Well, I finally made it to this Honest Burgers. There was a bit of a wait to get our table – 45 minutes – for a late lunch at 3pm on a Saturday. We were a table of five, we didn’t have to queue physically, as they took down my mobile and called up to let us know it was our table was ready.
As you have probably read elsewhere, they’ve received much publicity last year, and is generally held in high regard by the burger lovers. As high regard as the Meatwagon & Lucky Chip burgers. On the same token, there are those who have written about an inconsistent experience.
The Cheese, with house chips with rosemary salt, £7.50.
That’s a neat brioche. The patty looked wet & juicy, the cheddar only just melted over it. The red onion relish is the unique condiment which sets the honest burger apart from its competition. The smell of rosemary filled our table, so much so, I could hardly detect grilled beef – a change in the usual burger outing.
Like most democratic burger restaurants these days, food is served in wartime enamel crockery. I did some digging around, and found Falcon enamelware which has been trading since the 20s.
Our immediate reaction were that these burgers looked a little small. More like oversized sliders. In fact, they looked about the same size as the supersized slider at Mishkin’s.
I asked for mine to be medium rare.
Served with only a knife, which I suppose is their way of suggesting to the diner to slice it down the middle to check for doneness.
Would you say it’s more medium than medium rare?
There are various reports that the grilled patty is finished in a similar way to Meatwagon/Lucky Chip, by allowing its own vapourised juices to re-condense under a metal cloche. I think most burger places tend to do this now, so it’s no longer as novel as it used to be.
I liked the patty (even if it came a little overcooked) , it was juicy, and the aged Ginger Pig mince certainly exhibited sharp and strong beefy flavour. So concentrated in fact, that I felt it was verging on blue cheese. I don’t know if it were a combination of the sweet bun, the cheddar and onion, but this big-bang flavour was certainly pleasing. The patty did remind me of the equally big flavoured Hawksmoor burger, which is also minced from Ginger Pig Longhorns, with a few dollops of marrow for extra oomph.
I thought the onion relish was a nice touch, giving the patty a sweet contrast, but personally, I could have done without it. The airy brioche was adequate, but perhaps just a little on the dry side. It’s strange really, most people have written about wanting doughier buns, but it seems restaurants are still adamantly sticking by variations of – in my opinion – rather ordinary buns. I think the Meatwagon (steamed) buns are probably the best available in town. However, I did try some experimental St John sourdough (with an O’sheas patty) at a BurgerMonday event, which I thought was fabulously the right doughy consistency. But that was about a year ago, and I haven’t actually seen it come on to the market. Logistics and perhaps high costs probably prevent better buns from coming into the burger equation. The bun can either complete the burger or be its weakest link.
As for the rosemary scented chips – yeah they were pretty nice. Very crispy and it reminded me of Kettle chips…. but I thought they were horribly over salted.
Everybody else on my table went for the special (£10) of the day which was Beef, manchego, chimichurri, brindisa chorizo and braised chillies. It sounds over the top on paper, and indeed it was horrendously salty in practice. I split my burger with the missus, and really regretted parting with my much mellower cheese burger. My friends couldn’t stop reaching for wine to wash away all the heaviness.
Overall, everybody thought it was a pretty good burger, but we also thought they should reassess their salting philosophy. More flavour is nice, but with such a strong flavoured patty, I think it is more than capable of pulling off a solo act. I don’t have a preference for processed cheese, but yes, it would be nice to see it as an option on the menu, if they were interested in offering it up. Afterall, a classic cheeseburger can be an elegant creature.
We paid about £74. That includes a couple of homemade fizzy lemonades and a bottle of red. I can’t remember what it was, but it was cheap, £14.50. It would appear they have gained a license since opening.
With burgers being the ultimate universal meal, it is only natural to expect the best ones to draw crowds and attract opinion. I think everybody has their own expectations as to what a perfect burger should taste like, even if its just nostlasgia.
For a few years, I ate the McD’s 69p cheeseburger every thursday as a reward to munch on some junk food after basketball practice. I still do it occasionally. I’m not suggesting that McDonalds are the default champions of the humble hamburger, but it certainly is interesting to note how this fast food has slowed down while gaining a fervent following. I still haven’t tried Shake Shack or In and Out or a Pat LeFrieda patty. I’m curious how any of London’s burger developments compare with the ones which really started it all.
The biggest challenges (in my humble opinion) of dedicated burger restaurants are in maintaining consistency and managing wait times. Ironically however, these speciality burgers take time to cook to a certain level of perfection, and it isn’t strange to wait a couple of hours for a burger to arrive. I suppose good burgers do take time (and care) to cook.
