For the love of Gravy: Getting Messy at Dip & Flip

Back in the days when I lived in the wilds of Essex (aka Southend), I used to watch Man v Food a lot - this was largely because my housemate was pretty much addicted to it, but it also held a sort of morbid fascination for me. Why would you eat so much? I know it's tasty, but surely stuffing yourself to the point where you feel sick would just spoil the meal! I'm going to gloss over the fact that I've done a few of these challenges in my time though, as that is the story for another day and I'm rambling. One of my favourite things about the show was watching Adam Richman visit the best of the local eateries and try their food. It made me very hungry and ever since I have wanted to go to the US and visit some of these places.

In one show, they went to Brooklyn, where there was a sandwich bar which served beef sandwiches dipped in gravy. The whole sandwich, including bread. Dipped in gravy. Gravy everywhere. Oh my god it sounded good. That alone made me want to visit the US but I've never really had the chance since.

Fast forward a few years and I'm looking through a list on Time Out of the best burgers when something jumps out at me - a picture of a burger, dripping with gravy, alongside a little dish of gravy. My mind went straight back to that episode of MvF and I resolved to visit as soon as possible.

Sadly though, Dip and Flip - the purveyors of this gravy-soaked treat - only have locations in South London and I never go there as it's a pain in the arse to get to. So it's stayed on my 'most wanted' list for months, and then suddenly I was going to a gin festival just up the road... opportunity knocked, so I didn't let this chance pass and headed up to Brixton early to get my burger fix.

The main thing I was worried about was expectation. Expectation can colour your opinion, either you are overly critical of its faults because you were expecting too much or you can be too forgiving as you were so excited to finally try it. So I tried as best as I could to banish my preconceptions and judge it on the same criteria as I have judged all my burger jaunts so far.

It was half past three on a warm Saturday afternoon and the restaurant wasn't busy, which made me happy as it means a more relaxing experience. I was shown to a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant and once handed the menu it was easy to make a choice... Dip & Flip are not just a burger restaurant - indeed, there were more options for sandwiches than burgers. This did actually make my choice hard as pretty much everything sounded awesome but I stayed true to my burger mission and ordered the Dip & Flip burger with beef alongside a portion of fries which looked like they came with everything in the world on them. The anticipation grew...

It didn't take too long for the food to arrive, although by then I had fully consumed my beer (it was hot, and for some bizarre reason I had decided to wear a hoodie. Why do I do these things?!) Any thoughts of thirst were banished, though, when I saw that inviting pool of gravy and a burger which was oozing cheese and gravy. This looked messy, but smelled absolutely amazing. I took the first bite without dipping the burger so I could taste it without it being swamped in beef juice and it was superb, the patty well seasoned yet almost melting in the mouth, with a slight creaminess from the cheese and then there was the extra slices of beef on top, which were tender and juicy. This burger was basically meat squared. The next bite came with a dip in its little dish of gravy and this is probably what jumped it up to the top of the rankings, that gravy had amazing flavour, intensely beefy. They hadn't skimped on it either and there was more than enough to ensure each bite of the burger was preceded by another dunk. I forgot all about the side of fries and machined through the burger first (a rarity for me!) which just shows how good it was. (The fries, incidentally, were spot on: fluffy, with lashings of cheese, bacon chillis and that wonderful gravy. The perfect accompaniment although I felt somewhat fat after eating them!)

I don't think I can enthuse enough about this burger - and I don't want to go too over the top but this is by a whisker the best burger I've had. Without the gravy it'd be top-two material but that rich pot raises it above and beyond and to the top. Try this burger. Go to Brixton especially if you have to. It's worth it!

