Bleecker St Burger - Double Cheeseburger

Double Cheeseburger - American cheese, onions & sauce £7.90

Burger type: Pub/Gourmet/Inbetween/Dirty

Bleecker burger. Another big name on the London burger scene and one that moves around regularly flipping burgers from their distinctive black van. My visit was preceded by two factors - 1. Bleecker are currently residing on Southbank making it convenient for a dirty lunch stopover, and 2. They have just been crowned champions of the London Burger Bash final which I had chomped through 6 burgers in an earlier round. I had high expectations then especially as the golden burger trophy was sat pride of place in the van as I ordered. Bleecker's burgers aren't particularly big so I opted for a Double Cheeseburger. It's a touch on the expensive side at £7.90 considering that you are ordering from a van. It's a straightforward American style burger with simple fillings, which is all fine and dandy, but there wasn't anything to get excited about. The meat needed to take the stage here and fortunately it does. Top quality aged beef is made into 2 coarse patties, cooked medium rare and oozing with juicy flavour. They are perfectly sized to sit in the light, slightly sweet bun, and it's a good looking burger. Worth a munch are mixed fries on the side (normal and sweet potato). Burger purists may argue that great meat in a simple and appealing package is what makes a top burger, however I just can't get excited enough about it. Sure, I'd have it again and I'd have it over many of the larger chains' offerings. But a Dead Hippie or a Dirty Burger it ain't.

Rating: 

Meat 3/3

Bun 1/2

Fillings 1/2

Package 2/2

Extra point? No

Overall 7/10

Burger King - Double Whopper

Double Whopper - double beef patty, onions, lettuce, tomato, gherkins, mayonnaise, ketchup £varies depending on location ~£5

Burger type: Pub/Gourmet/Inbetween/Dirty Processed

Here it is. I've braved a low-end establishment in order to bring you a control sample. Something that everyone knows and can use as a comparison for all the other reviews. You're bound to have subjected your digestive system to at least one in the past and there's little to say except explain the ratings. Meat gets a 0.5. The patties are thin, cooked to dryness and bland. But the flame grilling takes them marginally above those of the golden arches. The bun is so perfectly formed that it shouts processed. But it does hold everything together and has been toasted just right so 1/2 here. The fillings are hardly inspiring and distinctly budget. No points here. You can see straight away that the meat is overcooked just by looking at the burger, and it hardly gets the tastebuds drooling, but the overall package is well formed with minimal spillage so there's a package point awarded here. Overall a low score then. In fact the lowest score so far. Hardly surprising; I didn't expect my visit to be a great culinary experience. But the burger was rated fairly against all criteria and represents a baseline in order for other reviews to be compared against. The King is dead.

Rating: 

Meat 0.5/3

Bun 1/2

Fillings 0/2

Package 1/2

Extra point? Erm. No.

Overall 2.5/10

Byron - B-Rex

B-Rex - 6oz hamburger, onion ring, crispy smoked bacon, American cheese, jalapenos, pickles, onions, BBQ sauce and mayonnaise £10.25

Burger type: Pub/Gourmet/Inbetween/Dirty

Ok. So I've actually had this burger twice now. Problem was that the first time was post too-many beers, sat on the pavement in Farringdon (it was takeaway only at that time in case you find this behaviour in any way strange). I remember thinking that this was a great burger and even took a photo with the intention of reviewing. But after the foggy head cleared the next day, I decided that it would not have been a fair review, which meant that I would simply have to try it again. Byron do burgers well, and their core range represents a solid burger line-up that can be used as a benchmark for others. Their ever-changing specials often take this up a notch and are well executed. The B-Rex is definitely among the best of these. There's nothing unusual or particularly exciting about this burger. But that's not what it's about. This is about taking a bacon cheeseburger and stepping it up a notch in taste. Good quality bacon laid over oozing American cheese. Onions and pickles for crunch, onion ring for flavour, jalapenos for BITE. There's a hefty tang to this burger and it allows all the other flavours to come alive. Byron has nailed it with this one. This is what a bacon cheeseburger should be.

Rating: 

Meat 3/3

Bun 2/2

Fillings 2/2

Package 2/2

Extra point? Yes - everything just works so right about this burger

Overall 10/10