Meat Liquor continues to entertain long queues, and I think they’ve largely cut down cooking times with their burgers (The last time I went was Nov 2011, I think). I never made it to the Lucky Chip residence at Sebright Arms, and I think their term has only just come to a close, so it’s back to the truck at Netil Market.
I don’t know about you, I like burgers but I really don’t see the point of long waits by a food truck or being crammed inside an overcrowded pub.
I suppose the advantage of Honest Burgers is that they are neither. It is a smallish restaurant inside the brilliantly vibrant Brixton Village. They manage table turning well enough, and they maintain reasonable cooking times. I think we only waited about 20 minutes for our burgers, all of which turned out with good consistency. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the Honest Burger experience, but my favourite (recent) burger memory is still the Lucky Chip’s Bill Murray Life Aquatic Surf and Turf.
The Gist
Honest Burgers
Burgers, £10pp
12, Brixton Village
Tel : +44 (0)20 7733 7963
Underground : Brixton
Thanks for sharing. I live in North Yorkshire and don’t get to London often. When I do, I like to go with a long list of restaurants to try. I will be stopping by Honest Burger and Lucky Chip.
I’m a big burger fan. Growing up in California as I did it’s impossible not to be.
I have yet to find a burger as good as In-n-Out but your pictures make me think I might just find one.
‘Would you say it’s more medium than medium rare?’
Maybe, maybe not, but the point is it’s a burger not a steak. If you were in America they’re more than likely to give you no choice, and most would balk at anything redder than that. I’m not sure where this UK obsession with cooking a simple thing like a burger as you would hache has come from.
I agree on the queues, but if people are being so particular now then it can hardly be expected to be fast food can it?
I didn’t know they were called a cloche. I remember being in a bar in Nashville a few years back and watching the guy cook burgers on the griddle, seamlessly juggling between them all. Was impressive.
Ben – indeed totally agree, i guess burgers are no longer seen as simply fast food. But perhaps thats when restaurants started offering customers the choice for pinker burgers.
I completely take your point on the basis of basic hygiene since the entire patty mince has been exposed, and so just cooking the outsides would not prevent the risk of bacteria contamination on the undercooked insides. Which is not the case for steak where only the surface of the meat is exposed, so its assumed that browning the surface kills most bacteria. But this conventional wisdom probably applies the world over.
I do wonder if we take the same risk with tartare though.
I must say, I personally dont think about the hygiene aspects of it, when the choice has been offered to me, and – touchwood – i havent experienced any ill effects as yet. I do prefer it if a burger is pink, it tastes juicier to me.
Cant possibly say when i first encountered pink burgers (in london), but am sure its been around for quite a number of years.
Actually the hygiene aspect doesn’t concern me whatsoever. I just find it bizarre that Brits are suddenly the arbiters of what a good burger is, with measurements that seem to have been plucked from nowhere, least of all America.
But a burger isn’t hache, and generally isn’t made with steak mince (I’m presuming Hache’s are but can’t remember?). If it was, why not drop the bun and be done with it?
For what it’s worth I like Byron. I like the fact you can turn up, expect to get a table quickly, choose from a short, simple menu, and receive a quality burger and fries, at a good price with a predictability that allows you to make that film showing (or whatever else it is you plan to do afterwards). That lack of pretension is in my mind what a burger and fries meal is about. I’ll leave it to other people to wait two hours 🙂
Ben – I couldn’t agree more on the mighty Byron! I remember disliking it 4/5 years ago when it first arrived on scene, but every year since, they had improved their product, eventually I started singing their praises.. and of course now Byron is nearly at every street corner in London. (But not quite yet.)
In Tom Byng’s own words, his Byron is the everyman burger he sought out to create. Like you, I love Byron too, and I used to eat one, once a month until I moved from Gloucester Road to Queens Park. In fact, I remember the days when there were only two Byrons only, one in Hg St Ken and the other just opp Gloucester Road Station. Those days, they still did sliders and they served their burgers in a kind of sourdough bun (of much higher quality). Still waiting for the annual rerun of the Big D.
Its funny you mention making film times, I had fond memories of doing just that at the Gloucester Road branch, and then leisurely walking to the cinema on Fulham Road to catch a movie. Sigh … Byron is opening in Camden sometime next month, it would be the nearest to where I live now, but still is about a 20minute journey there. Can’t wait though.
Indeed, as you say, hache technically implies it is chopped/minced steak, which incidentally is also what one of the early ‘purveyors’ of the gourmet burger go by in London.