Dip & Flip Burger: 9.50
The Details:

Dip & Flip
64-68 Atlantic Road

London
SW9 8PY

www.http://dipandflip.co.uk/

Burger reviewed: Dip & Flip Burger, £9.95

HVNP Burger Rankings (July 15th) :

1. Dip & Flip | Dip & Flip Burger | 9.50

2. Bleecker Street | Black | 9.25
3. Patty & Bun | Ari Gold | 9.00

4. BRGR.Co | Hanger Steak Stilton Brgr | 8.75
5. Honest Burger | Bacon Tribute | 8.50

6. Dirty Burger | Dirty Bacon | 8.25

7. Lucky Chip | Royale with Cheese | 7.5

=8. Byron | Chilli | 7.25

=8. Byron | Father Cheesemas | 7.25

=8. GBK | The Don | 7.25

11. Burger & Lobster | Cheeseburger | 6.50

12. Shake Shack | ShackMeister | 4.00

Shake it Up Baby: Shake Shack Flatters to Decieve

Sometimes, you just need a burger. I encountered one of these moments while I was negotiating the crowded and depressing expanse otherwise known as Westfield Stratford City. Westfield is a place of lost souls and if I spend more than a few minutes within its yawning bowels I get all out of sorts so a burger was required to set me straight before I headed home. Westfield isn't great for burger joints, there being just two: GBK and recent American chain arrival Shake Shack. Although I have not exactly heard heaps of praise for Shake Shack before, some blogs rate them so I elected to see for myself whether they can fry up a good patty.

The venue itself was quite big, but strangely empty considering it was half past twelve on a Saturday afternoon, there being a smattering of people waiting on the large expanse of bench seating to the left of the counter. The menu wasn't overloaded with choices but sometimes that's a good thing if they can do the simple things right. I don't trust Americans with bacon so I went for the ShackMeister, which was a cheeseburger with "shack sauce" and crispy beer-cooked shallots.

I was sent to the seating area to wait, and they gave me one of those curious things that vibrates when your order is ready - that was surely a bit of overkill considering there were about nine people in the restaurant and half of them were already eating! Nevertheless it gave me a chance to google some reviews of them online and before I knew it the little plastic thing was buzzing and the burger arrived.

For the second time in two days I was suprised by a burger's size, but unlike the previous day's Dirty Burger, this one did not make up for it in thickness, I thought the patty to be rather sadly small. The bun wasn't particularly special either, just a normal sesame seed affair, and rather dry to boot. I don't mind a seeded bun (in fact I quite like them - they certainly makes a change from the proliferation of brioche buns we get these days) but you need a decent burger to be contained within it... and this wasn't. I might have suspected that it would not be great when the chap behind the counter didn't ask me how I would like it cooked but it was the most well-cooked burger I've had from a dedicated burger joint. No juiciness and melt-in-the-mouth texture here, just fairly dry and a little tough, and coupled with the under-par and dry bun it didn't exactly make my mouth sing with pleasure. The cheese was plasticky, like those supermarket cheese slices often seen at barbecues,and the shallots were a bit stringy and I certainly couldn't taste any of the beer that they had allegedly been cooked in. The 'shack sauce' was either used so sparingly it was hardly there or it was just plain tasteless. Either way I was totally unimpressed and it was more of a waste of money than the £20 effort from Burger and Lobster. At least that one was nice.

I've eaten a lot of burgers in my time and despite my criticism above this was nowhere near the worst, the problem I have is that when you spend over six pounds on a burger alone it should be pretty damn good, and not just barely a step above a McDonald's cheeseburger. If you gave me the option of a Big Mac, a Whopper or a ShackMeister then I would choose one of the two big chain burgers and that pretty much says it all. Maybe Shake Shack are better at milkshakes....





