I got into a heated discussion this evening about burgers in Tokyo. I have yet to have one that can live up to Honest Burgers glory (see praise here, here and maybe here). Meanwhile, see Tokyo horror stories from Village Vanguard Diner and JS Burgers here.
So the challenge is on! First of all, time to clear my burger review backlog…
Blacows, Ebisu
This is one of the highly recommended burger places in Tokyo, always making top cut lists. Their website is full of alluring rhetoric of how much care they’ve put into everything in the burger. They don’t just put bacon in their burgers, they put bacon from “enzyme-fed Chiba Nadeshiko Pork, abundant in oelic acid which has been shown to have positive effects on beauty and health.”
Yes, they actually imply that eating their bacon will make you beautiful. I have rarely enjoyed a burger webpage so much… for the wrong reasons. This webpage didn’t invoke immediate salivation but more like grins of disbelief… Continue reading “Review: Blacows, Ebisu”
As a fairly popular contender on the burger scene, I visited Tommi’s Burger Joint on a friend’s recommendation last summer. Hailing from Iceland, it takes a stripped down, minimalist approach to the burger. Continue reading “Tommi’s Burger Joint, London”
Village Vanguard… that name might seem familiar. But you may have noticed the strategically placed word ‘diner’. This is apparently the foodie offshoot of the legendary variety goods store, Village Vanguard – we’ll return to that in a bit.
I could sit and type out my woes at lengths about Village Vanguard Diner, but I’ll be brief. It’s the kind of place that tries to rock that shabby surfer scene look, culminating in a rather dingy, depressing and gauche interior with jumbled American artifacts. Potentially, someone just has a great sense of humour and foresaw photos like this: Continue reading “Review: Village Vanguard Diner, Shimokitazawa; ヴィレッジ ヴァンガード ダイナー 下北沢”
One thing you can’t help but notice if you spend any length of time in Japan is the awareness of seasons and the seasonal food and products that come with it. Seasons seem to be set in Japan, regardless of the weather. For example, the swimming season runs from mid-July to the end of August, despite the fact that the sea is more than warm enough to allow swimming before and after this.
When it’s September, it ‘becomes’ autumn. This means a wilful ignorance of the up to 30°C temperatures outside and an excruciating amount of layers topped off with a thick scarf. For four amusing and accurate signs of autumn in Japan, refer to this article.
Patty & Bun Liverpool Street… looks a lot like P&B James Street
Warning! There are going to be a lot of BURGERS appearing on my blog on the next few posts. But burger off if you don’t like it!
The burger trend continues and Patty & Bun have *finally* got around to opening up a second branch…right opposite MacDonald’s.
Patty & Bun are well-established on the London burger scene with a branch on James Street, just near Bond Street. I first tried their Ari Gold burger at Feast at Tobacco Dock in March 2013. I found it a little vinegary due to the pickled onions, but I’ve been meaning to give them a second chance ever since.
To celebrate their Liverpool Street launch, they hosted a publicity event of spectacular proportions – not 100 free burgers, not 500 free burgers, but ONE THOUSAND FREE BURGERS were being given away.
Of course, the queues were ridiculous and my co-diners and I shuddered as we worked out the cost-time trade-off of queuing versus just going the next day and buying one. *ahem* Anyway….
We finally got there, ordered burgers to take away, and waited. We peered in the window…
Hard at work
and watched the production process…
The production process
… and checked out the sauces…
Their chilli sauce is A-MAZING
And then we got our food!
Ari Gold Cheeseburger – has to be one of the prettiest burgers out there
This is an Ari Gold Cheeseburger (£7.50) with bacon (+50p), salad, pickled onions, ketchup, and smokey P&B mayo served in a brioche bun. Doesn’t it look beautiful?
The consistency was beautiful, the bun held the patty well, and – although still messy – it was actually a lot easier to eat than a lot of burgers I’ve recently tucked into.
Ari Gold on the inside
The patty was without doubt the highlight. It was perfectly cooked – medium-rare – and was beefy and succulent. I would go as far to say that it was the most delicious burger patty that I’ve eaten!! <– Yes, everyone, please recover your jaws.
However, the tiny, tiny problem was that the accompaniments just don’t quite cut it. The pickled onions are just far too pickly and all of us picked some – if not all – of them out.
Then, the rosemary-salted chips (£2.50) were soggy and we all sighed wistfully at the thought of Honest Burgers’ (reviews here, here, here, and here. Feel free to laugh at me – I’m already aware I’m a fangirl).
