasing burger but nothing revolution-worthy.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 8th
Southern 11, Manchester
Address: 3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3EB
Burger of choice: 100% Rump Beef Burger
Toppings: Gherkins, tomato, onion, BBQ mayo, ketchup and slaw
Chips: Skinny fries
Price: £9.95 (with fries)
Thoughts: From the Alabama Shakes soundtrack to the hickory wood smokers and cornbread this financial district eaterie yells America’s Deep South, but the coarsely minced beef is outdoor, grass-reared local rump. Shame that, clumsily spiced, it arrives in a slightly too sweet seeded bun but the mega gherkin slices and crisp slaw give it a tasty pickle rush. Accompany with tempura-style courgette fries (£3.50) and a Kentucky Kiss cocktail, a Mint Julep big on Jim Beam Red Stag bourbon, for just £7.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 6th
Haché, London
Address: 24 Inverness Street, London, NW1 7HJ
Burger of Choice: Steak Sicillian
Toppings: Parma Ham and melted Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese
Chips: Skin on chips
Price: £10.95 (without chips)
Thoughts: If you live in Camden, or Chelsea, or Clapham you are a lucky little sausage, because you live near a Haché. If we lived near this one, we went to Camden Town branch, we'd eat there once a week without fail. But that said, the burger itself is not stunning. It's not worth travelling for. It's the Seb Larsson of burgers. Good, but the manager's in the market for excellent. We should say that the entire trip was delightful. The finest team of waitresses and waiters we've come across for months, great starters (hot and spicy wings - £4.95) and a superb atmosphere. But this blog isn't about atmosphere. It's about meat between bread and toppings. Sadly the toppings on our burgers dominated the beef. Made the the beef their bitch. And we want our beef to be the boss. If you concur with this school of Burgerology, avoid the Mexican burger and plum for the Sicillian. Or something else where the toppings look like they're willing to play second fiddle to the patty. Bad ordering? Maybe. But on any burger we want to be able to taste the beef.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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February 4th
The Grill on the Square, Leeds
Address: 31-33 East Parade, Leeds, LS1 5PS
Burger of Choice: 100% Wagyu Burger
Toppings: Mushroom and Onion
Chips: home-cut skins on
Price: £18.50 (includes chips & relish)
Thoughts: It’s fair to say that if we were constantly fed beer and got regular massages we would be more agreeable. And it’s no different for the pampered cattle from which the Wagyu burger is derived – their life of luxury on their Texas farm comes through in the taste of this burger patty. Quite unlike any other burger you will have tasted, the specific rearing and breeding of Wagyu cattle makes their meat incredibly flavoursome and different in texture to our bog standard stock. Incredibly dense and visually appearing almost like liver, this burger oozes deep flavours, slightly reminiscent of venison or even game. It’s unusual nature and steep price tag may not be to everyone’s taste but for any burger connoisseur it’s a must try.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
www.blackhouse.uk.com/restaurant/leeds
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February 1st
The Dime Bar and Diner, London
Address: 50-52 Battersea Rise SW11 1EG
Burger of Choice: ‘The Juicy Lucy’
Toppings: Lettuce, beef tomato, stuffed with cheese
Chips: Shoe string
Price: £12 (with chips)
Thoughts: America: bigger, better, juicier and home of the burger. With no less than 300g of the finest Aberdeen Angus steak mince patty, Juicy Lucy has got a secret. Take a bite and out pops molten mature cheddar cheese. The meat itself is taller than the seeded bun it comes in, and layered with lettuce, jalapenos and tomato, it takes some handling. Elvis would approve. This wodge of perfectly cooked and seasoned ground beef, served alongside salt and pepper fries in their own miniature fryer, merges with the molten cheese and tears strips off the neon slice of plastic cheese flung atop too many burgers. This time, the gimmick works. A little slice of Americana in Clapham, this retro diner offers the definitive in transatlantic burgers.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 30th
Loungers, Cardiff
Address: Juno Lounge, 14 Wellfield Road, Cardiff, CF24 3PB
Burger of choice: Hero hamburger
Toppings: Melted mature cheddar, chorizo, chimichurri, fried onion, chipotle mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and two pickles
Chips: A bucket of skinny fries
Price: £8.95, 75p for extra toppings
Thoughts: Calling your burger the "Hero hamburger" is a bold claim but this suitably heroic offering is worthy of such a title. The different components of the burger all work brilliantly together: all placed on top of a tender beef patty smothered in cheddar. The combination of chipotle mayonnaise and fried onions really make it: giving the burger a unique taste. The plain, floured bun lets the toppings do the talking and, boy, did you want to listen.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 28th
Pratts & Payne, London
Address: 103 Streatham High Street SW16 1HJ
Burger of Choice: The Barcelona Burger
Toppings: Manchego cheese, chorizo, tomato and mayonnaise
Chips: Thick, dry chips
Price: £11.00 (including chips)
Thoughts: Taking the form of a traditional burger yet replacing cheddar with Manchego and bacon with chorizo, hopes were high for the appropriately titled Barcelona burger. But alas, things were just a bit average. The bun itself was nothing more than something you'd have at a barbecue (no brioche luxury here) while the patty itself was rather pedestrian. While the Manchego cheese adds a slightly different flavour, the thinly sliced chorizo sadly becomes lost in the mix. All in all, it was perfectly okay but far from perfect.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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January 25th
Gusto, Newcastle
Address: 106 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3DX
Burger of Choice: Italian Burger in a focaccia bun
Toppings: Mozzarella and pesto
Chips: Fries
Price: £11.50
Thoughts: Don't be despondent by the lack of a 'burger' section on this menu. Yes, there is only one burger -aloof in the 'meat' section (kind of makes sense actually) - but stumbling across it is like finding a tenner in the pocket of your washed jeans, intact. We were asked how we wanted it cooked and the quality of the meat and its tenderness was unreal. What we liked about this meaty treat was its simplicity - not dressed up trying to be something it wasn't - and it delivered some unbelievable flavours which gave us brief joy and happiness. The herb focaccia bun complemented the ground steak and fresh pesto, and the creamy mozzarella just finished it off.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 23rd
