PART 4 - APRIL: HAWKSMOOR (Seven Dials)

YEAR OF THE BURGER part 4: The Hawksmoor

In the 4th month, April, YotB has gotten bigger than ever with 10 people coming along for this ride. The restaurant this time is Hawksmoor, Seven Dials.
Things were threatening to be a disaster as I had just come down with a fever for Easter after developing tonsillitis. However with the help of willing companions/accomplices adversity was overcome. Which is a good thing since there was much to go through.
The Hawksmoor has 3 burgers on its bar menu, each comes with either Triple-cooked Chips, Potatoes Roasted in Beef Dripping or a salad.
The 3 burgers on the menu are The Hawksmoor Burger, Kimchi Burger and The Third Burger.
The Hawksmoor Burger is a generous high-quality patty of beef cooked to preference with your choice of cheese, salad and marrow. The result is a beefy joy that was juicy without being messy or greasy.
The Kimchi Burger is very similar to the standard Hawksmoor with an underlayer of Kimchi in the salad and topped with side-rib of beef (which is much like braised beef). The result works surprisingly well and is worth its infamy but it does come at the cost of a lot of red liquid coming from the Kimchi. If you like a bit of spice and want to eat burgers like a vampire this is for you.
The final burger is this season's Third which comes in the form of The Five Pork Burger. The five porks come from pork, sausage meat, bacon and sides of sausage gravy and crispy crackling. An apple ketchup is also used.
All three offerings are fantastic and the large brioche bun does a great job of containing everything. The triple cooked chips and beef dripping potatoes are very good, very crispy and the cornflake milkshake was an unusual hit.
£15 for burger and potatoes/chips

PART 3 - MARCH: Shake Shack

YEAR OF THE BURGER: Part 3 ; March.
SHAKE SHACK

Smokey Shack (double cheeseburger with bacon), Crinkle Fries & Rootbeer Float = £12

The original plan this month was to go to The Hawksmoor, Seven Dials for the likes of their infamous Kimchi Burger and the 5 Pork Burger offerings. We found ourselves thwarted by being completely booked out even in the sister restaurants and the bar areas. Walking along Covent Garden in the direction of Meat Market we were able to find ample free seating in Shake Shack and seeing how I had not been there yet this seemed like the next logical step for this month.

Shake Shack, much like Five Guys is another American chain which has come to London within the last couple of years with an eye to make a foothold here without competing directly with the McMonster franchises - The price point also suggests quality over super-saver value too.

PART 2 - FEBRUARY: PATTY & BUN

YEAR OF THE BURGER - Part 2/Feb: PATTY & BUN

For February's meal I've gone to Patty & Bun near Bond Street. Despite it being around 4pm on a Saturday there was already an S shaped queue forming. Thankfully Nia had arrived a few minutes earlier so we were able to make shorter work on our wait.

My accomplice and I both chose yo have a Smoky Robinson each and share a portion of chips and buffalo wings together.

The main attractions here, their burgers, come with a nice Angus patty done to your preference. The standard is medium-rare so we went with that. The Smoky Robinson is a cheese and bacon burger with lettuce, tomato, onion jam and some kind of sesame mayo - all in a golden brioche bun. The end result being rather juicy and the bun does a surprisingly good job of containing it all.

Normally this would have been ordered with onion rings to compare fairly with Dirty Burger's offering but we had heard good things about the buffalo wings and they were well deserved. The meat falls off the bone. There's a light batter layer that serves to add contrast to the texture and keep the wings coated in their sweet tangy sauce. There's also spring onion sprinkled on top because... garnish?

Finally, the fries are a winner: thin, triple-cooked, not too salty and a little rosemary.

Total with drink was £15. Well worth it. Looking forward to end of March.

PART ONE - JANUARY: DIRTY BURGER

YEAR OF THE BURGER: JANUARY
DIRTY BURGER - VAUXHALL

Small shack for quick service and bench seats. Much more takeaway style than restaurant.

Outside of breakfast only one burger is available:

£5.5 Cheeseburger.

Each patty is rough and made to order so you can have well done or not so well if you wish. Mustard/mayo is the only sauce but a full salad of lettuce, tomato and gherkin help break up the oil. Speaking of which, there was some left coating my fingers so I'm glad that serviettes and wet wipes were provided with the order. Not all that big or heavy, thankfully.

Sides are more expensive with £3-4 for crinkle chips or onion rings. They're a variety of miss-shapes but don't add much for the cost and I barely had any of either. Chips could be shared but the "onion fries" are something quite skippable. Milkshake is banana and pecan - 'Nuff said.

Not a single bottle of ketchup was to be seen. Its one of those statements made by many a proud burger place but there do need to be flavours to match the boast.

For the Vauxhall branch, Dirty Burger is worth a try if you're in the area and want a quick bite. The price point for the burger delivers well enough for what you pay but I wouldn't pay any more or bother with the sides.

5/10? Do I even do ratings??

What is THE YEAR OF THE BURGER?

12 MONTHS12 PLACES12 BURGERS

Welcome to my YEAR OF THE BURGER. At the turn of a new year many people tend to make New Years resolutions for self-improvements or to reach fitness goals. I have no such illusions. My challenge for this year is entirely built up from the ground in ground beef & baps.

London is a fantastic place for food and culture from all over the world but even with that there remains a passion in the peoples hearts for a good wholesome hamburger sandwich. This goes beyond the junkfood desires of the intoxicated or the yearnings of the nostalgic ascending into an artform. Competition for this is hot and there are some tasty treats to be found out there: From the little place that wants to push the boundaries to the bigger gourmets that pack their trademark quality into compact form.

The quest this year is to seek out and find the best of these vendors and taste their offerings one month at a time. This year I will be trying 12 and blogging my findings for each one.

What is welldone? Where is a Rare gem? Who is king of Hamburger Hill??