Saying this, I really want to try their ‘Jose Jose’ chilli burger with chorizo (£8.50) and their ‘Winger Winger Chicken Dinner’ (£5.50), a pot of smoked confit wings with BBQ sauce & spring onions, sounds very interesting indeed.
For now, however, the jury is out… but I want their patties oh-so-much.
Patty and Bun 3/5 – Magnificent patty, mediocre chips and maliferous onions.
Website: http://pattyandbun.co.uk/ Where: Liverpool Street, London When: Mon – Wed 11.30am – 10pm; Thurs – Fri 11.30am – 11pm; Sat 11.30am – 9pm; Sun 11.30am – 6pm.
The BrewBurger – containing four different kinds of beer 🙂
It’s impossible to ignore the burger trend across London. To be honest, if you want to ignore it, you probably shouldn’t be reading this blog; I’ve done my best to consume as many burgers as possible in one giant burgery bonanza.
One of my favourite places for a burger in London is Honest Burgers. They’ve got a quality product pitched at the right price, and, as a result, their empire is expanding – expect the sixth branch to open near Oxford Circus later this year.
I fell in love when I first when I went to their Soho branch, and then had a passionate affair with their Christmas special, before drooling over their HOT February special. Their regular menu may only contain three different types of beefburger but their monthly specials really keep the romance alive.
Their latest offering has got me punch-drunk in love. For starters, it is possibly the first burger ever to require an ID to order it.
Honest Burgers have taken things to a new level this March and have collaborated with the awesome BrewDog. BrewDog is a Scottish craft beer company that is taking over the world with quality beer and their very own chain of bars, stretching from Shoreditch all the way to São Paulo! (Japan fangirl squeal: And they’re also in Roppongi in the expat area of Tokyo!) Even if you’re not a beer fan, you have to love BrewdDog because they took on Putin’s homophobia and produced the world’s only beer that’s definitely, absolutely and certainly not for gays – the Hello, My Name Is Vladimir!
Hello, my name is Vladimir and I am zuper hetero!
Hello, my name is Vladimir. I am a beer for uber hetero men who ride horses while topless and carrying knives. I am a beer to mark the 2014 Winter Olympics. But I am not for gays. Love wrestling burly men on the Judo mat or fishing in your Speedos? Then this is the beer for you!
I think they’ve got their sales pitch spot on, don’t you? Now onto the BrewBurger itself….
Pervy close-up
This is one incredibly boozy beefy treat: it’s a 150g aged beef patty with Comté cheese and bacon candied with BrewDog’s amber ale, 5AM Saint. It’s then topped with beef dripping and beer fried onions using BrewDog’s flagship Punk IPA and a BBQ reduction made from BrewDog’s Paradox cask-aged Imperial Stout. And, just in case that wasn’t beery enough for you, it’s served with Bourbon Baby, a 5.8% barrel-aged baby scotch ale that Brewdog created just for this collaboration. All this for £15.
More photos make it more real
Oh….this was a beery burgery beauty. For me, the bacon got a little subsumed by the other flavours but those beer-fried onions were fantastic. All of this, of course, comes with Honest Burgers rosemary-salted chips. After a BrewBurger, you will wake up seriously thirsty but smugly satisfied.
Get yourself along to a branch of Honest Burgers before April 2nd. And don’t forget your ID!
Beef, smoked Applewood cheddar, the Ribman’s ‘Christ On A Bike’ sauce, smoked bacon, griddled courgette and lettuce
Yes, I hear you. I’m fully aware that I am a huge Honest Burgers fangirl. I’m clearly not the only one, though. A legion of loyal London supporters have led them to expand their brand from their humble beginnings in Brixton Village to Soho, Camden, Portobello Road and King’s Cross, with a sixth branch opening near Oxford Circus later this year. They use Ginger Pig meat – which is enough to earn the trust of any sceptic – and they keep the menu simple: three burgers, one chicken burger and a veggie fritter.
Does that a little monotonous? Fear not! Firstly, I would be shocked by anyone who got bored of their delicious burgers with rosemary-salted chips. Secondly, they have a magical, rotating special every month!! I got a wee bit excited about their Christmas special of deep-fried Camembert with cranberry sauce, and may or may not have eaten it three times.
In the nick of time, I have just tried their February special and it is also worth raving about: beef, Applewood smoked cheddar, The Rib Man’s ‘Christ on a Bike’ hot sauce, smoked bacon, griddled courgette and lettuce.