The Drift, London
Address: Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AY
Burger of Choice: Double Cheeseburger
Toppings: Guacamole, Pineapple, Beetroot, Mustard Mayo, Pickled Coleslaw
Chips: Cowboy Fries (with Chilli, Honey & Garlic)
Price: £18.20 (includes Chips)
Thoughts: Nothing less than a literal towering triumph, this creation is not for the fainthearted. It's a big beast of a burger in sheer size, so meat fatigue was an issue halfway through - however, teaming it with the brutal firecracker-hot Cowboy fries provides the perfect pick-me-up to take you to the finish line. The burger itself is certainly not just about volume, however: the unexpected pairing of pineapple and beetroot is an absolute masterstroke, accompanying the perfectly-cooked patties and giving a zesty tang to proceedings. Come prepared for the fight and you won't be disappointed - you may need to be carried home afterwards though.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 21st
Almost Famous, Manchester
Address: High Street, Manchester M4 1HP
Burger of choice: Smoky & The Bandit Burger
Toppings: JD candied bacon, cheese, bbq fried onions, baconnaise, chipotle sauce, chillis
Chips: Fries, trailer trash fries or bacon bacon fries
Price: £7.00, plus from £2 for fries
Thoughts: Unless you are the kind of trucker who gets off on their DD Burger with Slut Sauce (“like being roasted in a lay-by by Pam Anderson and Ron McDonald”) go for the Smoky. The chillies and chipotle sauce give it some kick, but you don’t need an asbestos gullet. Indeed the onions and candied bacon dominate the aftertaste. The bun was a lovely chew, too, in an establishment that maintains the mystique of a “secret” upstairs burger and wings pop-up but is now crazily over-subscribed.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 18th
Byron, London
Burger of choice: Byron burger
Toppings: Dry cure bacon, mature Cheddar and Byron sauce
Chips: Courgette fries
Price: £9.25 (without chips)
Thoughts: You know what you're getting with a Byron burger and this isn't meant to be a criticism. The patty is always perfectly cooked, the toppings are evenly distributed and compliment each other well and the overall feeling is one of satisfaction not fear of your stomach bursting. It's one of the few chains that constantly deliver a high quality product and the burgers never run the risk of feeling like a processed conveyor belt product. Oh and the courgette fries make for a pleasantly unexpected addition.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 16th
Rose Villa Tavern, Birmingham
Burger of choice: RVT Burger
Toppings: Roasted onions and Swiss cheese, along with Bacon Jam
Chips: French Fries
Price: £8.95 (including chips) + £1.20 extra for Bacon Jam
Thoughts: The Rose Villa Tavern is renowned for its excellent burgers, so hopes were high. We opted for the RVT Burger, their "famous" option. Served in an artisan brioche bun, the appetising beef patty was topped with roasted onions, Swiss cheese and their special ‘Bacon Jam’ as an added extra, along with the usual lettuce, relish, and pickles. The salty bacon ham was perfectly complimented by the sweet roasted onions while the patty was tasty, juicy and built with quality meat. There was only one slight downside – the bun. It was a tad heavy and dry and it was in danger of taking the juiciness of the ‘insides’.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 14th
The Waterway, London
Address: Blomfield street, Maida Vale,
Burger of choice: The Waterway burger
Toppings: Mustard mayo
Chips: Thin chips
Price: £11.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: If we've learnt anything about eating mountains of burgers is that it’s all about balance. Burgers don’t always need to have lashings of fillings rammed inside them to be great. However, this is where the Waterway falls down. The meat was excellent, it was made from pure steak and it was really smooth with no gristle (pretty much a perfect patty), however, the lack of lettuce, tomato or onion meant that the bun got a tad soggy. Essentially, it was missing a 'burger buffer'. Otherwise, the meat will ooze its juices onto the bread creating a sort of gooey mess, but not in a good way. In the end it had to be eaten with a knife and fork.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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January 11th
Red's True Barbecue, Leeds
Address: Unit 1 Cloth Hall Street, Leeds, UK LS1 2HD
Burger of Choice: Pit Burger
Toppings: Sliced brisket, pulled pork, streaky bacon, melted Jack, dill pickle, "dirty" sauce, mustard, barbecue sauce and oh, an onion ring for good measure
Chips: Skinny, unseasoned for dipping in the 5 homemade sauces
Price: £15.95
Thoughts: Now don’t let the toppings fool you into thinking that this is some kind of Man vs Food vulgar meatathon. Sure it’s pretty substantial, but each carefully selected goody in this burger perfectly complements the homemade steak patty – the brisket and pork for a bit of extra juiciness, the dill and mustard for a bit of zing and the bacon for crispiness. The meats are definitely centre stage here, carefully sourced, lovingly glazed, rubbed and then slow barbecued in custom built wood fuelled ovens. For god sake, they even import their hickory to get the perfect taste to their bacon! And the treats keep coming - the dirty sauce with its combination of 30 herbs and spices rounds off this perfectly curated burger. But the supporting cast doesn’t disappoint either – optional sides of deep fried pickles, spice-dusted crackling and air dried housemade beef jerky to die for. It’s true, sixteen quid is expensive but don’t see this as just a burger, it’s more of a life affirming experience.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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January 9th
#BRGR, London
Address: Delivers to W1 only
Burger of Choice: Beef sliders
Toppings: American cheese, ketchup and mustard
Chips: Comes with salted popcorn
Price: £6
Thoughts: Given our current state of burger-induced laziness, the very idea of a service which delivers our favourite meal directly to our door is already a winner. But there's a reason why burger delivery isn't a common concept. They don't travel that well. The two sliders we had were at least presented in good brioche buns but after that, things went downhill. The patties were badly ground and too big for the small buns while the cheese was tasteless and processed. Overall, an underwhelming mouthful. Next time, we'll happily go out and get our own.
