Byron - London

It would seem I’m quite possibly the last food blogger in London to eat at Byron, I’ve no idea why I haven’t visited before, but the opportunity just seems to have kept eluding me. What makes this apparent oversight even more surprising is the fact that Byron is extremely well regarded for their burgers, by those ‘in the know’, with even such luminaries as Giles Coren among those heaping plaudits upon it, and as regular readers of this blog know… I love a good burger.

Byron appears to punch well above its weight. Although price wise it inhabits the territory of more mundane high street chains, its burgers are often compared favourably to more premium priced offerings such at Hawksmoor and Goodman. (Incidentally, I consider Hawksmoors burger to be the best in London).

So, just a bit of a reputation to live up to then.

I rocked up on a beautiful sunny lunchtime to the most recently opened Byron outpost, located in Covent Garden and took some time to admire the shopfitting, it appears to be an old pub, and its quite obvious some serious attention to detail has been lavished on the place with the awnings and old fashioned signwriting on the windows.
The interior was equally impressive, with high ceilings, leather clad booths and the inviting smell of grilled meat wafting from the open kitchen area running along the back.

Taking a booth seat, I already knew what I wanted to order…once again I’d picked the brains of my Twitter pals, and ‘knew’ that the general consensus considered the ‘Byron’ to be the burger to order, the courgette fries were good, as were the onion rings…. oh and the Oreo Cookie milkshake was excellent. Purely in the interest of research, I decided to order all of these things.


My milkshake arrived first residing in a large stainless steel beaker, frosted and glistening with condensation, the butter coloured ice cream spotted with blitzed Oreo cookies. I had a sip, and yeah, the recommendation I’d received was spot on. It was bloody good, really rich and thick. Great stuff.


Everything else arrived all at once; ignoring the side dishes for the moment I surveyed my ‘Byron’ burger with a critical eye. As mentioned previously on this blog, there is some debate within the food blogger community about what constitutes the perfect burger bun. There seems to be a general agreement that a Ciabatta bun (as preferred by Hache) is bad. A Brioche style sweet bun, as favoured by a few of the more premium purveyors of burgers (including Hawksmoor) is considered to be the best. A floury soft ‘bap’ falls somewhere between these two extremes, and this is what I saw before me sandwiching my burger.

As well as the obligatory slice of tomato, some red onion and lettuce my ‘Byron’ came graced with melted cheese, a crisscross of rather good bacon and a slick of ‘Byron Sauce’. The burger itself looked suitably juicy, chargrilled and thick – time for a bite.

All Byron’s burgers are cooked medium as standard, and it was nice to see a pink interior as I took my first chomp.
Yep, no doubt about it – Bryon do a cracking burger, rich meaty and moist, as evidenced by the juice dripping onto my plate which had somehow managed to evade the soft bun, nevertheless it was doing an admirable job of soaking it up. Although I think I'd prefer to see a brioche style bun instead, I just think it tastes better.
All of the other component ingredients did their parts, contributing to the whole, no complaints.
I liked the Byron burger a lot.


A quick word about the sides,
The Onion Rings looked like very good examples, being ensconced in a very light, crisp looking batter and puffed up nicely, and yep they were good as they looked.


The Courgette fries were pretty good as well, and made an interesting diversion from the standard fries, which if I’m honest were a bit of a weak point when stacked up alongside such a well-made burger.
They were slightly limp, and just a bit ordinary, perfect fries in my opinion need to be really crisp, and these didn’t quite cut it.

Overall, I’d say Byron does an extremely good burger, and it does fare well against some of the better offerings in London. It's Burgers certainly aren’t as good as Hawksmoor's, Goodman's or Bob Bob Ricard's, but the quality isn’t that far off, and considering it comes in at somewhere close to half the price, I’d say that’s pretty damn impressive. Certainly just the job for anyone looking for a more readily accessible, quality burger fix in London at a more affordable price.