Shake Shack ShackMeister: 4
The Details:

Shake Shack
124-125 The Street
Westfield Stratford City
London
E20 1EN



Burger reviewed: ShackMeister, £6.50

HVNP Burger Rankings (May 14th) :

1. Bleecker Street | Black | 9.25
2. Patty & Bun | Ari Gold | 9.00
3. Honest Burger | Bacon Tribute 8.50

4. Dirty Burger | Dirty Bacon 8.25

5. Lucky Chip | Royale with Cheese | 7.5

=6. Byron | Chilli 7.25

=6. Byron | Father Cheesemas | 7.25

=6. GBK | The Don | 7.25

9. Burger & Lobster | Cheeseburger 6.50
10. Shake Shack | ShackMeister 4.00

What's in a Name? Living up to the Moniker of Dirty Burger

Well, it's been awhile. After changing job, things got a little busy and while I have had things to talk about, I just haven't got around to posting anything new on here, and the longer I left it, the more I pushed HvNP to the back of my mind. But with the onset of June and summer, I think it's time to jump back on the blog wagon and to kick things back off, I've got my favourite kind of post: a burger review.

It was one of those nights where I had gone out randomly for a "few" beers, and anticipating a bit of a drink up, a burger was needed. Being in Shoreditch, the only choice was the intriguingly named Dirty Burger, a pop-up gone permanent just up the road from BrewDog. The venue wasn't exactly big and my immediate comparison would be to Patty & Bun at Liverpool Street, although in Dirty Burger the decor was wood-trimmed like a log shack and there was a large central table that was absent in P&B, the latter having seating only at the edges. Nevertheless, there was room to sit so I ordered a Dirty Bacon and sat down to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Now, I'm used to waiting at burger joints in London, the burger joints I frequent are not really fast food despite the image burgers have garnered. But we waited for over twenty minutes for our food despite there not being many people around and several people arrived after us getting their food before. I think they forgot about our order but the mumbling apology didn't endear the place to me I must say.

Nevertheless, I always aim to concentrate on the qualities of the burger rather than the overall experience so I won't dwell too much on the tardiness of the service. Eventually the burgers did turn up and we tucked in with gusto.
My first impression was that it was a bit small - I can't remember how many ounces in weight the burger was supposed to be but I was rueing not taking the 'extra patty' option. The patty was well seasoned and tender, having that melt in the mouth quality that I rate so highly in a burger. It was also quite juicy, which many people might baulk at yet I find quite satisfying - and also apt considering the name of the venue. The sauce was interesting - a bit like burger sauce but with a lot less mayo - and was an effective accompaniment, highlighting the qualities of the meat without riding roughshod over it. A quick word, too, for the bacon, which was nice and meaty. Burger bacon should not be of the thin and crispy variety in my opinion (Yes, yes I know I say that all the time; and I'm going to continue saying it until people listen!). Overall, it was a very tasty burger and DB let the meat be the star rather than buckle under the temptation to overload it with extra flavours. Keep it simple, and it works. It's not a world beater, but it's bloody nice. 

Dirty Burger Dirty Bacon: 8.25

The Details:

Dirty Burger
13 Bethnal Green Road
London
E1 6LA

www.eatdirtyburger.com

Burger reviewed: Dirty Bacon, £8

HVNP Burger Rankings (May 13th) :

1. Bleecker Street | Black | 9.25
2. Patty & Bun | Ari Gold | 9.00
3. Honest Burger | Bacon Tribute 8.50

4. Dirty Burger | Dirty Bacon 8.25

5. Lucky Chip | Royale with Cheese | 7.5

=6. Byron | Chilli 7.25

=6. Byron | Father Cheesemas | 7.25

=6. GBK | The Don | 7.25

8. Burger & Lobster | Cheeseburger 6.50

This is Just A Tribute: Honest Burgers' Bacon Tribute

Bacon. Is there another meat out there that inspires such avid devotion? Not a week goes past without me seeing at least one picture or post praising its virtues. The famous Youtube food channel Epic meal Time made bacon strips (and their sweet-shop equivalent, "gay" bacon strips) a viral phenomenon. So when I breezed through the door of the much-hyped Honest Burgers in Kings Cross and saw that their current special was called the Bacon Tribute, there was only one thing I was going to buy.

