The things people do to track down a good meal, this one in particular involves my first encounter with the Lucky Chip burger. As you know, summers are pretty up and down every year, we remember the odd day when the thermometer crosses the psychological 100F mark, but we tend to forget that mostly, it’s just very wet. So there we were, Mark with his gentlemenly brolly, and me with my … FT Weekend Magazine… (ironically, this weekend’s was the Food issue including a feature on the slow death of the Bib, and a short Heston interview) and soaked Marni blazer (sniffers) , we were traipsing up and down London fields to find this rather elusive, and well hidden Netil Market, and mindful that the mild drizzle – like a balloon slowly filling with water – was about to burst into a proper rainstorm. After a little tinkering with google maps, we circled onto Westgate Street as the entry point to Netil Market. So we found it eventually, quite modest, in a rather small car park, but as it had been raining all afternoon, it wasn’t a surprise to find the vendors packing up their stock to shield from it. The sight of the Lucky Chip van was modestly uneventful, and given the street food craze, it’s quite a change coming across an empty food truck with good internet gossip
Unless you have been living under the proverbial rock that requires abstination from evil things such as sex, alcohol and greasy chips, you would have otherwise heard about the gospel of The Meatwagon. Unfortunately, the wagon was stolen late last year, so in early 2011, Yianni Papoutsis – aka Blighty’s one true burger king – had reassigned his team at the first floor of a closed down pub, in New Cross Gate. The pub had offered its space, as it is in the middle of its refurbishment plans. Yianni’s intention is to be able to secure enough funds to get a new van to roll out for the summer. And thus, #MEATEASY was born. And it’s fucking brilliant. Very rough around the edges, but we don’t mind of course, because we love quirky and egalitarian, rage against the guerilla dives. Upon arrival, you are given a ticket, and then it’s a mad scramble to find a spare seat at the cramped space, as you study the menu scrawled across the wall. The first time I went was a Thursday night at 9, and we didn’t eat till 11. So we spent all our cash on the £7 cocktails and £3 beers. Rum swizzlers aplenty. But when the food arrived, oh my giddy Uncle Bob, it was certainly worth the long wait. As expected, the menu is not for vegetarians, their
I remember the early days when Byron was the new kid on the block, did sliders and was firmly a West London thing. I didn’t think much of them back then, but all that’s change. I am a little amazed that some of my friends still haven’t tried a Byron yet. There are now ten locations spread across the most densely populated parts of town, while they maintain a reticent philosophy to burgers and life, each branch has its own individual character. I’m not going to pontificate about burgers – I know very little about them to be quite honest (I remain un-shacked) – but I do visit a Byron at least once every month (actually, I now use it as an incentive to go running) and I just love them to bits. The charred beefiness… ohh… I am a gruyère, medium rare with skinny chips. My local is Gloucester Road, but I like the new Old Brompton branch, a little further away from me, which opened last month. However, my favourite is the Intrepid Fox in Soho. Just ambiance I mean, burgers are consistent across the board, it’s a franchise afterall. Let’s see now, I have been to the High Street Ken one, Westfield, Gloucester Road, Old Brompton Road, Intrepid Fox, Covent Garden…. but have never been to the Canary Wharf, Islington, Kings Road or Kingston ones. As an
Cast your mind back a couple of years ago and the emergence of the gourmet burger in this country, particularly London. I contributed my two pennies with a burger shoot-out of my own last year, pitching some of the well regarded burger bars against one another. Since then, the momentum for sleek burgers have subsided.
Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. My buttons need sewing while I’m on a quest to find more burger, reading up on 25 other ways to use vinegar and blogging about guest bloggers
the union chilli burger This is the beginning of the search for the top burgers in london. It’s no real secret that burgers have slowly been devouring the capital in the past few years and I think it’s only appropriate for me to highlight some of the burger bars which are ever-present around town. On this outing, I chose to try five places: Gourmet Burger Kitchen – the original posh burger bar now serving buffalo. Burger Shack- smollensky’s take on the ol’ bun. Hamburger Union – One of the few which serves a steak burger. Hache Burgers – Self anointed connoisseurs and aspiring to be the best. Byron Hamburgers – proper burgers and nothing else. Who has the best beef? Which bun can soak up the most juices? Which one serves the biggest shakes and just who exactly serves the best burgers in london
With the explosion of the london posh burger phenomenon at critical mass, I wonder how relatively new boys Byrons stack up against the establishments. Welcome one, welcome all to yet another entry in my loosely connected series of burger posts. Today, I’ve decided to go mini at Byrons, come join me in finding out if its any good
The original Gourmet burger kitchen started it’s first outlet in Battersea and since then, their super-sized burgers have exploded across the country with far too many outlets for it to be countable. If you’re looking for a great meal on a shoe-string in today’s crunch-induced environment then GBK might just interest you
There’s only so many ways I can photograph a business card, but that’s all Hache burgers left me with after my visit to Timeout’s best burger place. I didn’t understand their refusal for pictures but I tell you what, I might have just ate the best fish burger… ever
Fast-food is slowly being redressed as proper food. Take burger joints for example. They have been ‘gourmet-ised’ and have been springing up all over the capital. Smollensky’s burger shack is one of them. I get peckish when I’m out and about, so I decided to drop a visit
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