Byron

33-35 Wellington Street
London
WC2E 7BN

Tel 020 7420 9850

http://www.byronhamburgers.com/

Bar Boulud - London

It’s not that often I get to visit restaurants when they’ve only been open for a few days, where the menu is still being tweaked and the paint is barely dry on the walls, but last night I ate at New York Chef, Daniel Boulud’s brand spanking new initial foray into the London restaurant scene ‘Bar Boulud’.

Located in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, (Which is also soon to play host to Heston Blumenthals first London restaurant), Bar Boulud specialises in what could be best described as rustic French food with a New York slant.

Chef Daniel Boulud has a serious reputation across the pond, and indeed globally to those in the know. His Big Apple flagship restaurant ‘Daniel NY’ has three Michelin stars, and was recently ranked eighth in a list of the best restaurants in the world. Naturally, being the serious gourmet that I am, I’d never heard of him before this week – but then I don’t visit too many 3* restaurants (OK, I haven’t been to any) and have only been to New York once, long before this blog existed.

Nevertheless, I was very excited when I arrived and took my seat at the table, there’s a definite buzz about this opening and I couldn’t wait to see what the fuss was about. But, first of all – I just needed to withdraw my completely unobtrusive and discreet, massive Nikon digital SLR camera from its handy rucksack, and place it on the table with a definite ‘thump’.

It wasn’t long, before one of the staff spotted it and enquired whether I was a journo – “No, food blogger/Dweeb*” I responded with a dazzling smile and flashing a used train ticket by way of introduction. My fellow diner, Chris of the blog ‘Cheese and Biscuits’ then politely asked whether it was ok to take photos. Expecting a cheery “Knock yourself out” – I was surprised to hear a bit of a lukewarm initial response, and a “Well, I just need to check with the chef first”.
The “chef” being Daniel Boulud himself. Who, I had just noticed was overseeing operations in the open kitchen two metres from where we were sitting.
A tense few minutes later, and we were informed – yes it would be OK to take photos but to please refrain from using the flash or taking snaps featuring our fellow diners. Fine with us. At this point our final dining companion Ben of ‘Food and Drink in London’ arrived, plonking down an even larger Nikon on the table, and we were ready to start ordering.

We agreed to order a few dishes to share, before following up with a main each. So, first up was a charcuterie tasting plate. The pates and terrines featured are made on site, under the direction of ‘one of Frances most acclaimed charcutiers Gilles Verot’. As always, having my finger firmly on the pulse on all gastronomic comings and goings, I’d never heard of him, but after eating one incredible pate and terrine after another I didn’t need much convincing as to his skill. Really impressive, the provençal pulled rabbit and the shredded slow-braised beef cheek with onion confit and pistachio terrines in particular being incredibly good.

The platter came with a selection of rather nice hors doeuvres (beetroot with horseradish and hazelnut, carrots with coriander, celery-apple remoulade and mushrooms a la grecque), pickles and mustards, all of which were very tasty indeed. All in all, a great start. The charcuterie plate was pretty generously sized considering that three of us were tucking into a small platter.

Next up, a dish of Boudin Blanc, truffled white sausage with mashed potato. This was delicious, the sausage being almost as soft and creamy as the accompanying beautiful mash. I liked this dish a lot.

As we were finishing up our starters, a dish of Rillons croustillants au poivre - crispy and tender pork belly with cracked pepper appeared on the table ‘compliments of the chef’ – (it appears the large cameras and an apparent Google search of Chris ‘Cheese and Biscuits’ who had made the reservation was paying dividends here). These were really rather tasty, thick rustic squares of tender pork belly with some Dijon mustard for dipping…what’s not to like about that?