I wasn't intending to go to Honest, instead having planned to visit Burgershack's residency at the Royal Oak near Edgware Road, however lack of time, a desire not to be too far away from a decent pub and Honest Burgers' fine reputation saw me change plans halfway down the Pentonville Road and I soon found myself sitting down and impatiently awaiting the arrival of my Bacon Tribute Burger.

When my burger arrived, it looked every bit as good as the publicity photo. The patty was plump, the cheese melty and a thick slice of bacon lay on top of the burger. 
The first bite confirmed that the hype around Honest is well deserved. The patty was nicely seasoned and soft without being so soft that it disintegrated as I ate, and was tasty enough to survive the bacon attack from the bacon mayo and that slab on top. The pickle gave a sweet and sour note as it all went down. It was difficult to resist the temptation to consume the whole burger without putting it down (and not just because the bun had disintegrated), and in my book that's the mark of a good burger. A special note for the bacon - as I have mentioned in other reviews, I find crispy or overdone bacon off-putting and I was slightly nervous when I ordered it in case that bit of bacon on top was inedible but I needn't have worried, it was meaty, fairly thick and tasted of bacon, not charring. The burger also came with a little pot of thick gravy, which tasted like a meaty BBQ sauce and was excellent - it gave an extra dimension to the last few bites of the burger (I tried it without at first so as not to overwhelm it) and was an excellent accompaniment for the chips. 

My only slight niggles with the burger was that the cheese got a bit lost amongst the bacon and beef, they could have done with using a slightly stronger flavoured one or perhaps just a bit more cheese. The other thing was that the bun was a bit average - it tasted fine but was nothing special. But I'm being picky here.
A final note about the fries - they're included in the price and while that's not always ideal for people like me on a diet, it means no costly extras if you fancy some potato goodness - and my lord are they good, rosemary salted and perfectly cooked. The best fries I've had from a burger joint so far and worth the trip to Honest on their own.

I was expecting a lot from Honest and I'm glad to say that they delivered. This review is a bit late due to me changing jobs and being generally busy so they might have changed special by now but if you're thinking about dropping in, don't hesitate. It'll be an excellent choice.

Honest Burger Bacon Tribute: 8.5

The Details:

Honest Burger
251-255 Pentonville Road
London
N1 9NG

www.honestburgers.co.uk

Burger reviewed: Bacon Tribute, £12.50 (inc. fries)

HVNP Burger Rankings (Jan 9th) :

1. Bleecker Street | Black | 9.25
2. Patty & Bun | Ari Gold | 9.00
3. Honest Burger | Bacon Tribute 8.50

4. Lucky Chip | Royale with Cheese | 7.5

5. Byron | Father Cheesemas | 7.25

5. GBK | The Don | 7.25

A Visit to the Burger Pioneers: Gourmet Burger Kitchen's Don

Cast your minds back to the year 2001. The world didn't grind to halt from the millennium virus, the internet was still accessed from a device which beeped and hissed at you and mobile phones didn't even have colour screens, let alone cameras or mp3 ringtones. For the burger lovers amongst us, Burger King, McDonalds and Wimpy were the only real options. They were dark times indeed.

Then, in view of the looming towers of Battersea power station, a revolution started. A small unassuming restaurant called Gourmet Burger Kitchen opened, providing better quality burgers made from higher quality ingredients and cooked to order. The restaurant proved popular, branches began to spring up all over the shop and before long they gained imitators like Ultimate Burger and Handmade Burger Company. GBK finally got a proper rival in the 2010's, as fellow London startup Byron undertook a major expansion.
GBK changed the London - and UK - burger scene forever and it is them we have to thank next time we sit down for a tasty treat from Honest, Bleecker Street, Patty & Bun or MeatLiquor. 

GBK's reviews online are a mixed bag, certainly the burger blogging set in London reserve special hatred for them and decry them at any opportunity . Personally I do not have a problem with GBK, their burgers have always been consistently good, they're cooked well, taste nice and the flavour combinations - while sometimes quite bizarre - always work really well. I was therefore pleased to accept my brother's offer of a free burger in exchange for a lift back from the retail hell of Lakeside.