Star rating: ★★✰✰✰
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January 7th
SWANKY FRANKS, SHEFFIELD
Address: 722a Chesterfield Road, Woodseats, Sheffield S8 OSE
Burger of Choice: Carlito’s New York Burger (Double)
Toppings: Bacon, gherkin, melted Monterey Jack Cheddar, coleslaw and a salad garnish
Chips: Fries
Price: £12.90 (double, with fries)
Thoughts: The ‘Carlito’s New York burger’ was presented as a ‘double’ containing two 6oz burgers handmade in the restaurant and sourced locally from prime beef. The patties were succulent, fresh and moist and coupled with the melting cheese, bacon on top and salad below, Carlito is somewhat of a tower on the plate that you'll have problems picking up. In fact, given the size and the good range of condiments, it's a burger that's best enjoyed with cutlery. Might make it a bit more like Gentleman Vs Food though...
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 4th
The New Inn, London
Address: 2 Allitsen Road, NW8 6LA
Burger of choice: New Inn Burger
Toppings: We were advised to have bacon and cheese. We were advised right.
Chips: Fries
Price: £12 (including fries)
Thoughts: Situated incredibly close to The American School and surrounded by American families, The New Inn is under pressure not only to do US-style food, but to do it well. Their burger is exquisite. The patty is made up of highest grade beef mixed with beef jus, mustard, salt, eggs and fresh double cream. We asked. They told us. It's first pan-fried in butter then chargrilled with truffle essence. A splendid array of condiments come with your burger, as do crispy, grease-free fries to dunk. Heartening to see a pub keeping up with, and often in some cases beating the plethora of burger specialists popping up all over the country. Oh and the landlord is Savoy-trained. His Daiquiri is superb. Drink it. Drink it real good.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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January 2nd
SOLITA, MANCHESTER
Address: Turner Street, Manchester M4 1DW
Burger of choice: Once In A Lifetime Burger
Toppings: Buttermilk fried chicken, pulled pork, melted vintage cheddar, lettuce, onion rings, chow chow slaw
Chips: Medium chunky fries
Price: £16.90 (with fries)
Thoughts: This three-in-one megaburger might cost twice as much as any other on the menu but then you're getting a lot of bang for your buck. Inside a taut bun you'll find a fillet of fried chicken on top of a pile of unctuous pulled pork and a slab of minced chuck steak studded with bone marrow and given a smoky flavour by the INKA grill. A German smoked beer, Schenkerle, is the perfect match, natch. The slaw is mayonnaise-free, but a side of chicken skin scratchings or the house dessert of deep-fried Coke will make you feel less of a health fiend. Stellar work.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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December 21st
Honest Burgers, London
Address: 4a Meard Street London W1F 0EF
Burger of choice: Honest burger
Toppings: Red onion relish, smoked bacon, mature cheddar, pickled cucumber and lettuce
Chips: House chips with rosemary salt
Price: £9
Thoughts: It's not an exaggeration to say that you guys have been desperate for us to include Honest Burgers from the get go. We receive at least three enthusiastic emails about it a day. So expectations were extraordinarily high. We're pleased to report that they were met. And then exceeded. The lightly toasted brioche bun was slight, meaning a minimum of bread to wade through, the relish wasn't over-sweetened and packed a huge amount of flavour, the cheese was strong but not overpowering, the bacon was crispy and the patty was cooked perfectly. Any self-respecting burger buff/food eater will leave weeping in awe. A very special burger.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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December 19th
The Victoria, Birmingham
Address: 48 John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN
Burger of choice: The Big Bad Wolf
Toppings: Soul sauce, blue cheese, bacon, pulled pork in home-made BBQ sauce
Chips: Double fried
Price: £9.75
Thoughts: While the name might suggest a rather villainous burger, the chef promised us great things and thankfully, he was spot-on. The patty was an unusual and delicious blend of pork, chorizo and herbs and went down perfectly. It was topped off with bacon, blue cheese, soul sauce and the surprise addition of some pulled pork in its own special BBQ sauce. The result was a revelation. It makes us drool just thinking about it. Which is awkward.
Star rating: ★★★★★
www.thevictoriabirmingham.co.uk
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December 17th
Hawksmoor, London
Address: 11 Langley Street City of Westminster, WC2H 9JG
Burger of Choice: Kimchi burger
Toppings: Ogleshield cheese, kimchi, lettuce, shredded pork rib
Chips: Beef dripping fries
Price: £15.00 (with fries)
Thoughts: There are so many things that the Kimchi burger gets right that each one requires a special moment. Firstly, we have a easily squeezable brioche bun that makes a mouthful not only tasty but also easy to manage. This is an undervalued quality in a burger. Secondly, we have a patty which by itself would be special (given Hawksmoor's steak reputation) but it's also topped with a smattering of shredded smoky pork rib. Nice touch. Thirdly, we have a creamy Ogleshield cheese which offsets the final brilliant touch, the kimchi. For those not in the know, it's a spicy pickled cabbage and it gives a real savoury kick to a damn fine burger. Consider all boxes ticked.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
www.thehawksmoor.com/locations/seven-dials
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December 14th
North Star, Cardiff
Address: 131 North Road, Cardiff, CF14 3AE
Burger of choice: Gourmet Burger with added cheddar and pecorino cheese
Toppings: 10oz Beef burger with lettuce, tomato, cheddar and pecorino cheese
Chips: Fat chips
Price: £7.80 (with chips +80p extra for cheese)
Thoughts: Currently hosting Cardiff’s Man vs. Food challenge every Wednesday night, The North Star had us salivating from the offset. Unfortunately the burger didn't really deliver above and beyond the average patty. The meat itself was large and well-cooked, showcasing a perfectly pink middle, but the size seemed to compensate for the frankly bland flavour, sloppy lettuce and absence of any relish at all. On a positive note the pecorino cheese saved it from being completely arid and the fat chips delivered their fluffy-but-crispy promise.
