A little bit of NYC in Covent Garden

Shake Shack open its doors mid last year, I think, in Covent Garden and it's taken me this long to pop along and see if they measured up to the local competition and the original in New York.

An Honest Burger, as the name suggests ...

I like what Honest Burgers are bringing to the London burger scene, good honest burgers, no thrills, no gimmicks like over sauced paddys, just plain goodness of a burger that delivers on taste...

Bad Burger @ Five Guys

I love burgers, it's the simplicity of them, I mean it's only seasoned mined meat of varying parts of the cow formed into a patty, grilled or fried until perfectly juicy, stuffed between two pieces of bread and then eaten. Done right it's heaven, done wrong and it's pants.

Grilled Brunch at Grillshack

Sundays are made for being lazy, they are the only really day of the week we can relax and potter around and do nothing, it’s on these days that I normally cook up a storm in the kitchen and prepare more elaborate dishes or spend all day making a batch of stock. Heaven.

Burger time @ Bukowski Grill

I’ve just realised how inactive I’ve been recently, this is in part because I’m a lazy so and so, and mostly because I’ve been for the last few months writing copy like a mad man for a tour operator I’m now working for.

Back home with a burger

Well I cannot say I’m glad to be back after 3 fantastic weeks wandering through the northern reaches of Yunnan Province. Hpefully more on that at a later date I hope, as I’ll try and let you all know what a wonderful time I had in China and Hong Kong

The Legendary Burgers @ The Hard Rock Cafe

Having received an invite to sample some of the burgers on the new Legendary Burger menu at the Hard Rock Café, it was something I couldn’t pass up. 

Dirty Burger

I am a big fan of short menus, but Dirty Burger’s has to be the shortest I’ve ever seen in London.

With one item on the menu, cheeseburger and 2 sides, it could be the shortest menu ever. Gonna be hard to beat.

Burgers @ The Corner Bistro

I cannot remember who told me about the Corner Bistro, but whoever it was, I thank you.

The pub or bar looks nothing special on the outside but inside it is a tad dingy, and I like that, I have a thing for lived in places, I find them much more interesting than sanitised restaurants that sadly are becoming the norm these days.

Burgers Heaven @ Shake Shack

I am a devotee of Shake Shack and all they do. This for me is semi burger heaven, I wish we could have Shake Shack here in London, then I would be in heaven. I should be content with Byron or even Meat Liquor etc, but I’m not. I want Shake Shack and I want it now. I’m such a fan, I even follow them on instagram. Sad I know, maybe I should start up a “Bring Shake Shack to Blighty” campaign.

Burger and Lobster

I’m not sure if Burger and Lobster would have been possible a few years ago. Imagine a restaurant opening with only 2 things on the menu and both for the same price. Unthinkable. Just shows how far we have come I guess.

Burger Joint at Le Parker – A Revisit

I love this place, the trashy look of the joint adds to its appeal. The fact that it sits inside the upscale Le Parker Merdien Hotel is a true testament to the great burgers that they produce.

An Underwhelming Feeling @ Meat Liquor

To say we were underwhelmed by our first impression of Meat Liquor would be an understatement. After reading for such a long time about the God like status of the Meat Wagon in South London, I was expecting some really good stuff from the now stationary place in Marylebone.

Unfortunately we left with a feeling of “What is all the fuss about”. But on the other hand there were many plus points and really only a couple of negative things I have about the place. This are to get them out of the way now.

1. The lighting is too low and the menu is in such fine print that it is really very difficult to read. There is sometimes being cool is just not practical.
2. The hour wait for 2 burgers, fries and onions rings is taking the piss a bit. In Spanish they say “El Chef esta rascandose las pelotas” I think they were doing that here also. Although I hope not.

I understand that the reputation of the Meat Wagon was built around this long fabled wait, but really, it does not take an hour to cook a burger. I hope to god he sorts this out, otherwise people in this part of London are gonna get pissed off pretty quickly. Once they may let it slide, twice, they will be having second thoughts about returning. Anyhows onto the food. We ordered a cheese, bacon burger and a chilli burger, chilli fries and onion rings and 4 Meatjitos. I think we would have ordered some more food, but we had trouble reading the non readable menu over a small candle.