GBK's menu has changed substantially over the years - in its early days there were about ten different burger combinations just for the beef side of things, and several more for chicken, lamb and vegetable. This was just confusing so I was glad to see them rationalise their menu a few years ago and narrow it down to some tried and tested classics plus a monthly special. This is very much in line with the way Byron - the other major gourmet burger chain - organise their menu. The only thing I would say lets GBK's menu down is the beer selection, it is mostly big brewery crap lager or widely available pale ale like BrewDog. It didn't really matter to me today as I was driving anyway, but it'd be nice to see a bit more adventurousness on this part. 

I selected the Don from the menu, it's an uber-cheeseburger of sorts, being made with Gorgonzola and "American cheese" (god knows what that is, I expect it is some sort of hybrid between cheddar and monterery jack) with baconnasise (more on that later), rocket, caramelised onion relish (they call this "onion jam" but let's not beat around the bush here), pickled onion and regular mayo in it. I was feeling like a fat bugger that day so I also ordered a side of sweet potato fries.

The first thing I noticed upon the arrival of my meaty meal was the size of the bun. Most of the burgers I have had recently have fitted neatly inside their bun with little overhang but this one hand plenty of extra space around it. Not a problem per se, but sometimes you do get left with that little bit of meatless bread left behind which is just plain annoying. 
The first bite was good. The burger was well cooked - nicely pink inside as a burger should be - and had a good meaty taste to it. The american cheese part was a bit non-descript but maybe it was overwhelmed a bit by the gorgonzola, which lent that distinctive slightly salty yet strong taste to the burger without drowning out everything else. GBK were restrained in their use of the onion jam which was a relief - too much of that and it could have ruined it - and the rocket and pickled onions gave a satisfying crunch to the burger's texture. It was a satisfying burger and I enjoyed it.
That, however, is not to say it did not have its faults. The bun disintegrated the further on with it I got, the cheese, while nice, wasn't "melty" enough for my liking and instead of covering the top of the patty and dribbling down the sides like a blanket, it just perched on top. The rocket was all stuffed at one end of the bun and not spread out evenly which meant the end of the burger tasted somewhat leafy and peppery (I ended up taking half of it out). The main fault for me, though, was the baconnaise. Baconnaise is what it says on the tin - mayo with bacon stirred through it - and they also serve it with sweet potato fries so I know full well what it should taste like. I couldn't taste it at all, they had used so little that it got swamped by everything else. Using baconnaise is a good idea - not everyone likes their bacon crispy and bacon mayo should impart bacon flavour without the need to put whole rashers in - but you need to use enough to have an impact on the flavour and sadly there just wasn't enough of it in the bun. Shame.

On another note, the sweet potato fries were superb and they gave me a generous helping of baconnaise to dip them in. It's also nice to see them offer free regular mayonnaise, most burger joints would take pleasure in charging you for it.

The Don was a good burger, streets ahead of what you get from the 'big two' burger chains and compared well against the offerings from Byron. While I accept that the melty cheese thing is my preference, a sturdier bun, better topping distribution and less stinginess with the baconnaise would have elevated this burger into the 'eight-point-something' range, instead it scores a solid 7.25.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen Don: 7.25

The Details:

Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Various locations around the UK

www.gbk.co.uk

Burger reviewed: The Don, £9.85

HVNP Burger Rankings (Jan 8th) :

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

4. GBK | The Don | 7.25

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

All That Glitters Might be Gold: Patty & Bun's Ari Gold Burger

I've been eating quality burgers in London since well before I started this blog so Patty & Bun (you have to use an ampersand, don't you know!) are no stranger to me. I first encountered them just after they first opened - I needed some fast food that wasn't McDonalds and spied them opposite Liverpool Street station, their windows misty with warmth, tables packed out and a queue up to the door. I didn't get a burger that time, preferring not to queue, but returned a few months later and found out just why it was so busy. In the loose jumble of my mind, Patty & Bun are the London Burger Kings. 