Star rating: ★★✰✰✰
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December 12th
Giant Robot, London
Address: 45 Clerkenwell Road London EC1M 5RS
Burger of Choice: The 'Royale Wit Cheese'
Toppings: American cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and mustard
Chips: Salty fries
Price: £11.40 (with fries)
Thoughts: As part of the Lucky Chip stable of burgers, expectations were extremely high for this Pulp Fiction-inspired offering. And oh were they met. In fact they were smashed into puny pieces. A mess it might be to eat, this dream-worthy burger aims to emulate a greasy diner-esque cheeseburger and manages to do this while still relying on only the finest ingredients. So while the sweet relish and American cheese might scream guilty pleasure, the succulent, finely made patty reminds you that you're in the company of something pretty special. Don't miss this one.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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December 10th
Sygn, Edinburgh
Address: 15 Charlotte Lane, Edinburgh, EH2 4QZ
Burger of Choice: Steak with cheese
Toppings: Mull cheddar cheese, tomato relish, piri mayo, pickles and rocket
Chips: ‘Rustic’ chips
Price: £9.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: Unsurprisingly for a trendy bar, the burgers here look pretty fine. But any fears that style might triumph over substance are unfounded; they taste damn good too. Who needs fine dining, foie gras or fancy foams when you can have a quarter-pound of juicy ground steak covered in mounds of molten cheese, all washed down with a side of delicious thick-cut, golden brown chips? A spicy mayo features just enough heat to add some interest, while the sesame seed bun was first class – just a shame it hadn’t been toasted.
Star Rating: ★★★★✰
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December 7th
Harrison's, London
Address: 15-19 Bedford Hill London SW12 9EX
Burger of choice: Harrison's Cheese Burger
Toppings: Mayo, lettuce, onions, cheese, mini gherkin
Chips: Fries
Price: £12.00 (with fries)
Thoughts: Damn, that was some tasty meat. Our burger was brought out and it certainly looked the part, thick and juicy....with just the cheekiest hint of melted cheese oozing from under the bun. The bite was amazingly tender – there was no chewiness and the burger yielded without protest, helped by a flawless meat-to-bun ratio. The fresh patty was blended with thyme, shallots, horseradish and ketchup, all employed in just the right amounts to enhance the rump steak ground daily on site. A spot-on burger. Go – and go soon.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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December 5th
Cau, Guildford
Address: 274 High Street, Guildford GU1 3JL
Burger Of Choice: BBQ Burger
Toppings: BBQ sauce, mayo, cheddar cheese, tomato & onion rings.
Chips: Triple Cooked Chunky Chips
Price: £10.95 (without fries)
Thoughts: Guildford and Argentina are two places that rarely feature in the same sentence. Yet here they (finally) do and with surprisingly excellent results. A 'no messing' small selection of burgers led us to try the BBQ Burger. Cau takes great pride in their Argentinian Angus steak and they don't hide it behind a mountain of distracting extras, just a sticky BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese and onion rings. It's a deliciously meaty burger. If you're a lover of beautiful tender beef (and 80s Miami film set decor) then Cau should be top of your list of go-to places.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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December 3rd
The National Café, London
Address: Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 4DN
Burger of Choice: Beef Café Burger
Toppings: Bacon jam relish, emmenthal cheese, caramelised onions, avocado, gherkins, lettuce and beef tomato
Chips: Triple cooked
Price: £13.50 (without chips)
Thoughts: We doubt you’re a stranger to the National Gallery. It’s a London treasure after all. If you are, let the National Café at the gallery be your excuse to get a dose of pure protein and some art knowledge thrown in for good measure. With only two burger options on the menu (veggie or beef), we naturally opted for the latter and chomped our way through their café burger laden with toppings that brought on instant salivation. Skewered to preserve the towering layers of melted emmenthal cheese, avocado slices, caramelised onions and sourdough bun; the grassfed beef stood its ground in terms in flavour and texture - to a point. The smoky-sweetness of the bacon jam relish was at first lip-smackingly delicious, but our tastebuds soon felt like they’d been slapped across the face (hard) with its overpowering pork flavour. So while the burger was good - we would only be tempted to order another, just so we could experience the thrice-cooked chips. They were a masterpiece.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
peytonandbyrne.co.uk/the-national-cafe
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November 30th
The Oast House, Manchester
Address: Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3AY
Burger of choice: The Beef Burger off the BBQ
Toppings: Bacon, cheese, blue cheese, lettuce, red onion, gherkin, salsa
Chips: Skinny, salty fries
Price: £8.95 (with chips), plus £1 for additional bacon or cheese
Thoughts: Fittingly for a bar housed in a former Kentish hop-drying barn magicked up to Mancland, the sole burger choice is served in a low wooden box. Bulging out of a plain white flour bun, the flame-grilled burger (ask for it rare) is a huge, juicy pink wodge of ground rump seared almost to blackness but not at all hard. The melted blue cheese extra topping adds a savoury sweetness. A must side is the house mustard seed and red cabbage coleslaw. With a hop-driven craft beer from an awesome selection to wash it down.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 28th
The Surprise, London
Address: 6 Christchurch Terrace, Chelsea, SW3 4AJ
Burger of choice: Angus Rare Breed burger
Toppings: Cheese and bacon
Chips: Thick cut
Price: £10.50 (£1 extra for cheese, bacon, and onion rings)
Thoughts: When an amazing burger comes along, it’s hard to remember what a bad burger ever tasted like. While it was the only choice (they used to have one on the menu which included Foie Gras), it was so delicious it didn’t matter. As per, it was served on a board, except this time it was left to us to close it up. This meant we could judge how much filling we want to include, which while this isn’t imperative to the taste, it did add to our eating experience. Other than the patty, the filling included cheese, bacon, raw red onions, fresh tomatoes and lettuce. Crucially the lettuce wasn’t damp and the red onions added an extra crispness to combat the softness of the meat and the bun. Speaking of the bread, it was done to perfection. Not toasted, it was the ideal combination of being slightly sweet, although it wasn’t brioche (we asked), and savoury. The chips were also well cooked. The only small disappointment were the slightly damp and battery onion rings, which didn't matter after such a great burger.
