I’ve been to Hache multiple times over recent years, but never at a time in which I was in blogging mode.  However, I happened to be in the area today, and as I’m on a bit of a spree, I thought I’d finally tie this one up.

I came in with intention of having the regular cheese burger, partially for consistency reasons partially because I’m rather partial to cheese burgers.  The May special Smoked Bavarian cheese burger proved to be a stumbling block.

Smoked Bavarian cheese is something entirely new to me, but I’d be more than happy to recommend it.  It’s a soft and gooey, with a light cheese flavour, slightly similar to a Camembert.

The burger as a whole arrived quickly, bringing with it a tantalising charred aroma.  The patty was juicy and tasty, while being very good, was not that remarkable.  I may be suffering from over burgering.

I also ordered some huge onion rings.  Contrary to the rather excellent burger, these were massively disappointing.  The onion themselves could be described as raw, which may well be up to taste.  But what isn’t up to taste was the batter was in some cases doughy and partially cooked, and in others came out as uncooked dusty mix.  This brings me to a point of contention : do you complain over such things?  I think if it was my main or I was ravishingly hungry I probably would, but in this instance I left it.

Aside from the onion rings, there were some other bones of contention.  I ordered ciabatta, but received brioche (not worth crying about), and service was unreasonably tardy.  Considering there were at most 3 tables out of 30+ in use, I don’t see how it takes several minutes to attract someone’s attention.

This is all a big shame, as I’ve been to that branch amongst others before and never had such problems.  Ratings-wise, the burger was great, but everything else…

Ratings – 7.8/10

Lucky 7′s been floating around my plans to visit for a while, but it tends to slip underneath the radar a little.  It doesn’t receive the same kind of hype and publicity as many other establishments, but you hear mention of it here and there.

Lucky 7′s another one of your ultra American style diners, however this place pushes it to another level.  Think a giant Ronald McDonald leaning out from the wall.

The napkins provided some interesting literature, but the meaning behind it was yet to come clear.

I plumped for the bacon and cheese burger (£7.95). As seems to be standard for American Diners, the burger comes as an IKEA type put it together yourself jobby.  The napkin begins to prove most useful.

Here’s my effort.  Results may vary.

For once I remembered to take the mid bite glory shot.  The burger itself is pretty darn good.   Fresh tasting ingredients, nicely medium rare, tasty and juicy, just a little on the dense side.  The meat doesn’t dissolve in your mouth as the best can.  The bread held together well.

The chips were thin, crispy and slightly buttery.  Not incredibly memorable, but well up to standard.  Could well be the same as the Byron chips?  We also grabbed a “Thk” milkshake.  It lived up to its description and was nice enough, but its not the best around.

An excellent burger that’s well worth a visit, especially considering it’s in a relatively sparse area for burgers.  Just not quite the best of the best.

Rating 8.0/10

Lucky 7
127 Westbourne Park Road
London
W2 5QL
0207-727-6771
office (at) lucky7london.co.uk

 For a fairly priced burger, it’s in one of the most convenient locations, just round the back of Debenhams on Bond Street.  Also as quick disclaimer, its very dark in there, so the pictures aren’t the best.

 Everything about MEATliquor screams hip at you.  From the interior design, to the kitchen rolls on the table and cocktails served in jam jars.

A case in point.  Either way, none of it comes across to me as hackneyed, which makes it pretty damn cool.

We opened our account with tasty looking cocktails.  Above is the …actually, I have no idea what it was.  Save to say it was nice.

This is the highly recommended house grog, which was delicious.

Now for the famous MEATliquor speciality, the Dead Hippie.  Far more appetising then it sounds, it comes across as a very home-style burger.  Thousand island dressing rules.

We also pigged out on chips (Not memorable), chicken wings (tasty), key lime pie (tasty) and several more grogs, bringing us to the grand total of £60.  A little more than we bargained for.

I’ve refrained from giving a rating, since this is from so long ago.

MEATliquor
74 Welbeck Street
London
W1G 0BA

The Admiral Codrington is well up there on the burgering hit list.  A series of excellent reviews always serve as an excellent tempter.

The Ad Cod outwardly appears as a slightly faded pub hidden down the back streets of South Kensington/Sloane Square.  The interior however avoid many of the pitfalls of a regular pub, with a bar and adjoining restaurant allied with a small outside eating area.

