About Time: You Celebrated National Burger DayBy Alicia Grimshaw
It’s National Burger Day today (25th), and I’ll be honest with you – it’s the only national day I really care about. Why? Because it’s a chance to sample incredible burgers from London’s best restaurants and street-food vendors. I’m never one to turn down red meat and lashing of homemade sauce. Don’t worry if you haven’t secured tickets to Streetfeast’s burger bash at Hawker House, you can join the waiting list for tickets here. Alternatively, you can celebrate National Burger Day with an exclusive 20% discount at over 800 restaurants across the UK, including Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Bill’s, Shake Shack, Dirty Burger, STK and Patty & Bun. Take your pick and download your voucher here.
If you’re struggling to narrow down your burger choices, we’ve handpicked the best burger stands from the NBD line-up, so you can enjoy a burger any day of the year. We didn’t choose the burger life, the burger life chose us:
1. For a Simple Burger: Honest Burger
Order: Honest Burger – beef, red onion relish and lettuce (£8.50)
The Lowdown: Honest Burger have hit the big time with their meaty creations. The burgers here are simple, tasty and well, honest. The easy to navigate menu features a small selection of burgers, using only the finest British produce and that aren’t ruined by unnecessary toppings. All of their burgers are served with a generous portion of rosemary salted chips which are sensational. For an extra quid go wild and order the chipotle mayo, it’s bloomin’ good. Bacon, cheese and relish – it’s everything we want from a burger. Sometimes, it’s good to keep things classic.
Where: Locations here
2. For a Cheese Burger: Bleecker St. Burger
Order: Double cheeseburger (£9)
The Lowdown: After getting hooked on the burger scene Stateside, Zan Kaufman set up Bleecker St. in 2012 with the aim of dishing up some of the best burgers in London. And, we can confirm that the burgers at Bleecker St. put other to shame. To shame, people. They use rare-breed, pasture-fed beef that has been dry-aged for about forty to fifty days, to give a rich, intense flavour. The double cheeseburger is a nod to the simple pleasures in life – the burgers here are lovingly cooked and well crafted with the end product, an outstanding burger. The beef is juicy, tender and melts in the mouth.
Where: Locations here
3. For a Mixed Meat Burger: Bill or Beak
Order: Bill – slowly braised duck and pork in a Vietnamese dressing, topped with spring onions, coriander, mint and tempura shallots.
The Lowdown: After finishing university and a stint working abroad, Lucy and Josh decided to take on the London street-food scene with their burger stall: Bill or Beak. The combination of pulled duck and pork, along with different sauces has earned these guys a legion of fans. There’s good reason why people queue up to get their hands on these burgers, it’s a mouthful of flavours that work so well together. This Vietnamese style burger makes a change from your regular patty. What really works in this burger is the mixture of both duck and pork – it’s a stella combination with the rich duck matched well with the smokey flavours of the braised pork.
Where: Locations here
4. For a Saucy Burger: Dip and Flip
Order: Dip & Flip Burger – cheeseburger with sliced roast beef or lamb, dunked in gravy. Served with ketchup, mustard, pickles and slaw (£9.95)
The Lowdown: Opened in 2013, Dip & Flip concentrate on two things: great gravy and meat packed sandwiches. Eaten alone are great, eaten together taste even better. Their burgers are a good solid choice for dinner, but for something with extra pizzazz, dip that burger in gravy and you’re onto a winner. All of their burgers are cooked on an American chrome flat grill to give an added smokey flavour that we really like. If you’re still wanting more gravy, they serve their chips topped with cheese, gravy, crispy bacon and green chilli. You’ll be rolling home at this rate.
Where: Locations here
5. For a Bacon Burger: Mother Flipper
Order: Bacon Swiss Burger – beef patty with Swiss these, candied bacon and crispy onions
The Lowdown: No list worth its red meat would miss out Mother Flipper. This street-food favourite has a cult following thanks to some tasty combinations, such as the mushroom swiss flipper and the bacon candied burger. Since becoming a regular fixture at Brockley Market, the chaps at Mother Flipper have been feeding the masses with their unbelievable burgers. Each of their burgers come in a shiny demi Brioche bun and come with some knock-out condiments like pepper jack cheese and even their own special sauce. Make sure you try the candy bacon, it’s out of this world.