Star rating: ★★★★★
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November 26th
Bar Kohl, Edinburgh
Address: 54 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EJ
Burger of Choice: The Chicago
Toppings: Jack cheese, fried onions, pickle, jalapeños, mustard, lettuce, tomato and house mayo
Chips: Skinny (and slightly anaemic) fries
Price: £8.25 (with chips)
Thoughts: With more than 20 options, the Bar Kohl burgers score high on variety as well as value for money and made from scratch with 100% Aberdeen Angus beef, there’s no doubting the pedigree of the patty, although you’d expect it to be a little pinker in the middle to make the most of the quality meat. All the key components are here for a great burger too - fresh ingredients, a tasty topping combo and a decent sesame bun, but somehow it just lacks that certain something to elevate it from so-so to spectacular. Respectable, just not remarkable.
Star Rating: ★★★✰✰
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November 23rd
Ben's Canteen, London
Address: 140 Saint John’s Hill, London, SW11 1SL
Burger of choice: BC Burger
Toppings: Smoked cheddar, burger sauce, lettuce, tomato
Chips: Handcut chips
Price: £12.50 (with chips)
Thoughts: To paraphrase the eternally wise Frank Drebin, this is the kind of burger that will make you want to drop to your knees and thank God you're a man. That’s because each masculine-sized layer - a gargantuan (clearly genetically modified) tomato, richly delicious burger sauce, lettuce with an autumn leaf crunch, melted smoked cheddar, a handmade beef patty topped with a topside of Orkney beef that’s been slow cooked for 8hrs – wildly lived up to expectation on our visit, and, if not for a last minute crumble of the lightly toasted bun, it was close to perfection.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 21st
The Midnight Bell, Leeds
Burger of Choice: 8oz homemade steak burger
Toppings: Salsa, gherkin, pickled chilli, onion rings and mayonnaise
Chips: Chunky skin-on, served Jenga-style
Price: £9.50 (including chips)
Thoughts: Midnight Bell go the vertical route and decide to stack all the goodies you normally get as sides between the toasted ciabatta buns. So although there is a small but perfectly formed patty at the heart of this dish, the real stars are the pickles, especially the slow burning chilli and the best onion rings ever tasted. However it does present a bit of a logistical challenge – after you have dissembled this leaning tower of beef the tiny piece of driftwood provided as a plate inevitably overflows all over the table.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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November 19th
Dach & Sons, London
Address: 68 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 1DN
Burger of choice: Beef sliders
Toppings: (1) bacon and peanut jam and lettuce, (2) smoked flexi-cheddar and dill cucumber, (3) salt beef chilli and soured cream
Chips: Triple cooked fries
Price: £9.oo (without fries)
Thoughts: While sliders might have originated in the US as a fast food non-delicacy, they've quickly turned into something far more exciting and increasingly experimental over here. This New York-y Hampstead pub specialises in bitesize burgers and, boy, do they know how to make the most out of very little. The three we tried were all wildly different. The bacon and peanut jam was distinctive and savoury, the dill cucumber was fresh and slightly sour while the salt beef chilli was quite possibly one of the greatest chillis we have ever eaten. True fact. When it comes to sliders, Dach & Sons are well and truly leading the pack.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 16th
Fat Hippo, Newcastle
Address: 35a St Georges Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne
Burger of Choice: Fat Hippo Burger
Toppings: Bacon, chorizo, melted cheddar, caramelised onions, onion rings and a salad garnish
Chips: Handcut chunky chips
Price: £9.50
Thoughts: Any restaurant that hails a 'pimp my burger' competition is a winner in our eyes. We opted for the simpler choice though - the Fat Hippo Burger and we were not disappointed. The 1/2 pound of 100% Northumbrian beef was cooked to perfection - juicy, succulent and oozing with flavour. The patty came served in a soft ciabatta, the top half of which arrived stacked high on onion rings and melted cheese - shamefully, even with a pat down, it had to be attacked with steel. The chunky chorizo added a welcome kick, and with the accompanying Jamaican salsa it really hit the spot. A relaxed belt loosening towards the final whistle ensured victory, even if it was cutlery assisted.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 14th
Floridita, London
Address: 100 Wardour Street. London W1F 0TN
Burger of Choice: Cheese burger
Toppings: Smoked pancetta, swiss cheese, tomato salsa, gherkin and red onion
Chips: Just chips
Price: £16.25 (with chips)
Thoughts: In the recent burger revolution, it appears as if Floridita has been left behind, scratching its head and relying on a prime Soho location for business. They offer up a truly unremarkable burger which takes all the classic ingredients but fails to come up with anything interesting. A bland, lacklustre bun coupled with a flavourless burger and an overly sweet salsa, it's a genuine disappointment. The only saving grace was the crispy smoked pancetta. Given the price, it's daylight robbery.
Star rating: ★★✰✰✰
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November 12th
The WestRoom, Edinburgh
Burger of choice: 8oz Steak (the only option)
Toppings: Mull cheddar and sautéed onions, with rocket and tomato on the side.