So on a rainy later December afternoon, I found myself outside their door once again. Mired in the post Christmas slump, everyone seemed to be elsewhere so getting a table was easy. Not being ravenously hungry I made do with just a cheeseburger - their headline burger, the Ari Gold - and sat down, eagerly anticipating the burgery goodness.

One thing I am always taken aback by when I order a burger is the size, I guess being brought up on Burger King Whoppers, with their fairly-thin-but-wide patty, will always leave its mark. The meat patty was nice and thick though and it had that wonderful, drippy melted cheese that I so love dribbling gently down the side. There was some salad to give it a bit of texture but not too much. It looked the part, but so have the last two burgers I have eaten and while they were nice enough, they both had faults which would make me think twice about ordering them again. Thankfully, though, it didn't disappoint. The patty was pretty much spot on, I like mine to be slightly rarer than it was served (and I ordered medium rare) but the burger was soft enough and well seasoned enough for me not to mind too much. The sauce was slightly sweet but not strong enough to overwhelm the lovely beef used in the burger. There was a background smoky aftertaste (I presume that was from the mayo) that lifted it nicely and left me salivating for another bite. Quite simply, this burger is excellent, I finished it in no time and part of me wondered why I hadn't stumped up extra for the extra patty as I wanted more. 

There's only three P&B outlets in London but I suggest you find one, and allow the Ari Gold to be your introduction to their world. You won't regret it.

Patty & Bun Ari Gold: 9

The Details:

Patty & Bun
22-23 Liverpool Street
London
EC2M 7PD

www.pattyandbun.co.uk

Burger reviewed: Ari Gold, £7.50

Happy Cheesemas: Getting Festive at Byron Burger

We wish you a merry Cheesemas, and a cheesy New Year. This is pretty much the tune on Byron's carol sheets this Christmas as they have marked the festive season with that most Christmassy of specials - a, erm, bacon double cheeseburger. 

But to be fair, this is a pretty souped up bacon double cheeseburger, with honey and mustard sauce, freddar (whatever that is), chipotle mayo, pickle and various other garnishes that I really can't be bothered to list. Kudos to Byron, too, for doing something different - pretty much every competitor's special involves cranberry sauce and trimmings you'd usually find on the dinner plate on the 25th December, and let's face it, most people would usually be uneasy about having sprouts on their burger at all other times of year!

Nevertheless, a discussion about burgers with a colleague a couple of weeks back has seen us trekking to Byron to share a Cheesemas. To be fair I could probably eat one on my own (just) but with the diet I am reluctant to consume that many calories in one go and with my companion suggesting she would happily devour half of one I consented (so long as a trip to the pub afterwards was included of course). 

I'm not going to review Byron as a restaurant right now, I suspect I'll be there again soon as it's nice and convenient so I'll do it then and concentrate on the burger for this one. We ordered the titular Father Cheesemas and a portion of hand cut chips and eagerly anticipated the arrival of the burger. 
When it came, it looked strangely small and lonely on its plate - it clearly wasn't small, but the size of the plate did it no favours. I cut it in half so it could be easily shared.

It was nice and pink in the middle and as you could see the innards perfectly, looked pretty damn appetising. It's not as tall as you'd think either and quite easily fit inside my mouth. My first impressions were that it was a nice burger, the freddar is like cheese squared and had a wonderful oozy texture (although there wasn't enough of it) and the meat was nice and tender although somewhat underseasoned. The bacon added a nice crunch to the affair although I actually prefer my bacon to be meaty rather than crispy, and the pickled gherkin gave little flashes of sweet and sour juiciness. I had one main problem and that was the sauce. A few weeks ago I had a Lucky Chip burger and found the sauce to be overwhelmingly salty, well this was the opposite - it was very, very sweet. I could taste the mustard in it but it didn't offer much bite or counter the honey. The chipotle element of the other sauce used was completely obliterated by the sweetness and I could hardly taste it. I happily finished it, but Byron have better, more balanced burgers in their range.