Ordering our Mains – Coq au Vin and Roasted chicken breast with wild garlic potatoes and artichokes respectively for my dining companions and the DBGB Piggie burger for me (so called because it contains BBQ pulled pork), we sat back drank wine and chatted. At this point a smiling Daniel Boulud came out of the kitchen and over to our table, shook our hands and asked us what we’d thought of the food, and indulged us in some general chitchat about our respective blogs. He came across as a really pleasant, genuine guy. It was a really nice touch and it’s great to see a chef of his calibre actually in the kitchen overseeing operations.
Insisting that we try ‘The Frenchie’ burger as he returned to the kitchen, our mains arrived.

As regular readers know, I’ve got a real love of a decent burger and the offerings at Bar Boulud don’t disappoint, my ‘Piggie’ burger, cooked medium as specified was perfectly constructed, and beautifully loose and moist with a really good brioche bun. The accompanying fries were really rather good as well. If I’m honest, I still prefer the Burger at Hawksmoor and more recently, a offering at Bob Bob Ricard, but.... that is until the promised ‘Frenchie’ burger (who’s main defining characteristics are confit pork belly and Morbier cheese) was sent out from the kitchen for us to sample, cut into three pieces. It was cooked medium rare, and it was bloody delicious far, far better in my opinion than the ‘Piggie’ burger that I’d ordered. I’ll have to return to sample a whole one to be sure, but it could be a real contender for best burger in London.

A plate of Boudin Noir with mash was sent out for us to sample, and like the Boudin Blanc from earlier in the evening it was extremely well cooked, silky smooth and tasty, working very well with the mash.

At this point I was stuffed silly. So much so in fact, that for once – I just couldn’t face dessert, the table agreed – dessert was out…but some extremely subtle up-selling by our waiter saw us giving in and ordering a round of macarons to finish off the meal.


The strawberry flavour was pretty good, and it was commented upon around the table that it had a ‘jammy dodger biscuit’ flavour to it.
The Hazlenut macaron was much nicer, really very good…. although perhaps, not Pierre Herme good. (Of whom it must be said was visiting the restaurant later that evening as a guest of Daniel Boulud, along with seemingly just about every chef worth his salt in Britain and Paris – the guest list we caught a glimpse of, reading like a who’s who of world class chefs).

Settling up and another chance to exchange a few words and shake hands with a cheery Daniel Boulud and his restaurant manager, I left feeling extremely happy with the food I’d just eaten. The various terrines and pates on offer are very good indeed the Boudin blanc is bloody delicious and the burgers are excellent, particularly in my opinion the ‘Frenchie’, which based on what we were served is perhaps best eaten medium rare.

A quick word about the service, it was impeccable. Some of the key staff apparently being transplanted from New York to ensure a smooth opening, and it showed.

I think the highest recommendation I could make is to say that without a doubt, I will be visiting Bar Boulud again in the future.

*For explanation of Dweeb – See link ‘Here’.

Bar Boulud

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
66 Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 7LA

Telephone: 020 7201 3899

http://www.barboulud.com/barbouludLondon.html

Goodman - The Burger

I’m a bit of a peasant when it comes to food, a product of my upbringing in Essex I guess. My tastes are drawn magnetically towards the unpretentious, the simply cooked and more often than I’d like to admit, the foodie gutter. (“Why yes my good man, chilli sauce on my kebab would be tip-top”).

Which is perhaps why I love a good burger. But, in complete contrast to my claims of peasant tastes, just to complicate matters… any old burger will not do…I like something a bit premium, a bit special. OK, I admit it…. a bit pretentious.

Regular readers of my Blog may remember me raving about the Hawksmoor burger, which without a doubt was one of the best things I ate in 2009. I absolutely loved it. The sheer meaty goodness of it set the bar insanely high. Since then, I’ve been keeping a constant eye out for likely contenders to steal its top London burger accolade.

So, it was with some excitement that I arrived at Goodman, the rather superb steak restaurant nestling just a stones throw from Regent Street, to sample their burger. Could it, dare I say it, replace Hawksmoors burger in my affections?
Let’s find out.

