Where to go for a burger in London

[zetec]

It's my Birthday tomorrow and am thinking of a trip into London with the family. For a meal I really fancy a burger, a really decent, big, flavoursome burger. Where's the best place to head?

I'll have the kids with me, they are 11 and 15 so don't need highchairs etc but somewhere that welcomes and can cater for kids.

Cost I'd say no worries...well it's my Birthday and a burger can't be that expensive.....or can it?

I also don't want to book anywhere as my plans for tomorrow aren't 100% yet.

I've done Planet Hollywood, TGI Fridays, Rainforest etc etc, I'm looking for somewhere where the food is the star.

Many thanks

[aspender]

There are many specialist burger places that tend towards the hip and trendy, but with the kids in tow you probably can't go wrong with any branch of Byron. If you are looking at lunchtime, then Elliots Cafe at Borough Market do the best burger I've tasted.

[grumbledoak]

GBK are good, and there's loads of them.

[Heff]

grumbledoak said:

GBK are good, and there's loads of them.

GBK are pants.

Try the Big Easy, the burger is ok, the ribs are excellent and the place is pretty fun. Otherwise if you dont mind queueing, Burger & Lobster are pretty good too.

[Luke.]

Honest Burger in Soho and Brixton. Doesn't really get better.

[kiethton]

I've always thought of Burger and Lobster to be pretty good:

We have had a few trips to the west end from the city for work jollies so must be good!

http://www.burgerandlobster.com/

[mattdaniels]

Heff said:

grumbledoak said:

GBK are good, and there's loads of them.

GBK are pants.

This. Avoid GBK. a poor immitation of Byrons which is excellent.

[-crookedtail-]

I went to Meat Liquor near Bond Street Tube last week, was awesome! It gets very busy though so be prepared to queue. There is another one near Hoxton Square, called something slightly different, but is essentially the same.

http://www.meatliquor.com/

[Output Flange]

There's also Patty&Bun, which is kid friendly. Again, either get there early or be prepared to queue.

[SwanJack]

We went to Byrons by Gloucester Road tube station after a trip to the Natural History Museum, was very good, Kids cleared their plates

[mattdaniels]

GBK is massively over priced, massively over hyped, massively under-portioned. IMHO. They don't cook their burgers very well either.

I used to think it was great until I went to Byrons. And yeah I don't know what they put in their onion rings (which are sort of tempura rather than fully thick coated deep fried) but they are as addictive as crack. (I reckon).

I think there's probably much better burger places in London than both, but if you're looking at the "Planet Hollywood / TGIs" sector of the market than I'd take Byrons over GBK any day of the week.

[J H 500]

I tend to head to Maxwells in Covent garden, good food and free intertainment in the square.

[Heff]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Sure Byron isn't perfect. The restaurants are often a bit cold, they're not exactly a place to linger over a meal, but as a quick, pretty affordable option, I'd take it over GBK every time. If on the other hand you like a hockey puck of meat in a dry bun, by all means go to GBK.

Byron doesn't quite capture the US burger experience, the buns aren't sweet enough and you'e right the cheese is wrong. It has too much flavour and you can't replicate processed american cheese without using processed american cheese.

It all depends on what you want, if you want as close a replica as possible of an american burger, you have to go to one of the trendy/hipster places, so one of the Meats (Meatliquor, Meatmarket or the hoxton one) or Lucky Chip, Honest Burger etc.

If you want a 'gourmet' burger, there are loads of places which do that better than GBK, try the Big Easy, Bodeans, or go expensive and try Bar Bould, Goodmans, Hawksmoor. Byron sits somewhere in between, not as lipsmakingly amazing as one of the Meats, or Lucky Chip, but available widely (branches all over) and pretty reasonably priced.

Basically anywhere is better than GBK. I'd happily have a Burger King over a GBK.

[NAS]

kiethton said:

I've always thought of Burger and Lobster to be pretty good:

We have had a few trips to the west end from the city for work jollies so must be good!

http://www.burgerandlobster.com/

Same here. Ate there when I was in London last November. Not cheap, but very good.

[tog]

Lucky Seven, though it's a bit out of the way. Great shakes too.

http://www.lucky7london.co.uk

[Podie]

-crookedtail- said:

I went to Meat Liquor near Bond Street Tube last week, was awesome! It gets very busy though so be prepared to queue. There is another one near Hoxton Square, called something slightly different, but is essentially the same.

http://www.meatliquor.com/

Really? My office thought it was pretty poor.

Office favourite is Tommis - http://www.burgerjoint.co.uk/


ETA - Nooooooooooooooooooo!

site said:

Tommi's Burger Joint is now closed due to end of lease.

We will re-open in Boxpark, Shoreditch in April and relocate in Marylebone in couple of months time.

Follow us on Twiiter or join our fanpage on Facebook to be up to date with progress!

Thanks for a great time on Marylebone Lane!

[Davey S2]

mattdaniels said:

GBK is massively over priced, massively over hyped, massively under-portioned.

+1 Crap IMO

[22s]

Heff said:

GBK are pants.

Try the Big Easy, the burger is ok, the ribs are excellent and the place is pretty fun.


Otherwise if you dont mind queueing, Burger & Lobster are pretty good too.

Don't need to queue for B&L on Dean St, but is as good as people say? It's nice. £20 burger? Probably not. Nice place, nice staff, nice food. Nothing to write home about.

Red Dog Saloon on Hoxton Sq is cool and does really good burgers for a decent price. Better than anywhere else I've tried in London. Try the Devastator burger as it's your birthday...

Meat Liquor, as mentioned, is also good but a pain in the arse having to queue.

[Podie]

There's www.tinseltown.co.uk but never been myself.

Borough Market is usually good for a burger

[Heff]

Podie said:

There's www.tinseltown.co.uk but never been myself.

Borough Market is usually good for a burger

When I used to go to Tinseltown the burgers were decidedly second rate. I think it trades mostly just on being open all night and having milkshakes, not on the quality of the food.

Sorry to be such so uptight about this, but there are so many second rate burgers out there. I don't know why more places can't get it right.

Check out this chap's website:

http://www.burgerac.com/

It's a bit annoying, but he knows his burgers.