But in the defence of the current burger leaders, I do believe that they are partly proud of their patties are because they are minced from high quality cuts of beef, which probably explains why they taste so distinct and juicy.
Now these are just things I’ve read or perhaps caught a youtube video (like this one (quite brilliant) on how the Byron Big D was conceived http://osheasbutchers.com/?p=242), but mostly, the best patties seem to be minced from chuck steak, fat and depending on who it is, short rib, marrow, breadcrumbs… but from what I gather, good patties are simply just good sides of beef, minced with not much else, so all that flavour really just comes from the quality of the beef itself. So technically speaking, it could be that the lucky chips, meatwagons or Honest burgers are all serving a kind of hache… but that’s just me speculating of course.
BTW, I am a fan of O’Sheas Angus (be it Darragh or Jack). Both guys are knowledgable and I believe both shops, knightsbridge and Selfridges have their own hanging rooms… bit off topic however.
But back to the original point about how British (by that really we mean London) suddenly became the capital of burgers. My guess is that it’s partly the buzz created by twitter, blogs, journos. I think judging by the sheer good business burger places seem to be doing (MeatWagon already looking to do Meat Market in Covent Garden) , it certainly seems to me that lots of Londoners seem to love indulging in the trend. Surely not every single one is a hardcore foodblogger or fervent food blog reader (if they exist) , but maybe people just think of it as an alternative social thing to do.. I don’t know really. I’ve never tried a Shake Shack or an In-and-Out or any of America’s currently rated burgers, but from what I’ve heard/read, whatever we’ve got over here doesn’t even compare to the originals… and maybe that’s it. Maybe it simply hasn’t caught up with the Americans to be worthy of comparisons.
Ah…then again, at the end of the day, all this hot air… for what? It’s just a burger isn’t it? 😉
That burger looks good to me!- if, indeed, a little pink. Love the sound of rosemary chips. I think posh burgers and a good old macdonalds both have their merits, but I’d definitely like to try a few more of the posh ones. I’m going to London this weekend so I may take a look…
I really enjoyed this review, I note it’s a couple of years old now – my hasn’t things changed in a few years! I’ve just posted a review of Honest Burger Tottenham Court Road. Probably the best burger I’ve ever had. SO good!
Well, I finally made it to this Honest Burgers. There was a bit of a wait to get our table – 45 minutes – for a late lunch at 3pm on a Saturday. We were a table of five, we didn’t have to queue physically, as they took down my mobile and called up to let us know it was our table was ready.
As you have probably read elsewhere, they’ve received much publicity last year, and is generally held in high regard by the burger lovers. As high regard as the Meatwagon & Lucky Chip burgers. On the same token, there are those who have written about an inconsistent experience.
The Cheese, with house chips with rosemary salt, £7.50.
That’s a neat brioche. The patty looked wet & juicy, the cheddar only just melted over it. The red onion relish is the unique condiment which sets the honest burger apart from its competition. The smell of rosemary filled our table, so much so, I could hardly detect grilled beef – a change in the usual burger outing.
Like most democratic burger restaurants these days, food is served in wartime enamel crockery. I did some digging around, and found Falcon enamelware which has been trading since the 20s.
Our immediate reaction were that these burgers looked a little small. More like oversized sliders. In fact, they looked about the same size as the supersized slider at Mishkin’s.
I asked for mine to be medium rare.
Served with only a knife, which I suppose is their way of suggesting to the diner to slice it down the middle to check for doneness.
Would you say it’s more medium than medium rare?
There are various reports that the grilled patty is finished in a similar way to Meatwagon/Lucky Chip, by allowing its own vapourised juices to re-condense under a metal cloche. I think most burger places tend to do this now, so it’s no longer as novel as it used to be.
I liked the patty (even if it came a little overcooked) , it was juicy, and the aged Ginger Pig mince certainly exhibited sharp and strong beefy flavour. So concentrated in fact, that I felt it was verging on blue cheese. I don’t know if it were a combination of the sweet bun, the cheddar and onion, but this big-bang flavour was certainly pleasing. The patty did remind me of the equally big flavoured Hawksmoor burger, which is also minced from Ginger Pig Longhorns, with a few dollops of marrow for extra oomph.
