London may have built a bland reputation for food in the past – forget about finding great burgers – but these days, that generalization couldn’t be further from the truth. Without even considering the reputable American burger chains that have recently invaded the city (like Shake Shack and Five Guys – both delicious) Londoners have cooked up some impressive burgers in their own right. The burger joints below are quickly giving America’s icons a run for their money, and doing their part to
Images: Patty & Bun
LONDON’S BEST BURGERS forward London’s food revolution. Expect juicy meat and innovative toppings and be prepared to get messy and even brave long lines. These are London’s best burgers.
This down-to-basics burger joint (from the guys behind the Soho House line of trendy hotels and restaurants) looks like no more than a corrugated steel shed, and though there’s a seemingly simple menu to match, Dirty Burger dishes up some of the best burgers in town. The concept is really straight-forward – the only decision you need to make is: do you want bacon, or not? From locations in Vauxhall, Kentish Town, Whitechapel and Shoreditch, Dirty Burger offers just a cheeseburger, a dirty bacon burger or a dirty cop-out veggie burger, each with your typical toppings – American cheese, pickles, tomato and lettuce – but they certainly live up to their name (a personal napkin stash is more than necessary). Don’t miss the crinkle-cut and onion fries and shakes. Vauxhall: Arch 54, 6 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, SW8 1SS
Images: Dirty Burger
DIRTY BURGER
Kentish Town: 79 Highgate Road, London, NW5 1TL Whitechapel: 27A Mile End Road, London E1 4TP Shoreditch: 13 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA
LUCKY CHIP With cheeky burger names borrowed from actors and TV characters and a semi-permanent residency in an East London pub, Lucky Chip may just be the hippest spot to grab a burger in town. Meat sourced from the Ginger Pig butcher is topped with a never-ending list of innovative ingredient combos like soft-shell crab, guacamole and spring onion or foie gras, truffle aioli, tarragon butter and figs. It’s all stuffed into a brioche bun and bestowed a name like the Kevin Bacon, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson and even the Jesse Pinkman. And don’t miss the triple-cooked fries with wasabi mayo and ginger sweet chili or beef and pork chili and cheese. Is the Sebright Arms too far out of the way? Jump on the London Overground and hit Lucky Chip’s Abbot Street Carpark food truck location in Dalston, instead.
Images: Lucky Chip
Bethnal Green: Sebright Arms, 31-35 Coate Street, London, E2 9AG
Image: Meatliquor
MEATLIQUOR The Meatliquor dynasty popped up in what seemed like no time, and with different incarnations around the city (and country) the brand has certainly set a solid foundation for its reputation for a great burger. London’s Meatliquor, Meatmarket and Meatmission locations all serve up some pretty serious patties, and the graffiti-adorned Meatliquor has a huge cocktail menu (and an equally long queue) to boot. Burger choices at the original Meatliquor include the Dead Hippie with mustard-fried patties, dead hippie sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, and the Green Chili Cheeseburger with spicy chili butter. If you’re there around the holidays you can
even try the festive XXXMas burger, with a sausage and stuffing patty, roast turkey, crispy bacon, gravy and cranberry sauce. Meatliquor: 74 Welbeck Street, London, W1G 0BA Meatmarket: WC2E 8BE
Covent
Garden,
London,
Meatmission: 14-15 Hoxton Market, London, N1 6HG
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Another popular spot that perpetually boasts a long line, Patty & Bun is certainly doing something right. Perhaps it’s the shop’s use of British ingredients whenever possible, or maybe it’s the store’s convenient location near Bond Street (right around the corner from Meatliquor, might we add). Burgers like the Ari Gold with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, ketchup and smokey mayo are served on brioche buns alongside an exciting list of side dishes like chips with chicken skin salt and roast chicken mayo and confit chicken wings. Want something more adventurous? Try the lamb-shank redemption – a lamb patty topped with coriander, chili, lettuce, buttermilk baby courgettes, pickled aubergine, cumin aioli and feta. James Street: 54 James Street, London, W1U 1HE Liverpool Street: 22/23 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7PD
Images: Patty & Bun
PATTY & BUN
Image: Admiral Codrington
Image: Dip & Flip
DIP & FLIP
THE ADMIRAL CODRINGTON
This South London spot is bringing American ideas to new heights. Dip & Flip offers several versions of French dip sandwiches but they’re really known for their burgers – and for good reason. In addition to traditional burger components, the signature Dip and Flip burger is topped with sliced, gravy-slathered roast beef. The six-ounce patty is served on a brioche bun with mustard, ketchup, mayo, coleslaw, cheese and a pickle and comes with more dark, three-day veal bone stock gravy on the side for dipping. Extras like chicken salt fries and poutine may just be completely unnecessary.
This West End pub – the Ad Cod, to locals – has been the talk of burger bloggers for years and even upon first bite, it’s easy to see why. The Chelsea joint’s signature burger features 180 grams of beef, plenty of Montgomery cheddar, a slab of bacon, tangy coleslaw and onion chutney, all sandwiched in between a brioche cream bun, and it’s a winner. But Wednesday burger nights are when things get super serious. Think creations like lamb with artichoke, blue cheese and rosemary mayo, duck egg and foie gras with caramelized onions, truffle mayo and smoked bacon and even a lobster-topped burger. Burgers come with thick-cut, triple-cooked chips.
Clapham: 87 Battersea Rise, London, SW11 1HW
Chelsea: 17 Mossop Street, London, SW3 2LY
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BRASSERIE ZEDEL
Brasserie Zedel: 20 Sherwood Street, London, W1F 7ED
Images: Brasserie Zedel
No, we’re not kidding. Though this certainly isn’t your conventional burger, Brasserie Zedel’s steak hache gives any beef patty in town a run for its money. Equally impressive is the restaurant itself. The basement behemoth near Piccadilly Circus was grabbed up a few years ago by the people behind lauded London restaurants the Wolseley and the Delaunay, and they did a fantastic job restoring the Beaux Arts/Art Deco interior to its 1930s glory. Think that comes loft menu prices? Think again. For a satisfying bovine fix, order the hache (just £8.75) – the coarsely ground beef is cooked to a perfect pink in the center and topped with plenty of pepper sauce, ideally mopped up by crunchy golden fries that come on the side.
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