Eat This: Chuku’s x Honest Burgers’ NIGERIA burgerBy Alicia Grimshaw
Rumour has it wherever you stand in a major city in the UK you are no more than 6ft from a chain burger restaurant. While that may sound like some shade, there’s undoubtedly a time and a place for a burger – whether you’re looking for a boujee affair or just a classic 99p hockey puck in a bun. Needless to say, there’s a lot of competition in this field, which is why it’s so commendable that Honest Burgers have carved such a glorious niche on the scene.
Honest have kept on top, not only because of its stunning menu staples (without doubt the best vegan burgers on the market), but also through its forward-thinking collaborations and specials, keeping a finger on the pulse culturally. Last year we raved about Honest’s gloriously cheesy collaboration with Boursin, and now it was a time for a trip to Africa, partnering with Chuku’s for the NIGERIAN Burger.
Chuku’s is a Tottenham based family-run restaurant known across the capital for its acclaimed ‘Nigerian Tapas’, bringing the flavours of Lagos to the people in an accessible and flavoursome way. It comes as no surprise then that the burger is a thing of beauty; a collection of incredible elements coming together to form one of the most exciting, gloriously messy meals we’ve had in a while. If food is meant to take you on a journey, this burger is the epitome of that.
The burger isn’t just your standard patty, salad and sauce affair. We’re talking about an Honest beef patty topped with Fanta-candied bacon (it’s glossy, sticky and deliciously caramelised), cheddar, plantain crisps (that added crunch goes down a storm), Chuku’s spicy mayo, red onion, spinach and pickles, and lastly, the star of the show: Chuku’s Jollof sauce. Our waitress waxed lyrical about this Jollof sauce (a staff favourite in the Brighton branch), and for good reason. Taking one of Nigeria’s staple dishes and turning it into a Nigerian-style tomato sauce, it’s seasoned with pimento peppers, onion, ginger, garlic, dried thyme and curry powder – plus a few other top-secret ingredients – to make a relish that should be bottled and sold immediately. Packing a generous heat, but not so much it overpowers all the other ingredients, this condiment offers a first-class ticket to flavour town (or in this case, Lagos).
The NIGERIA is available at all Honest Burgers sites until 1st November, via click and collect and Deliveroo. See Honest locations here.