Where: Brockley Market on Saturday 10am-2pm and Streetfeast’s Model Market
6. For a Crowd-Pleasing Burger: Lucky Chip
Order: El Chappo – aged beef patty, smoked bacon, roasted jalapenos, blue cheese and aioli (£9.50)
The Lowdown: We first stumbled across The Lucky Chip on a boozy Saturday afternoon last summer down at The Queen’s Head. From then, we’ve never looked back. Here, expect quirky flavours like the duck, veal and marrow patty with foie gras or the Royale with cheese with their home-made special sauce. Glance around the place and you’ll see people nodding in appreciation towards these exceptional burgers, before inhaling another bite. Who needs knives and forks when you have fingers and hands. Their first brick and mortar site in Dalston is a must for any burger enthusiast. And by gosh, does the El Chappo burger deliver on taste. Smashing.
Where: 25 Ridley Rd, London E8 2NP
7. For a Spicy Burger: Chuck Burger
Order: Spicy Devil Burger – 28-day aged chuck steak patty topped with charred jalapenos, American cheese, grilled red onions, sriracha mayo, and a green jalapeño sauce (£8.50)
The Lowdown: Hotbox, the BBQ kings of Shoreditch are behind new burger joint, Chuck Burger. Having served its signature burger from a converted Chevy Step Van at Street Feast’s Hawker House since October 2015, Chuck Burger has brought a permanent burger fix to East London. Inspired by founder Basit Nasim’s travels across America, the menu has been developed over time, guided by his favourite recipes from across the pond but using the freshest British ingredients. As well as the classic cheeseburger and bacon cheeseburger, Chuck’s standout signature spicy Devil Burger is insane.
Where: 4 Commercial Street, London, E1 7PT
8. For a Vension Burger: Mac and Wild
Order: Veni-Moo – beef patty, venison patty, cheese, béarnaise and caramelised onions (£10)
The Lowdown: Last autumn Mac and Wild restaurant launched on Great Titchfield Street, brought to London by street food sensations The Wild Game Co. Now at WGCs first permanent home, the menu takes you on a journey to the Scottish highlands, with the finest wild venison, game and seafood. Andy and his tartan team has brought venison to the masses with their vein-moo burger (pay an extra £1.70 for some bacon – trust us), venison tartare and venison chateaubriand. All of their meat is sourced and then butchered with care by Andy’s family game-butchering business, which has been in existence for over 30 years. This is a place for meat lovers to bask in all the sweet protein and red meat goodness.
Where: 65 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PS
9. For All the Burgers: Burgerac’s Burgershack
Order: El Chappo – beef patty, Keen’s cheddar, smoke bacon, chipotle burger sauce and lettuce (£9.50)
The Lowdown: Take one burger enthusiast, and throw in lovingly researched recipes, homemade sauces, pickles and hand pressed burgers, and you end up with Burgerac’s Burgershack. Burgerac is a self-proclaimed burger detective, who’s eaten his way through some of London’s best burger offerings. Based on his preferences and a lot of eating, the menu at Burgerac’s Burgershack contains a medley of cheeseburgers, hamburgers and the epic, hubba hubba – a stomach busting 2 x 3ox mustard smashed patties, American cheese, pickles and chipotle burger sauce in a fluffy white bun.
Where: Locations here
10. For a Truffle Burger: Le Bun
Order: Le Truffle Double Double – two aged brisket and chuck patties, truffled veal jam, truffle mayo, american cheese in a brioche bun
The Lowdown: Le Bun are known for giving iconic French ingredients the American diner treatment, serving ingenious twists on familiar dishes. The chaps here push the burger boundaries and create burgers with incredible flavours. The le truffle double double is one hell of a burger and not to be eaten if you’re only slightly peckish. The truffled veal jam is the perfect marriage of flavours – slightly garlicky with subtle hint of veal. They recently teamed up with milkshake making pop-star sensation, Kelis. If it’s good enough for Kelis, it’s good enough for us.
Where: They currently don’t have a permanent site – but we can dream, right? Check their Facebook to find out where they’ll be popping up next.