The burgers were good, but not the best I’ve had in London. That so far still goes to the Lucky Chip Burger Van close to Broadway Market. 

They were both were well cooked, but I don’t think they warrant the mythical status they have achieved in the London blogosphere. But then again after 2 hours of waiting for a burger, and drinking a lot of booze in between, its understandable that the food will taste unbelievable.

The chilli fries needed a bit more heat in the chilli, and a tad more seasoning. But thankfully they never contained beans. Phew. That would have sent me over the edge.

The onion rings were damn fine large fluffy rings of battered sweet onions. This is how an onion ring should be. Large, crispy on the outside with the sweet onion on the inside. I wish I’d had ordered more of these beauties. They were a delight.

The Meatjitos were served in jam jars and I kinda like that. Actually all the drinks we saw were served in these jars. They were a good balance of sweet from the sugar, sour from the lime and a knockout punch from the rum. Just how I like it.

If I could have read the menu in depth I would have ordered the House Grog as well. Reading it now it reads so well. Although I’m more keen on it because they say only 2 servings per person. May have to take them up on that next time.

The interior as I may have mentioned is dark. The interior designers have gone to town on the artwork. It resembles a 1980’s hard rock club, but without the filth and grime. The music is a good mix as well. I was particularly glad to hear Lemmy blaring out The Ace of Spades.

All in all Meat Liquor was a tad disappointing, but it had some plus points going for it. I will return to see if they were a one off, but if I have to wait an hour again for a burger then it will be shelved forever. C'mon guys sort it out. 

The Lucky Chip Burger Van

I am hoping we are on the verge of a revolution here in London. Food vans. Street food has come along with leaps and bounds in the last few years, but over the last 12 months it has jumped years into the future.

Going are the days of the cheap doner kebab vans, greasy bacon butties and bad and burnt burgers. Sad to say they are still around, just head out to any festival and you will see them, but a new breed of heroes are coming forward and showing us how it can be and should be done.

Even with all these new and exciting people selling their delights, we are still light years behind LA and New York. I read recently that no new street food licences are being issued in New York, and people are auctioning theirs for up to $70,000. Madness. But they have this tradition of food vans that we do not. Yet.

The newest guys on this rollercoaster ride of street food heaven here in London, are the Lucky Chip. This van is run by 2 friendly, cheery guys who serve up some of the best burgers I’ve tasted in a long while.

They say they use Ginger Pig meat in their burgers, but I overheard them saying the meat they were now using was holding together a lot better. So not sure if it’s from Ginger Pig now or not. But who cares, as it is bloody good.

After gazing at their short but sweet menu for an age, we both decided on the Sheen burger, a juicy fat patty with beer soaked onions, Philadelphia cheese, apple wood smoked bacon, cheddar and a lush garlic aioli. It was a monster of a burger, but oh so easily was it to eat.

The meat was well seasoned, cooked to a juicy perfection. The sweet onions mixed with the bacon and cheeses made a good change from my normal cheeseburger ordering.

Even though it was a big boy burger, there was a perfect ratio of meat to bread, unlike a few pubs in Stokie where there is so much meat the bread disappears in your hands.

The hand cut chips with a scattering of grated cheese were a true delight, which really sent me back to the Shake Shack in NYC.

I’ve not tried the Meat Wagon, so I cannot compare, but the thought of queuing up for 2 hours for anything is something I will not do. Even with a drink or two in hand.

The Lucky Chip burgers however, have been the best burgers I’ve had outside of New York, they were that good. But we are going to the next Burger Monday so we shall see.

However as these burgers were cooked in a food van in a small market in East London gives me joy for the future of street food here in London. Something that I hope to join in with something in the future. We’ll see.

A trio of Gastros, amongst flat hunting in Herne Hill

Our main reason for wanting to move is to basically save money. Living in Highbury is fantastic, but it sure weighs down heavy on the wallet.

We had heard a wicked rumour that south of the river was a whole lot cheaper, well in some areas it does turns out that way.