Goodman is a meat lover’s paradise, huge slabs of top-notch steak available in seemingly limitless sizes, with the attendant potential of eye watering prices for the truly greedy. It came as no surprise, as I glanced around at my fellow diners, despite the lack of sausage on the menu; there was no doubt at all…. it was a total sausage-fest. I counted three women in the entire restaurant, and they were food bloggers sitting at our table. The rest of the restaurant was populated exclusively by men, wolfing down slabs of meat. The testosterone was so thick; as to be seemingly sliced with one of the wickedly sharp steak knives provided.


Enough of the demographics, lets talk about the burgers – the plates arriving at the table certainly looked the part. Fabulous shiny buns (ooer) containing thick, juicy burgers. I’d ordered mine with cheddar cheese and fried onions, which were oozing out from underneath the bun in a rather satisfying manner. I was smitten. Sides of fat chips and Béarnaise were also deposited on the table (I love, love, love Béarnaise – far too much than is good for me).

Taking a hefty bite, and straight away getting a taste of beautifully Smokey char-grilled meat, it was superb. A seriously good burger, no denying it, a real contender… As good as the Hawksmoor burger? Opinion among my fellow diners on the table was split fairly evenly.
But, for me the Hawksmoor burger edges it.

The reason? I much prefer the rough, loose, rustic minced texture of Hawksmoor’s burger – the Goodman example was very finely minced, which I just find less appealing for some reason. There’s also the question of produce, Hawksmoors version is packed full of prime UK sourced ingredients – almost re-inventing the classic American burger in a very British way. I like this direction a lot. The Goodman burger is unashamedly American – which is exactly as it should be, I just prefer Hawksmoors take on it.

Pricewise, when you factor in accompanying chips, the prices are very similar (Hawksmoors come with fries at £15, the Goodman burger doesn’t, but is £12 – fries are an extra at £3).

So, there’s not much in it – but in my mind, right now Hawksmoors superb burger is still the best available in London.


As an added bonus on the night, as a result of Chris Pople of Cheese and Biscuits In’N’Out burger campaign. We were privileged to be gifted an example of Goodman’s attempt at replicating it. As with the standard Goodman burger, it was superb. But, again, in my opinion, not quite as good as Hawksmoors effort.
The accompanying bowl of ‘Animal Fries’ – frites slathered in Thousand Island dressing, cheese and fried onions were bloody superb…. Although I could literally feel my life shortening as I ate them, I feel they deserve a permanent spot on the menu.



I’ve got to add that Goodman treated us extremely well, on top of the In’N’Out burgers to sample, we were also given a brilliant tour of the kitchens in full flow mid-service by the head chef John Cadieux, of who, it has to be said knows his subject - meat, inside out and is utterly fascinating to listen to.

So, there you have it. Right now, if you want to eat beautiful steaks or incredible burgers in London – Goodman or Hawksmoor are the two really serious temples to meat eating you should be visiting.

(PS: To read Cheese and Biscuits take on the Goodman In'N'Out Burger - look here)

Goodman
26 Maddox Street
London
W1S 1QH

Telephone: 0207 499 3776
http://www.goodmanrestaurants.com

Hawksmoor - The best burger in London?

Last week I finally had the chance to tick something off my foodie 'to-do list' that I'd been meaning to try for quite some time, The Hawksmoor burger.

There are a couple of issues associated with actually getting to eat the thing. It's only available at lunchtimes, and only during the week. This throws up all kinds of problems for me to actually sample it. I work nowhere near Commercial Street, and with the added embuggerance of its absence from the menu at weekends...well, let's just say I've waited and watched from the sidelines, biding my time for an opportunity to finally get in there.

But hey it's just a burger right? why all the plotting and gnashing of teeth waiting for an opportunity to try it?
The reply to that would be:- It's not 'just a burger' it is reputedly the best burger in London.
OK, Granted the competition is a bit thin on the ground, we just don't seem to 'get' burgers in the UK, but this one stands head and shoulders above nearly all others.
let me paint you a picture....