For those of you unfamiliar with The Rib Man, you can find him around London serving up the most delicious ribmeat that looks like this (which will be in Honest Burgers’ April special eeeeeeee!!):
Rib Man bun
He is s0mewhat (in)famous for his hot sauces, particularly their creative names. Their names mean business. Their names may also cause minor embarrassment when ordering.
Me in Honest Burgers: Is Christ on a Bike hotter than Holy Fuck?
Waitress: Pardon?
As it turns out, the answer to my question is the affirmative. The waitress advised me to order the sauce on the side because she”d ‘seen people cry’. However, I must have become some kind of spice fiend and not only did I smother my burger wutg what surely must be one of the tastiest chilli sauces I have ever tried, but I asked for an extra pot and downed half a shot. The burger itself is a master of taste perfection – the courgette is absolutely perfect with the sauce.
Swallowing Christ on a Bike
You have until Friday, February 28th to try this god. After that, there is another deity – a collaboration with BrewDog, which sees the world’s first burger that requires ID to purchase it! Tomorrow, I get a sneak previewtaste – watch this space 😉
The past 24 hours have been tough. Very tough indeed. I may have reached my foodie limit. For I have consumed two very large, heavy burgers along with some not insubstantial other meals and some luxury gelato. I type this having awakened from a burger-induced slumber, although I’m struggling to reach the keyboard as my burger-belly is making tucking the chair in very difficult.
Oh, all right – I give in! I LOVE burgers and there’s no such thing as too many! It was an awesome 24 hours…or 18 hours to be more precise!
Lucky Chip’s Jesse Pinkman Burger
It started with an adventure on Friday night to visit Lucky Chip, who are somewhat legendary on the London burger scene and are currently residing in the Sebright Arms in Bethnal Green. They recently caused quite a stir with a Breaking Bad menu. Check out what they were ‘cooking up’ – sounds enough to make any foodie high.
One item proved rather popular that they injected a new lease of life into it by making it a special for this week – the Jesse Pinkman burger (£9.50). So if this inspiring chap…
…were to order a burger, he’d order this:
No, that’s not ketchup.
What is that, you ask? This is a burger with PEANUT BUTTER and JAM (yes Americans, it will never be jelly to us). But it doesn’t stop there. It has the classic accompaniments of bacon and cheese, and some seriously hot red chillies.
What did it taste like? Well, to be honest, as weird as it sounds. The jam had almost no flavour at all, which meant that this burger was a complete salt-fest. I mean, it contains peanut butter and cheese and bacon – how could it not be salty? Still, I did love confusing my tongue; what’s that motto – try everything once?!
Beetroot-flavoured onion ringsChips with sweet chilli and wasabi mayonnaise
We also had some beetroot-flavoured onion rings (£4), which were not very beetrooty and disappointingly soggy, but Lucky Chip need to be commended for their chips with sweet chilli dip and wasabi mayonnaise (£4). Particularly the wasabi mayonnaise. This is a very good thing. Unlike wasabi ice-cream, which I recently bought from the Japan Centre, and which was just jarringly wrong.
Will definitely be back to give Lucky Chip another try – watch this space for a review of their normal burgers!
I think this is the epitome of the term ‘food porn’
For a much more palatable burger, I highly recommend Honest Burgers’ Christmas special, which I sampled at their Camden Lock branch. This is a juicy patty made from Ginger Pig beef (food snobs, you know what I mean), with deep-fried Camembert, cranberry sauce, smoked bacon and rocket, served with their legendary rosemary chips (£11).
When served to me, the waiter told me very proudly how it was best to squash the burger down so the very hot, gooey Camembert cheese coated the whole burger in its beautiful, cheesy goodness. This man was not wrong. What a frickin’ genius burger idea. I find Camembert quite strong but who can resist it when deep fried? With cranberry sauce? If I had to be picky, I could’ve done with a tad more cranberry sauce. But this honestly was a delight.
Honest Burgers are expanding their burgery empire and can now be found in four locations: Brixton, Soho, Camden and Portobello. Check their website for details.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, London has finally got its act together so good quality street food is no longer found at the fringes of one’s dreams but has become an easily accessible actuality. Following this trend is the Urban Food Festival just off Shoreditch High Street. (You’ll have to be quick to catch it though – the last one of these gastronomic gauntlets is TONIGHT- Saturday October 12th.)