We’d been looking at places in and around Brixton, which is not quite as cheap as it used to be, well apart those really dodgy areas. We’d looked at a few places in Stockwell as well. Some lovely flats, really crap area though.

We were slowly making our way towards Herne Hill which we’d been before on a few occasions for parties, drinks, throwing up at the bus stop opposite the train station etc etc.

Herne Hill may be a little out of the way, but it is a lovely area, and we saw some great flats, although all the agents neglected to tell us they were all available now now, not at the end of March as we’d told them we wanted to move in by. Wasted days yet again.

Except we found The Prince Regent, The Florence and visited yet again the Commercial. 3 great pubs all within spitting distance of each other and would make living in Herne Hill so much easier.

The Prince Regent had the look of a real local boozer of old. It has been slightly renovated, but all the old fittings are still there, which gives it a real feel to the place. I especially love the original bar fittings, something you are seeing less and less of these days. It’s a shame really, but with so many boozers closing at a furious rate, I guess this is the only way they can stay open. To be Gastrofied.

We only had a few drinks here, but looking at the chalkboard menu and the food that was leaving the kitchen to the tables around us, all looked good. Very good indeed. I just wished we’d not had that meal in Brixton Market, as I wanted to try their food. Oh well another time.

Next on the list of possible local boozers was the Florence. This pub I could see myself getting very acquainted with, mainly because of the impressive list of beer on tap including a few made by the pub itself. Impressive, most impressive.

I also like the seating around the edge of the large bar, although they are a little bit too close. I really didn’t want to know about the problems that one of the girls on the table next door was having with her boyfriend. Me personally I would forgive him, and try to be a bit more understanding to his needs. But that’s just me, I’m not a bitch like her. The things we men have to put up with.

We weren’t particularly hungry, but we needed something to soak up the beer we were drinking, so we decided to share a burger and fries. It’s a tad annoying, as you cannot order at the bar, you have to wait for one of the girls to come around to take your order. But it was nice to get table service in a pub.

We ordered the 21 day aged steak burger and a portion of fries. It had been a while since I last had a burger and I needed my fix. Although I am not an addict like some other bloggers I could mention.

The burger took longer to come than it took us to eat it. We were hungrier than we thought. There is a point when I have drunk too much and my taste buds go to shit. Thankfully I was one beer before that stage, if I’d have waited another pint then I would not have been able to taste diddly.

But I wasn’t and I could still taste a tad, just. Nah, only joking. The burger was pretty damn tasty. The meat was well seasoned and even though I couldn’t fully taste the 21 day of aged steak, but it was a damn fine burger. Shame there was not enough of the mature cheddar to go around, or maybe Lina swagged it all when I went to get some more drinks. I wouldn’t put it passed her. You have to watch her sometimes.

For some reason we both felt this pub was more suited to a night time visit rather than an afternoon jaunt. But I want to return, not only for another burger, but to drink my way through their beer list. Love it.

The third boozer we visited for a swift pint in between flat visits was the Commercial.  We’ve been before and liked it back then, and always wanted to return and sample some of their offerings. We couldn’t eat anything on this occasion, which was a shame as the pub has a nice feel to it.

There are some nice comfy sofas and chairs and I could imagine sitting in them and quaffing on a few real ales, and munching on their Sunday Roast.

If we moved down this way then I reckon I’ll be sampling their grub on a regular basis. All we need to do now is find somewhere to live around here. Now that’s the challenge.

Homemade Burgers

I love burgers. There is something about a mound of minced beef, seasoned and either grilled, bar-b-q’d or fried, then slapped between two bits of bread, sauced up and then biten into it. It’s heaven. Pure heaven.

I’ve never been a big fan of the burgers from a certain well known chain with a pedo looking clown as its marketing piece. I used to have nightmares about that.

I was surprised that in the states their burgers are exactly like those chains we despise so much. But after tasting burgers from the Shake Shack and the Burger Joint, I realized we are doing it all wrong.

We use way too many fillings, sauces etc over here. I mean who wants or needs their burger dripping with some concoction of a sauce. That’s for ribs, not burgers. I want to be able to taste the meat, not swim to get a bite out of it.