Chips: Hand-cut, skin-on chunky chips
Price: £9.50
Thoughts: Considering burgers aren’t the house speciality, the WestRoom makes more than a decent fist of their solitary option; the two-inch thick hunk of ground steak retains a succulently pink hue inside, all covered over by a slab of melted cheese and caramelised onions. A toasted sesame seed bun, washed with a sticky glaze, stands up ably to the rigours of its contents, rather than dissolving like many inferior versions, while the accompanying Kilner jar of sweet and sour tomato relish rounds things off nicely. If you’re after a little more kick – and they like the look of you – the coarse chilli jam is the business.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 9th
The Rivington Grill, London
Address: 28-30 Rivington Street London, Greater London EC2A 3DZ
Burger of Choice: The Luxury Burger
Toppings: Fried egg, cheese and bacon
Chips: Chip shop chips but crispier
Price: £12.75 (with chips)
Thoughts: When you add the word 'luxury' to the word 'burger', you're placing yourself in a category with much higher standards than your regular pub or fast food joint. So, it's a relief to report that the word is perfectly well-picked to describe this doozy. With the fried egg unleashing yolk as soon as the bun is closed, it's a bit of a mess to handle but coupled with the cheese and bacon, it's a tasty mess. The patty is also given a kick with flecks of chilli, helping to provide a spiciness that offsets the creamy egg and cheese. Luxury stuff.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 7th
The Cross Scythes, Sheffield
Address: Baslow Road, Totley, Sheffield, S17 4AE
Burger of choice: Cheese burger
Toppings: Sheffield’s own Hendersons relish, Tomato & Onion chutney, cheese
Chips: Chunky chips
Price: £9.75 (with chips)
Thoughts: From the handmade patty to the freshly baked bun to the local relish, everything about this burger was the product of a good old-fashioned local. The softness of the medium rare meat was offset nicely by a crunchy onion salad while the homemade tomato & onion chutney, made with Sheffield’s own Henderson’s relish, added a unique flavour. The cheese was plainer than expected but it allowed the caramelised onions to dominate, which was a rare pleasure. Overall, a classic done well.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 5th
The Princess Of Wales, London
Address:146 Lea Bridge Road, Clapton, London, E5 9RB
Burger of Choice: Char grilled beef burger
Toppings: Lettuce, tomato (bacon and cheese optional extras)
Chips: Thick, tripple dipped
Price: £9.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: If you want frills, buy a frock. If you want a wonderful, traditional burger, where the beef does all the work, head here. Bobby Davro won't bring out your burger on a golden traffic cone. The bun won't play 'green sleeves' when you bite into it. But the beef will knock you over with taste. Hats off to the chef for having total confidence in his product that he doesn't feel the need to carpet bomb the burger with ingredients and hope some of it hits. The chargrilled flavour permeates the light bun and juicy patty beneath truly sings. We added bacon and cheese, both of which complimented the burger without taking away from the beef. A wonderful winter warmer of a pub, and a homely, hearty hamburger. Bravo.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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November 2nd
Johnny Fontanes, Leeds
Address: 40 Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3DL
Burger of choice: Johnny’s Eggsplosion
Toppings: Lettuce, tomato, cheese, an egg in the middle
Chips: Cajun French-fries
Price: £6.49 (without fries)
Thoughts: This pseudo-American diner certainly looks the part so hopes were rather high. But the burger, featuring an egg built into the patty, was small, dry and overcooked. The egg yolk had hard-boiled (the menu claimed it ‘bursts when bitten into’), the sesame seed bun was stale and the tomato had been forgotten. It’s a shame because clearly a lot of effort has gone into making the place look authentic. On the plus side the milkshakes were excellent. But this is all about the burgers, and sadly ours was poor.
Star rating: ★★✰✰✰
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October 31st
Burger Breakout at The Old Crown, London
Address: 33 New Oxford Street London WC1A 1BH
Burger of choice: The Bambi Bought it
Toppings: Tunworth cheese, beetroot pickle, chocolate & quince BBQ sauce
Chips: Smoked horseradish salted chips
Price: £14.00
Thoughts: Now, in the middle of a menu featuring slightly more traditional options, this unconventional burger doesn't sound like it's going to work. A venison patty with beetroot, strong cheese, chocolate and quince? But against all those considerable odds, it's a rousing success. The ingredients have all been delicately matched by an enthusiastic chef and work excellently together. The venison is moist and rich and the seemingly odd selection of toppings are in fact, rather brilliant. Leave your comfort zone for this one. It's worth it.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 29th
The Plough, Birmingham
Address: 21 High St, Harborne, Birmingham. B17 9NT
Burger of choice: Chorizo and caramelised onion beef burger
Toppings: Beef tomato, gherkins and mayonnaise
Chips: Medium cut fries
Price: £11.25 (includes chips)
Thoughts: With a host of burgers to choose from, our pick was one of their speciality burgers – chorizo with caramelised onion and all the usual trimmings. The impressive tower was topped and tailed with a brioche-esque bun, complimented with purple slaw and fries served in a novelty deep fat fryer on the side. The star is the thick, juicy patty made with local beef, the recipe for which has been specially developed with a local butcher. The flavour combination was a real treat, the mellow onion complementing the punch of the spicy chorizo. All in all, a juicy, comforting mess.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 26th
The Jugged Hare, London
Address: 49 Chiswell Street, City of London, EC1Y 4SA
Burger of Choice: Longhorn beef burger
Toppings: Applewood smoked cheddar
Chips: Thick
Price: £16 (with chips)
Thoughts: This was an easy choice to make as it was the only burger on offer for the evening. Made up of 30 per cent rib eye, 30 per cent flank and the rest made from kidney and suet, the patty was a huge slab of meat that was well done and topped with the slightly overpowering Applewood smoked cheddar. While it remained juicy it could have been improved with a touch more seasoning. The bun was a good doughy texture and not too sweet, but the problem we had was that there was too much of it. The bread was fighting to be the main attraction, when it should arguably be the meat that takes the starring role. As for the sides, the chips were cooked to perfection and the coleslaw made from red cabbage, a touch of mayo plus a hint of cumin gave this side an unexpected but delicious taste. While impressive on paper this burger failed to be amazing as all the ingredients were competing to be top dog.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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October 24th