Imagine a pyramid with perhaps your microwaved 24 hour garage Rustlers fare lining the bottom, up we go through the dodgy suburban dog meat burger vans where your just as likely to receive a side order of food poisoning as chips, past the defrosted and dry offerings of countless pub menus....whizzing past your McDonalds and Burger Kings, past the so called 'gourmet offerings' of the more upmarket chains.....rocketing skywards, past the other more serious contenders such as Hache - we finally burst through the clouds (for this is truly a mungus pyramid of meat)....and there sparkling like a jewel at the top, master of all it surveys is the Hawksmoor Burger....glistening in an almost mythical way.....angelic music plays....a sense of peace falls throughout the land.

So, not much expectation there then.

Finally, last Friday my chance came, with a day off Christmas shopping I frantically booked a table for lunch at Hawksmoor.

First a bit about the burger, it's made from 100% Longhorn. The notes on the menu state that it
"Includes long neglected cuts like Clod and Stickling and small nuggets of bone marrow".
Personally, I have no idea what these cuts are.....but I like the traditional sounding names and mourn their strangeness to me.... I now long to approach a butchers counter and say "Give me half a pound of Clod.....and, while your at it - I'll have some Stickling as well".

The burger is offered with Ogleshield cheese, or Stichelton Blue Cheese. It's all topped with a hand made demi-brioche bun. (I wont get into the whole bun debate here, others have covered it more comprehensively than perhaps anyone would have thought possible). But brioche seems to be widely considered as the best choice for a bun.

Finally, this comes with triple cooked chips, and Bearnaise for dipping. Woof. (or perhaps, as a salve to the waistline, a salad...hiss).

So, seated in a packed and buzzing lunchtime Hawksmoor, my burger ordered (Medium rare)...I sip my Brooklyn cocktail (Typical me, I ordered a "Brooklyn" meaning the Beer, which they used to serve but seemingly no longer. I was surprised to be presented with a "Brooklyn" cocktail instead....feeling this was perhaps my own fault for being presumptuous, and never backwards going forwards when it comes to alcohol, I drank it anyway. It wasn't bad).


Finally, my burger is brought out and it certainly looks the part, thick and juicy....with just the cheekiest hint of melted cheese oozing from under the bun.
I take a bite, and it's incredibly good, the meat is extremely moist and tastes incredible.....like good meat should, full of flavour...combined with the cheese, the thinly sliced red onion and pickles, the sweet soft bun......I'm literally dazed.
I dunk a beautifully cooked chip in my Bearnaise and sigh happily, misty-eyed.....then proceed to eat everything on the plate, and I mean the lot..it's so good. Meanwhile I keep a weather eye on the GF's efforts to finish her burger. She always leaves a little bit, and she doesn't disappoint this time....I fall on her leftovers immediately like a starving animal.
It's superb.

Now, this is the thing.
It's just a burger, albeit an incredibly good one, but there's no point being snobby about it.
This was without a doubt one of the best things I've eaten all year. Full stop. It was stunningly good. I was in an almost rapturous daze eating it, in between bites of triple cooked chips and Bearnaise, it was beautiful. My only regret is that a return visit is so awkward to fit into my schedule. But have no doubt, a return visit is inevitable. Now that I know it exists....I have to have it again.

As for the question, is it the best burger in London?
I hear the offering at Maze Grill is another contender, but not having tried it, it's impossible to comment. But I will say the Hawksmoor burger is easily the best burger I've eaten in London, and perhaps anywhere. And if there's better out there in the world (and there no doubt is), I cannot even begin to fathom how good they could be after sampling this.

The Hawksmoor Burger is £15

Hawksmoor
157 Commercial Street
London
E1 6BJ

Telephone: 0207 247 7392

http://www.thehawksmoor.co.uk