I used to have to make the burgers for a while at Café Boheme. They were piss easy to do, and it’s still the way I make them today at home.

1. Take minced beef
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Weigh out to 150g
4. Mould into a burger shape. We used to do this with a lid from a large jar of black peppercorns
5. Cover and pop in the fridge for a while to set
6. Cook on the griddle until done. Medium rare is my preferred doneness
7. Pop between a toasted bun, pop in some sliced onion, a slice of tomato and enjoy

Sometimes now, I may add an extra seasoning like cumin powder or merquen (Chilean smoked pepper flakes), but that is generally about it. My mince normally comes pre ground from either HG Walter by Barons Court tube or the Ginger Pig. Both sell excellent meat, so I’ve never needed to experiment with buying different cuts of meat and then grinding it yourself. It would be interesting to try that though.

As I do not have a griddle, I am using a large frying pan to cook the burgers. It works very well. Just need to remember two things. Let it get smoking hot, and only oil the burger not the pan.

I cook them for a time on one side until they self-release, then flip them over and add a slice of cheese to the top, and as it finishes cooking the cheese slowly melts over the burger. I then pop it under the grill to melt a tad more then whack it between two buns.

The toppings all depend on how organized I am. Which at the moment is pretty much none of the time. But these could range form a slice of tomato and some onion. I like to sweat off onion slices until they are soft and starting to take on some colour, then I whack up the heat and fry them until they are a dark brown colour. Man they taste good on a burger.

Burgers done this way may not look like gourmet burger but they will taste a 100 times better than a certain kiwi chain I know of.

Happy eating. 

The All American Burger

No trip to New York would not be complete without sampling some good burgers. So after reading a few blogs and online guides to a few places, the choices were made.

The first was the Burger Joint @ Le Parker Meridien. It seemed strange at first, for a 5 star hotel to have a burger bar as one of its restaurants. But Americans do take their burgers very seriously it seems. They even have Burger Awards.

It’s situated down a dimly lit corridor behind the reception. It is one hell of a dirty little secret, but a great one. The entrance is hidden behind some heavy curtains, it’s only the illuminated burger sign that gives the game away. As you enter you’d believe it had been there for decades. Those interior designers have done a good job of creating that lived in greasy look.

The walls are covered in writing, made by patrons I believe. As there is a sign from the owners saying “ We Don’t Spit On Your Food, So Don’t Write On Our Walls”. Apt I thought. A few movie posters are scattered around as well. Some of the films I still haven’t watched. Shame. The vinyl booths add to the effect. All in all it looks great.

The food matches the surroundings. No, not greasy, beat up burgers, but well made, tasty, yummy ones. You could actually taste the meat. A rarity in meat these days, as producers seem to farm the taste out of beef these days. But these burgers had a good beefy taste. They were on the small side. But I guess from a nation that was brought up on fast food burgers (not going to name those chains), then these were the perfect size. The fries were fries really. But the chocolate milkshake was how milkshakes should be. Thick, chocolaty and great to drink.

It was pretty cheap (more expensive than a chain, I imagine), but the experience matched the food. Excellent.

The other joint we visited was the Shake Shack, which is situated outside in Madison Square Park. A good call in the summer, a bad one in the winter. Very bad. Thank the Lord for those outdoor ozone layer destroying heaters.

As with the Burger Joint, the burgers here were small but packed with flavour. Freshly cooked little patties of heaven. They are so good, they even won the fore mentioned Burger Award back in 2005.

The fries were pretty good, although the cheesy fries had a little too much cheese sauce. But all in all pretty damn good.

I’m sure on a spring or summer afternoon then this place would be packed but with the cold weather there were only a few die hards braving those icy winds.

We in England, well apart from those people who frequent those burger chains for their slice of America pie, would not pay £5 for a small burger even if it tastes of heaven. The good burgers I have found in London have been monsters and costing upwards of £10, as we don’t regard these small rounds of meat in quite the same way as the Americans do. For them it’s a  everyday lunch snack, something to keep them on the move in the same way we consume sandwiches.

To be honest I prefer the burgers I had stateside than the majority of the sandwiches I’ve had London side. But everything beats the hot dogs.