The crowd
In the crowded space that is Euro Car Parks, street food trucks and stalls present a vast array of global cuisines from Korean to Mexican, from Argentinian to Indian, with a bar, some music and dash of street art thrown in for good measure. What’s brilliant about these kind of events is that they shift the rather heavy emphasis on alcohol in British culture to a more well-rounded evening where alcohol is somewhat secondary to the shift on food. Social points are earned by how many different dishes you manage to cram in, or whether you’re brave enough to sample the ‘gator balls’ from Geaux Cajun (not testicles as we’ve been assured). All in all, Urban Food Fest makes for a fun, foodie evening.
As for the food, one must expect THE trendiest dishes in town, given that the market is in Shoreditch. It was with little surprise, then, that we encountered croughnuts (croissant-doughnut hybrids) and ramen burgers that have recently spread across the pond from New York.
Here’s just a few of the amazing traders my (very hungry) dining partner and I got to try!
Ramen, the popular Japanese noodle dish, is very trendy in the West. Burgers are also a big food fad of the moment. So what should we do? COMBINE THEM.
Ramen burgerRice Burger
The Galbi Brothers – who met whilst producing Gangnam Style parody, London Style – serve up ramen burgers (£6) with Korean BBQ maintated beef and, of course, kimchi. However, they’ve gone one step further and created a rice burger. Both are worth trying, as they offer very different textures and allow different flavours of the ingredients to come through. Personally, I felt the rice burger went best with the beef, but I think the ramen burger would go really well with a pork burger as food writer MiMi cooked up here.
Everyone likes pizza, but Streetzza takes it to a whole new level of total awesomeness. How about pizza fresh from a wood fire oven in the back of a converted horse box… covered in street art? Yes, that’s right! The Streetzza van is actually a green and pink monster truck featuring art from SweetToof and Ronzo. A feat of engineering, it took owner Hubertus a couple of months to build. Temperatures reach 500°C inside but the outside remains completely cool.
Hubertus has been making pizza for 10 years, inspired by his Corsican family. This means very thin, crispy pizza crust and a lot of deliciousness. After he finishes making pizza, he often throws a joint of pork into the oven and slow cooks it for an extra – and very tender – topping. There are plans for some amazing Christmas dinners at the end of this year, so keep your eyes peeled.
Into the ovenIn the ovenTADAH! Chorizo and jalapeno pizza. Om nom nom.
Inspired by helping Petra, founder of street market Kerb, with a chocolate van, Simon Luard saved up £10K to open his very own Mexican street van. Things didn’t quite go as expected on his first day of trading – he’d installed a chargrill that led to smoke so thick that people tried to call the fire brigade! Fortunately, he didn’t ruin the van or his lungs as, six years on, Luardos is a bit of a Mexican street food legend on the London scene. Expect dangerously lush burritos. Muy rico indeed.
I’m having a love affair with their brownies. The salted caramel brownies are so gooey and rich that I practically drank them out of the paper bag and I am shuddering with pleasure just from the memory. For something really unusual, try their Lemon Meringue Blondies.
The Crumbery team, Vincent and Callie, with some crumbnuts (croughnuts) in the foreground
The sweet treats from The Crumbery will also change your life. Vincent Josse is a French trained pastry chef and thrives on the creativity that The Crumbery provides. There macaroons are otherworldly. How exciting can macaroons be, you might ask. The answer is very, very exciting. How about Lychee, Raspberry and Rose? Or Peanut Butter and Jelly? Or Cream Cheese and Rosewater? I hear a Wasabi and Grapefruit is in the pipeline too! The flavours are beautifully executed as is the presentation; they are truly works of art.
So pretty
The Crumbery began with making artisan chocolates before expanding. Currently based in Kent, they’re hoping to open a store in London very soon. They’re super-hip too as they have their version of cronuts – Crumbnuts. The pastry/dough is, as would be expected, amazingly light.
Tom likes disco and burgers, so you’re guaranteed two things when you visit Burger Bear Tom: music and some really good burgers. What’s more, he has concocted a sweet, morerish bacon jam that is really worth ordering and that you can also take home for £5 a jar. Not only are the burgers juicy and the condiments well-balanced, but ordering can be a lot of fun. Ask for Grizzly Bear. Or an Angry Bear. Or ask for a Greedy Bear (double patty) and make it Angry with the Ribman’s famous Holy Fuck sauce.
Pheebz Eatz 