Back in Black: The Bleecker Street Black Burger

Without actually looking on the internet to find out, I must admit that I'm not actually sure what a bleecker is. Some street in New York, perhaps? Maybe it's a state of mind. Or something sports related - the US often give us strange sporting terms. What I do know that it lends its peculiar moniker to a very well regarded burger producer whose name regularly crops up at the business end of 'top ten' burger lists. As such they have been high up on my 'must try' list for some time, so when I was passing Liverpool Street the other day I felt that I simply had to stop by.

Spitalfields, thankfully, isn't far from the main drag, being located a short distance up a side road. The market was closing by the time I got there so the only real activity was from stallholders packing away their wares. Bleecker Street is on one of the side 'arms' of the market, with some handy tables in front and a chinese noodle dispensary to one side, their shop front resplendent in chrome silver and black. There was one main thing I wanted to try from here, and that was their 'Black' burger, a double cheeseburger with black pudding. Being hungrier than the proverbial wolf, I parted with fourteen notes for the burger and a portion of 'Angry Fries' and leaned back on the counter, idly watching the chef as he fried up my order. 

The burger was produced quickly enough considering they cooked a batch of fries especially for me, and interestingly came cut in half. I attacked the burger first, it was a monolith of meat and cheese - no fripperies such as salad were included here - and was presented in a sesame bun. The meat was on the red side of medium rare but that's no problem with me, and the smell was divine. So far, so good....

The proof of a burger isn't in the look or smell though, it's in the eating. And boy, this one didn't disappoint. The meat was beautifully tender and soft with a hint of pepper, the cheese oozing in to each bite with a slight creaminess and the black pudding weighing in with its rather distinctive taste. I was slightly apprehensive when ordering this as it would have been easy to overload the burger and make the black pudding dominant but instead it was a supporting act, complementing that wonderful burger patty. This was a tour de force in burgerology (that's certainly a made up word) and even after finishing the burger I was hankering for another despite feeling full up!

A quick word of praise, too, for the angry fries, a generous portion of crisp fries coated in both hot and blue cheese sauces, the sauces worked really well together and my only comment would be that I could have done with more sauce!

Bleecker Street have locations in Spitalfields, Canary Wharf and the South Bank. Go and find one, and if you like black pudding*, make it a black. It'll be the best burger you've had for a long time. 

Bleecker Street Black: 9.25

*If you don't like black pudding, on the strength of the burger alone have a cheeseburger!


The Details:

Bleecker Street
Old Spitalfields Market
Unit B SP4
London
E1 6EA

https://bleeckerburger.co.uk/

Burger reviewed: Bleecker Black, £10

HVNP Burger Rankings (Jan 4th) :

1. Bleecker Street | Black | 9.25
2. Patty & Bun | Ari Gold | 9.00
3. Lucky Chip | Royale with Cheese | 7.5

4. Byron | Father Cheesemas | 7.25