I thought the onion relish was a nice touch, giving the patty a sweet contrast, but personally, I could have done without it. The airy brioche was adequate, but perhaps just a little on the dry side. It’s strange really, most people have written about wanting doughier buns, but it seems restaurants are still adamantly sticking by variations of – in my opinion – rather ordinary buns. I think the Meatwagon (steamed) buns are probably the best available in town. However, I did try some experimental St John sourdough (with an O’sheas patty) at a BurgerMonday event, which I thought was fabulously the right doughy consistency. But that was about a year ago, and I haven’t actually seen it come on to the market. Logistics and perhaps high costs probably prevent better buns from coming into the burger equation. The bun can either complete the burger or be its weakest link.
As for the rosemary scented chips – yeah they were pretty nice. Very crispy and it reminded me of Kettle chips…. but I thought they were horribly over salted.
Everybody else on my table went for the special (£10) of the day which was Beef, manchego, chimichurri, brindisa chorizo and braised chillies. It sounds over the top on paper, and indeed it was horrendously salty in practice. I split my burger with the missus, and really regretted parting with my much mellower cheese burger. My friends couldn’t stop reaching for wine to wash away all the heaviness.
Overall, everybody thought it was a pretty good burger, but we also thought they should reassess their salting philosophy. More flavour is nice, but with such a strong flavoured patty, I think it is more than capable of pulling off a solo act. I don’t have a preference for processed cheese, but yes, it would be nice to see it as an option on the menu, if they were interested in offering it up. Afterall, a classic cheeseburger can be an elegant creature.
We paid about £74. That includes a couple of homemade fizzy lemonades and a bottle of red. I can’t remember what it was, but it was cheap, £14.50. It would appear they have gained a license since opening.
With burgers being the ultimate universal meal, it is only natural to expect the best ones to draw crowds and attract opinion. I think everybody has their own expectations as to what a perfect burger should taste like, even if its just nostlasgia.
For a few years, I ate the McD’s 69p cheeseburger every thursday as a reward to munch on some junk food after basketball practice. I still do it occasionally. I’m not suggesting that McDonalds are the default champions of the humble hamburger, but it certainly is interesting to note how this fast food has slowed down while gaining a fervent following. I still haven’t tried Shake Shack or In and Out or a Pat LeFrieda patty. I’m curious how any of London’s burger developments compare with the ones which really started it all.
The biggest challenges (in my humble opinion) of dedicated burger restaurants are in maintaining consistency and managing wait times. Ironically however, these speciality burgers take time to cook to a certain level of perfection, and it isn’t strange to wait a couple of hours for a burger to arrive. I suppose good burgers do take time (and care) to cook.
Meat Liquor continues to entertain long queues, and I think they’ve largely cut down cooking times with their burgers (The last time I went was Nov 2011, I think). I never made it to the Lucky Chip residence at Sebright Arms, and I think their term has only just come to a close, so it’s back to the truck at Netil Market.
I don’t know about you, I like burgers but I really don’t see the point of long waits by a food truck or being crammed inside an overcrowded pub.
I suppose the advantage of Honest Burgers is that they are neither. It is a smallish restaurant inside the brilliantly vibrant Brixton Village. They manage table turning well enough, and they maintain reasonable cooking times. I think we only waited about 20 minutes for our burgers, all of which turned out with good consistency. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the Honest Burger experience, but my favourite (recent) burger memory is still the Lucky Chip’s Bill Murray Life Aquatic Surf and Turf.
The Gist
Honest Burgers
Burgers, £10pp
12, Brixton Village
Tel : +44 (0)20 7733 7963
Underground : Brixton
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Comments (8)
Hi Kang
Thanks for sharing. I live in North Yorkshire and don’t get to London often. When I do, I like to go with a long list of restaurants to try. I will be stopping by Honest Burger and Lucky Chip.
I’m a big burger fan. Growing up in California as I did it’s impossible not to be.
I have yet to find a burger as good as In-n-Out but your pictures make me think I might just find one.
Dan
‘Would you say it’s more medium than medium rare?’
Maybe, maybe not, but the point is it’s a burger not a steak. If you were in America they’re more than likely to give you no choice, and most would balk at anything redder than that. I’m not sure where this UK obsession with cooking a simple thing like a burger as you would hache has come from.
I agree on the queues, but if people are being so particular now then it can hardly be expected to be fast food can it?
I didn’t know they were called a cloche. I remember being in a bar in Nashville a few years back and watching the guy cook burgers on the griddle, seamlessly juggling between them all. Was impressive.
Ben – indeed totally agree, i guess burgers are no longer seen as simply fast food. But perhaps thats when restaurants started offering customers the choice for pinker burgers.
I completely take your point on the basis of basic hygiene since the entire patty mince has been exposed, and so just cooking the outsides would not prevent the risk of bacteria contamination on the undercooked insides. Which is not the case for steak where only the surface of the meat is exposed, so its assumed that browning the surface kills most bacteria. But this conventional wisdom probably applies the world over.
