PART 11 - BURGERAC'S BURGER SHACK (Baker Street)

Ordered: Amazeballs, Fries, The Burger Shack (The Posh One), The Burger Stack (Hubba Hubba).

 

“After several years of reviewing the burgers of London and beyond for his popular blog, London's pre-eminent "burger detective" Burgerac has honed a number of delicious burger recipes based on his learnings and preferences, put a dream team together, developed a menu and launched Burgershack at The Royal Oak pub in Marylebone.”-http://www.burgershack.co/

 

I’ll let the above blurb from the owner’s site get things rolling. Prominent burger blogger’s like Burgerac were part of the inspiration for the YEAR OF THE BURGER quest… a pilgrimage to this new hallowed ground before the year end was a MUST. Just what was the result learned from all those years of burger blogging?  I had to know.

 

The lady that had made this discovery was my partner in crime, Sarah and having a taste for the finer things she opted for The Posh One: a 6oz beef patty, Keen's Cheddar, crispy pancetta, chipotle burger sauce, iceburg lettuce all in a brioche bun. Mine was the Hubba Hubba, a tower heavily inspired by the ever popular Big Mac: 2x3oz mustard-fried beef pattied, american cheesepickles, chipotle burger sauce and a soft white bun (non-broiche!). Those years of fun-earned experience clearly came through in the flavours. The balance of beef, salad, sauce and bun was bang on the money and hit all the right notes.

 

 

To top it all off we had a Burgershack original creation for the side dish, AMAZEBALLS: balls of pulled pork rolled and crisped in breadcrumbs and served with dipping bbq sauce. “Totes amazeballs” indeed.

 

Of all the single burger servings I’ve had this year this would have to take the crown so far. Not bad for a blogger in a pub. 

 

PART 10 - STAX DINER (Carnaby Street)

Ordered: Cheeseburger with maple syrup bacon, fries, popcorn shrimp

Stax Diner has been on my radar for quite some time. Their facebook page is an endless stream of the kind of burger towers that so well earn their namesake along with their Fried Chicken & Waffles. Today we are here strictly for burgers. Chicken will have to wait!
Wait we did too as there was a small queue outside this place. Its not the only place on YotB to have had one but a little more noticeable when you need to do so on the second floor of the square it resides in. Once stat down we were offered the menu items and a few secret items, specials for the month including the seasonal FrankenBurger stack.

 My choice was far more modest “The Big Stax”. This was a lump of 28-day dry ages Sussex beef, Spicy Comeback Sauce, homemade dill pickles, maple syrup glazed beef bacon, caramelized onions and a choice of cheese. They like to advertise were their beef came from and do well to be proud of it. Each patty we were served had been freshly, roughly rolled in to a great meat timebomb with all the toppings somehow contained within the worthy buns. The result was satisfyingly juicy without leaving puddles in its wake. The baskets came to us full with glorious skin-on chips that went on forever despite quickly disappearing one by one.
Despite their chicken & waffles there was surprisingly no wings or chicken bites option but the popcorn shrimp bucket was another endless sea of infinite snackiness. Also available in sandwich form for anyone that likes a Po’ Boy.
Really enjoyable visit and will have to go again if only for the escaped Chicken!

 

PART 9 - SEPTEMBER: THE RED DOG SALOON (Hoxton)

 

Ordered: The Signature, buffalo wings, Hot wings challenge

 

Red Dog was something of a great point of interest in Year of the Burger. When word got out of the project this was one of the first names that came up and due to such popular demand the visit to the Red Dog Saloon was pushed all the way back to September to accommodate all of those that vocally wanted to attend. What resulted from the months of hype was something of a surprise.

 

The Red Dog Saloon is a landmark of the Hoxton Square area, sticking out amongst the bars and making a name for itself before the big burger boom of recent years. With their American style and soul food eats they great so much that a sister eatery, Red Dog Sandwiches, opened up and became a top place to order lunch time tasties for the office if you happened to be near enough

 Inside are all the great hallmarks you would expect, faux-MERICA aesthetic is large supply, decorated everywhere and the walls of fame/shame that remind you of the infamous Man Vs Food style challenges on offer inside.

One of our friends dared such a feat: the Hot Wings challenge. A small bucket of their buffalo wings that are coated in an extra chilli sauce so hot that the challenger is given a pair of rubber gloves to use. Handle the hazardous chemicals, swallow the fire and endure the burn for a minute to enter Foodhalla… fail and enter the danger zone.

 

For me, I already had my own mission. Tastebuds were required to remain intact and the time was now for them to go to work. The original Buffalo Wings are spiced BBQ’d chicken wings with a much less spicy sauce coating and a cooling blue cheese dip to accompany them. They aren’t a touch on the boat load of meatilicious wings from MEATmarket nor the saucy goodness of Honest Burgers but a least they weren’t the ninth circle of hell being experienced opposite me.

 

My burger choice was also less adventurous. On offer is the Devastator: 6oz of beef patty (either 2x3oz or one 6oz), 18oz of chuck steak, 200g pulled pork, 6 rashers of Applewood smoked bacon and 6 slices of American cheese between some form of bun bookending. That costs £22.75, the Devastator Challenge is less than £5 more. “In for a penny…” I say!

 

I am but a mere mortal, one who needed to get home in one piece if this last will a tastement was to get written. I chose to opt for The SIgnature: 3x3oz of beef patty, the same Applewood smoked bacon and American cheese. Most burgers on the menu let you choose how to have your 6oz of patty, one great lump or 2 smaller 3oz affairs. The big difference if really a matter of whether your like well done or slightly pink burgers in these places.

The smaller option with give you both patties cooked through but that also leads to more oil being released by them. 3 layers of those well done layers combined with a matching layer of cheese result was a little too oily for my tastes. Maybe things would be different if I had a phat patty with some slow cooked meat like in The Punisher.

 Long story short, I didn’t rank my burger here at this old institution up there with the new kids on the block but I do still maintain a love for their sandwiches.