So overall I liked it, but it suffered from an abundance of one element and a lack of seasoning in the patty. It could have been great, instead it's just nice.

Byron Father Cheesemas: 7.25


The Details:
Byron Burger
Various locations areound London

https://www.byronhamburgers.com/

Burger Reviewed: Father Cheesemas, £12.95

The Hops and Glory

A couple of years ago, fed up with the limited beer selection in the nearby Lord Clyde, I came across a small, unassuming corner pub on Essex Road. It had a curious maroon front and inside the dark interior twelve keg fonts sparkled in the dim light. A scattering of furniture adorned the floor, with largely mismatched sofas and low tables. A pile of board games sat in the corner on top of an old piano, free to use for all that wanted to play Scrabble with a few letters missing or maybe Trivial Pursuit with question cards from 1990. 
This was the Hops and Glory, and it was the first proper 'craft beer' pub that I'd ever stepped foot in (BrewDog aside).

I'd discovered a love for beer back in the mid-2000s. Of course, my later teenage years were driven by cheap lager and Stella-induced headaches but by my twenties, dislike of the basic taste of lager I had written off beer as "not for me" and moved over to cider - the hangovers were worse but the product didn't taste horrible. I was converted back to the hoppy side by the combination of a lack of cider in the pub I was frequenting and a cask of St. Austell's Proper Job, and I eventually became a bit of a cask beer Nazi, refusing steadfastly to drink anything that didn't come from a hand pump. 

On that first visit, I stuck to the three handpumps although the selection wasn't exactly inspiring. I became a regular and with the advice of Graham (the regular bar keep on Saturdays) and the landlord, Durham, I was weaned onto the keg selection and my appreciation for quality 'craft' keg was born. For two years I kept coming back but the beer selection started to get a bit samey and I found that the area by Angel station was a much better bet for craft. The Hops became another one of those "pubs where I used to drink" but I will always be grateful to the staff there for opening up my beer horizons even more than CAMRA and cask ale did.

The Hops shut for a couple of months after the summer for a refurb and to add a bigger kitchen so when they announced a "soft" opening I headed down to see what Durham had done with the place.
Inside, the main decor was pretty much as it had been before but the new kitchen protruded out into the pub, taking up the area where once there had been some comfy sofas. The tables and chairs were all new, and a huge long table sat in the middle of the pub, catering for several drinkers and diners at once. Although it looked smart, my main concern was that the pub now looked and felt a bit like a restaurant, despite Durham's assurances to the contrary when I questioned him about it. 

Still, the half of Beavertown's Neck Oil was spot on but the star of the show was the food. We shared two dishes, selecting the bavette steak and the celeriac. The steak was beautifully cooked and flavoursome and sat on a most wonderful aioli which was so nice I forgot I was on a diet and promptly ate it all. It came with a portion of duck fat chips which were nice and crispy on the outside yet fluffy and light once you bit them. I'm not one for ordering veggie dishes but the celeriac was just as good, how you get that flavour from a bit of celeriac I'll never know. It came with roasted parsnips (good, but you can't really do much with a parsnip. It'll always just taste of parsnip) and a nut mayo which lifted the whole dish. I could have easily eaten both dishes and even at full price they'd have been good value for money.

We left after dinner but I'll definitely be back - I'd like to see what the beer selection is normally as on our visit they only had a couple of beers available and the bottle fridges were still absent, and I want to try some more things on their menu. If the landlord can balance the pub operation so drinkers are accommodated as well as diners then it'll be one of the best venues in the area but hey, if it just becomes a restaurant which serves nice beer then Islington may have lost a pub, but it's gained an excellent eating establishment.

The Details:
The Hops and Glory
382 Essex Road
Islington
London
N1 3PF
http://www.hopsandglory.co.uk/