I do wonder if we take the same risk with tartare though.
I must say, I personally dont think about the hygiene aspects of it, when the choice has been offered to me, and – touchwood – i havent experienced any ill effects as yet. I do prefer it if a burger is pink, it tastes juicier to me.
Cant possibly say when i first encountered pink burgers (in london), but am sure its been around for quite a number of years.
K.
Actually the hygiene aspect doesn’t concern me whatsoever. I just find it bizarre that Brits are suddenly the arbiters of what a good burger is, with measurements that seem to have been plucked from nowhere, least of all America.
But a burger isn’t hache, and generally isn’t made with steak mince (I’m presuming Hache’s are but can’t remember?). If it was, why not drop the bun and be done with it?
For what it’s worth I like Byron. I like the fact you can turn up, expect to get a table quickly, choose from a short, simple menu, and receive a quality burger and fries, at a good price with a predictability that allows you to make that film showing (or whatever else it is you plan to do afterwards). That lack of pretension is in my mind what a burger and fries meal is about. I’ll leave it to other people to wait two hours 🙂
Ben – I couldn’t agree more on the mighty Byron! I remember disliking it 4/5 years ago when it first arrived on scene, but every year since, they had improved their product, eventually I started singing their praises.. and of course now Byron is nearly at every street corner in London. (But not quite yet.)
In Tom Byng’s own words, his Byron is the everyman burger he sought out to create. Like you, I love Byron too, and I used to eat one, once a month until I moved from Gloucester Road to Queens Park. In fact, I remember the days when there were only two Byrons only, one in Hg St Ken and the other just opp Gloucester Road Station. Those days, they still did sliders and they served their burgers in a kind of sourdough bun (of much higher quality). Still waiting for the annual rerun of the Big D.
Its funny you mention making film times, I had fond memories of doing just that at the Gloucester Road branch, and then leisurely walking to the cinema on Fulham Road to catch a movie. Sigh … Byron is opening in Camden sometime next month, it would be the nearest to where I live now, but still is about a 20minute journey there. Can’t wait though.
Indeed, as you say, hache technically implies it is chopped/minced steak, which incidentally is also what one of the early ‘purveyors’ of the gourmet burger go by in London.
But in the defence of the current burger leaders, I do believe that they are partly proud of their patties are because they are minced from high quality cuts of beef, which probably explains why they taste so distinct and juicy.
Now these are just things I’ve read or perhaps caught a youtube video (like this one (quite brilliant) on how the Byron Big D was conceived http://osheasbutchers.com/?p=242), but mostly, the best patties seem to be minced from chuck steak, fat and depending on who it is, short rib, marrow, breadcrumbs… but from what I gather, good patties are simply just good sides of beef, minced with not much else, so all that flavour really just comes from the quality of the beef itself. So technically speaking, it could be that the lucky chips, meatwagons or Honest burgers are all serving a kind of hache… but that’s just me speculating of course.
BTW, I am a fan of O’Sheas Angus (be it Darragh or Jack). Both guys are knowledgable and I believe both shops, knightsbridge and Selfridges have their own hanging rooms… bit off topic however.
But back to the original point about how British (by that really we mean London) suddenly became the capital of burgers. My guess is that it’s partly the buzz created by twitter, blogs, journos. I think judging by the sheer good business burger places seem to be doing (MeatWagon already looking to do Meat Market in Covent Garden) , it certainly seems to me that lots of Londoners seem to love indulging in the trend. Surely not every single one is a hardcore foodblogger or fervent food blog reader (if they exist) , but maybe people just think of it as an alternative social thing to do.. I don’t know really. I’ve never tried a Shake Shack or an In-and-Out or any of America’s currently rated burgers, but from what I’ve heard/read, whatever we’ve got over here doesn’t even compare to the originals… and maybe that’s it. Maybe it simply hasn’t caught up with the Americans to be worthy of comparisons.
Ah…then again, at the end of the day, all this hot air… for what? It’s just a burger isn’t it? 😉
K.
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That burger looks good to me!- if, indeed, a little pink. Love the sound of rosemary chips. I think posh burgers and a good old macdonalds both have their merits, but I’d definitely like to try a few more of the posh ones. I’m going to London this weekend so I may take a look…
I really enjoyed this review, I note it’s a couple of years old now – my hasn’t things changed in a few years! I’ve just posted a review of Honest Burger Tottenham Court Road. Probably the best burger I’ve ever had. SO good!