Annie's Burger Shack, Nottingham
Address: Annie’s Burger Shack at The Navigation Live Music Venue, 6 Wilford Street, Nottingham, NG2 1AA
Burger of Choice: Kogumaza Burger
Toppings: Dutch-Indonesian Peanut Satay Sauce, crunchy onions and a pinch of cocunut
Chips: Home-made Cajun wedges
Price: £7.90
Thoughts: Self-confessed burger geek Annie has decided to bless Nottingham with her Rhode Island recipes, meaning the ingredients are sourced from the US and the menu is unique to say the least. We opted for the exotic Kogumaza burger which packs an impressive punch of flavour. From the warm spice of the Dutch-Indonesian satay sauce to the cool coconut topping to the sweet toasted bun, it’s all works incredibly well. But it’s the rich and delicious meat, sourced locally, which also impresses and is never drowned out by the ambitious set of toppings. Great burger work.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 22nd
Gaucho, London
Address: 60A Charlotte Street, London W1T 2NU
Burger of Choice: Gaucho burger
Toppings: Smoked bacon, Keens cheddar, tomato, lettuce and chipotle chutney
Chips: Chips with deep fried thyme
Price: £16.00 (without chips)
Thoughts: When it comes to meat, Gaucho aren't messing around. Known for their Argentinian steak skills, they've ground four of their greatest cuts to create their trademark burger and all that hard work certainly shows. But they don't rely on just a good quality patty. The sweet and smoky chipotle chutney works well with the smoked bacon and the brioche bun still retains its shape and flavour, even when slightly cooled down. Just leave a lot of room yeah? It's a hefty one.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 19th
Ad Lib, Glasgow
Address: 111 Hope Street, Glasgow
Burger of Choice: Classic Ad Lib Angus beef burger
Toppings: Dill pickle, homemade onion relish, lettuce, beef tomato
Chips: Skinny fries
Price: £8.95 (with fries) plus £1 each for additional bacon and blue cheese
Thoughts: Cowardly shunning Ad-Lib’s 3lb, £35 monster burger, which customers get free with a t-shirt if they manage to best it (the vast majority don’t), we plumped for Ad-Lib’s classic burger. In a lightly toasted, sesame seed bun with dispensable pickle and slightly too much tangy onion relish, the juicy, ground beef benefitted from a subtle infusion of garlic, Dijon mustard and paprika. Fine as far as it went, yet despite a multitude of ingredients the Classic lacks character, at least in comparison to Ad Lib’s lamb and chicken counterparts. Extra bacon and blue cheese offset some of the disappointment.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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October 17th
Boisdale Belgravia, London
Address: 15 Eccleston Street, London, SW1W 9LX
Burger of Choice: Truffle
Toppings: Fresh black truffle, roast field mushroom, Gruyère de Comté
Chips: Fat chips
Price: £15 (Includes chips)
Thoughts: If you're all about the burger when eating a burger (i.e the chips can take a running jump) then this is a very, very wise choice. Our dining chum described the Truffle burger as 'posh filth' and he hit the nail on the head. Stunning flavour and top end ingredients combine with the filthiness of a meaty burger experience to serve up a gastronomic tongue snog. This perfect date burger is slightly let down by easily forgettable chips served in tiny portions. Top tip: Eat in the bar (atmosphere is superb) and have the Bloody Mary Ketchup (£0.75).
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 15th
Handmade Burger Company, Birmingham
Address: 4 Brindley Place, Birmingham, West Midlands B1 2JB
Burger of Choice: Stuffed Burger (Cheddar and Chilli)
Toppings: Bacon, Mushroom, Lettuce, Hot Chilli Relish and Mayo
Chips: Cajun Seasoned Chips
Price: £7.95 (without chips or extra toppings (bacon and mushroom))
Thoughts: If you don't like meat or don't like mess you won't like this. The patty is full of flavour - you can really taste the chilli which has been stuffed in with the cheddar - and very moist. When you add the bacon and a mushroom you get a burger you have to fight to control. The sourdough bun needed to be thicker to handle the burger's thick juices. However the chips were solid and very strongly seasoned. Overall the food is freshly prepared and delicious. Just don't come here on a first date, unless your companion approves of dribbling salivating messes.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 12th
Cinnamon Soho, London
Burger of choice: Bhangra burgers
Toppings: Caramelised onion, mustard mayonnaise, Kasundi mustard, tomato and green salad leaf
Chips: None available
Price: £6.75
Thoughts: It's safe to say we've never had anything quite like this before. Combining the new trend for sliders (small burgers) with an intriguing Indian slant, this set of three bite-size offerings were a deliciously unconventional alternative. The combination of spiced lamb patties with sweet onions and fiery mustard leaves you wanting more. While the ever-so-slightly dry buns let the sliders down somewhat, their small size and choice of accompanying chutneys ensure that it's not a lasting concern.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/soho-home
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October 10th
Hollyrood 9A, Edinburgh
Address: 9A Holyrood Road Edinburgh, Midlothian EH8 8AE
Burger of choice: The Holyrood
Toppings: Hereford Hop cheese, beer mustard, rocket, red onion, caramelised onion mayo, dill pickle, tomato, lettuce
Chips: String fries
Price: £9.45 (with chips)
Thoughts: Given the proximity of the Scottish parliament, it’s not unusual to find political bigwigs conniving in the corners, although thankfully the burgers at Holyrood 9A are far easier to swallow than the rhetoric. Resting on a perfect sourdough bun, the flavoursome 6oz ground beef patty comes slathered in a creamy, gooey toasted hop-coated cheese which imparts a ridiculously moreish sour tang. Vitally, the underlay of salad isn't limp or sweaty, adding crunch and texture, while the burger-to-bun ratio is spot on, making it possible (with some finger-licking) to eat this with both hands, just as nature intended.
Star rating: ★★★★★
www.fullerthomson.com/eating-and-drinking/holyrood
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October 8th
North Pole, London
Address: 188 New North Road, London, N1 7BJ
Burger of choice: The only one they do. They call it 'burger'
Toppings: Beef burger with cheddar, smoked bacon, pickles, lettuce, tomato, ketchup & American mustard
Chips: Skinny fries with pepper
Price: £10 (with fries)
Thoughts: If this was a pub review we'd be going batshit mental about the North Pole. The craft and cask ales are simply out of this world, the pub is a superb winter warmer and the staff and clientele are wonderfully jolly. But this is about burgers. And the burger is good. Not amazing, not disappointing. It's good. Solid. James Milner. A carnivore's delight, it's incredibly meaty (perhaps sacrificing taste a little) and makes for great value for money, but it offers few frills. You don't leave pondering which pals you're going to tell all about it.
'Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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October 5th
The Golden Fleece, Nottingham
Address: 105 Mansfield Road, Nottingham, NG1 3FN
Burger of choice: Rump steak burger
Toppings: Applewood smoked cheddar and Jalapeno
Chips: Chunky chips
Price: £7.95 (with chips)
Thoughts: Our pick of the Applewood and Jalepeno topped rump steak burger was a tricky choice thanks to the pretty extensive menu which offers 12 choices of toppings available on either 100% rump steak, lamb or veggie. The huge patty came covered in a multitude of extras – mayo, salsa, gherkins and salad, which somehow all worked together, making it difficult to eat but well worth the mess. Served in a chargrilled wholemeal bun, the burger is well over an inch thick with a juicy, pink centre. The combination of the chillies and salsa add a good hit of heat, but the sweet smokiness of the cheddar still comes through.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
Facebook.com/goldenfleecenottingham
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October 3rd
The Draft House, London
Address: 43 Goodge Street London W1T 1TA
Burger of choice: The Smoke
Toppings: House-smoked cheddar, house-cured bacon and smoked Chipotle mayo
Chips: Hand-cooked, twice-cooked fries
Price: £9.95 (without chips)
Thoughts: One of the three rhyming options available (the others being 'The Yolk' and 'The Poke'), this burger is all about, predictably, smokey flavours. From the smoked cheddar to the Chipotle mayonnaise, it's an idea that completely works. But the intensity of the toppings still don't detract from a succulent patty, cooked to your specifications, which adds chopped parsley into the mix. Overall, it's a damn fine burger.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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October 1st
Red Onion, Glasgow
Address: 257 West Campbell Street Glasgow G2 4TT
Burger of choice: The Thunderstruck
Toppings: Deep fried cheese, lettuce, salsa
Chips: Thick, skin-on chips
Price: £9.50 (with chips), plus £1 for additional deep-fried cheese
Thoughts: Taking its name from an AC/DC anthem, former chef to Guns N’ Roses John Quigley’s jaw-stretching creation is mildly fiery, thanks to a base slathering of salsa, and distinctively Scottish, with a gratifying thick wedge of deep-fried mature Mull cheddar perched atop the beef. Served in a plain white flour bun, the flame-grilled burger is a juicy pink, medium rare patty of 90% ground rump steak with pork fat, so filling it barely needs the thick cut chips served with a peppercorn sauce. Healthy it isn’t but the cheese crunch really distinguishes it and Elvis would’ve died for one.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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September 28th
Riding House Cafe, London
Address: 43-51 Great Titchfield Street London, W1W 7PQ
Burger of choice: Longhorn beef and bone marrow burger
Toppings: Truffled liver parfait, tomato, caramelised onions and mayonnaise
Chips: Skin-on chips
Price: £20
Thoughts: Existing at the higher end of the burger market, this luxury offering aims extremely high and only really delivers in parts. Coupling a burger made from 28 day aged fore rib chuck with truffle liver parfait is a brave move and coupled with the mayonnaise and sweet onions, it ends up being, predictably, all a bit too rich. The deep flavour of the parfait ends up monopolising the burger, which is a shame as the patty was well-cooked and flavoursome. The overly toasted bun also let things down, making an all-inclusive mouthful hard to manage. An interesting attempt to try something different but sadly, it doesn't quite work.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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September 27th
Cattle Grid, Leeds
Address: Waterloo House, Assembly Street, Leeds, LS2 7DE
Burger of choice: House steak burger
Toppings: Feta cheese, beef tomato and lettuce
Chips: Skinny skin-on chips
Price: £8.50 (without chips)
Thoughts: It’s a bit of a no-brainer that a good steak house should do a good burger and this juicy, inch-thick chargrilled patty does not disappoint. Ground daily on-site, this burger is definitely at the meatier end of the spectrum. Meanwhile the layer of beef tomatoes keeps the dribble-down-the-chin factor high and the crumbly feta definitely necessitates use of cutlery to consume this monster. Though fully consumed it was – an excellent all round performance.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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September 25th
Tommi's Burger, London
Address: 58 Marylebone Lane London W1U 2NX
Burger of choice: Steak burger
Toppings: American cheese, tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mustard
Chips: Thin, slightly tasteless fries
Price: £8.95 (without chips)
Thoughts: Our burger provided an interesting contrast. On the one hand, the patty itself is a high-end mix of rump, rib-eye and fillet steak and it's served with a béarnaise sauce on the side. Yet it arrives with rather standard fast food trimmings. The cheese is processed, the salad is a bit limp and the bun is so doughy that it blends in with the meat. So while the meat is succulent, the other ingredients don't match up, which is a shame and given the Central London competition, it'll need a bit more to make its mark.
Star rating: ★★★✰✰
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September 19th
Barbecoa, London
Address: 20 New Change Passage, City of London, Greater London EC4M 9AG
Burger of choice: Barbecoa Burger
Toppings: Westcombe cheddar, smoked bacon, sweet onions and pickles
Chips: Duck fat skin-on chips
Price: £16 (includes chips)
Thoughts: While some burgers rely on either a good quality patty or a set of tasty toppings to keep us happy, the impressive Barbecoa burger manages to astound on both counts. The burger is made from beef which has been hung on-site for between 5 and 11 weeks so taken alone, it'd be a delicious meal in itself but coupled with extra mature cheddar, crispy bacon and some rather uniquely sweet stewed onions, it's the sort of burger that makes you want to run to the kitchen and high-five the chef. Before you kidnap him and keep him locked up in your kitchen of course.
Star rating: ★★★★✰
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