I dived straight in with the 8oz bacon and cheese burger, accompanied by chips for the princely sum of £15 plus service.  On a side note, is it normal to charge service as I’m ordering the food?

I’d have to say, this is one of the most perfectly proportioned and visually well put together burgers that I have had the delight to sample. A picture perfect cheese burger.

Tastewise, simply superb.  Soft buttery brioche, crispy lettuce, a hint of mustard, ketchup and onion, however this all pales in comparison to MEATY tasting patty.  It’s smooth, juicy and evenly pink throughout.  The only drawback would be the cheese is a little anonymous.  A shame I missed out on the Cheese Stack Special.

The chips were also excellent, if not the biggest portion ever.

For £15 (£16.78 with immediate service charge)  this is the priciest burger I’ve had so far.  Thankfully it’s also the best.

Rating 9.5/10

The Admiral Codrington
17 Mossop Street
London SW3 2LY

Tel: +44 (0)20 7581 0005

www.theadmiralcodrington.co.uk

Eagle is tucked away just off Oxford Street and prides itself as being one of the original American diners in London, but this somewhat does it a disservice as it feels more classy than you would imagine.

The menu comes all shiny and metal bound, and within lists a range of burgers and all day breakfasts.  There are a few pre designed burgers, and some oddities such as Hog and Bison, but the emphasis is very much on a plain burger to be customised as your wish.

I touted for an 8oz beef burger, smothered with Montery Jack.  The meat was simply gorgeous.  Juicy, firm, tender, tasteful.  Their boast of premium Aberdeen Angus seems fully justified.  The ingredients do  let it down a little - Monterey Jack isn’t as good as Cheddar in my opinion, but they do give a range of choice.

I intended to cut it in half for an artistic cross section, but I got a little carried away.  Apologies.  As you can see, rare was pretty much perfect in my opinion.  Judging from friends burger however, medium tends to come cooked through.

A contender?  Definitely.  One of my favourite burgers so far and one I’m salivating over as I write this piece…

9.1/10

3-5 Rathbone Place, London
W1T 1HJ
T. 0207 637 1418
info@eaglebardiner.com

http://www.eaglebardiner.com/

Upon entering, everything becomes a little clearer.  It’s a smallish place with an American feel and s0me classic rock playing.  Slogans such as “Power to the Patty” and “Fight for your right to Patty” are splayed across the wall.  All sentiments I firmly agree with.

And here we have the American – a cheese and bacon burger with mushrooms.  It comes weirdly unassembled with the onion and tomato separate.  The buns are a bit different and funky, but the meats tender and juicy, with solid taste. On the flip side, I’m not a huge fan of Kraft type cheese and burger lacked something special to make it truly stand out.

As a side, we had some nice chilli cheese smothered fries which, while a touch soggy, are well worth try.

For sure one to visit, even just because its nice place with a convenient location.

7.6/10

http://www.guerillaburgers.com/

The restaurant itself feels like mish-mash of hard rock cafe and a typical American diner type place, with Bill Wyman and the Rolling Stones everywhere.

In all honesty, I can’t really remember all that much about this burger. I ordered it rare, and rare is came, all juicy and tender, but not particularly flavoursome.

Here’s the all important long island iced tea.

A decent burger, but not a real contender for the best

6.8/10

http://www.stickyfingers.co.uk/

So with my site-seeing for the day done (the front of a mews cottage –  if you’ve seen one, you’ve them all), I picked myself out their self titled hamburger with bacon and cheese for an extra £1.50.

The patty was nice and juicy, but also had a crunchy char to the surface.  Its wasn’t the most tasty of patties, and that was probably the main problem with the burger.  It just wasn’t that tasty.  The bacon was fairly anonymous and there wasn’t enough cheese, in either flavour or quantity for my liking.  The chips were good though, and the portion just right.

In total it was by no means a bad burger, just not really a competitor with the specialists.  Also it was somewhat pricey ~£10, but I guess that comes with the territory.

6.0/10

http://www.thequeensarmskensington.co.uk/

The menu is quite complete with everything from the normal beef burgers to creations with buffalo meat, beetroot and avocado.

I went with my relatively boring cheese burger and fried egg combo.  I’d say it’s probably better than I remembered from around 6 months ago.  The sweet chutney contrasts nicely with the savoury meat, and the relish was crispy and fresh.  The meat was fair.  Juicy, but not massively tasty or tender.  I’d say the bun was a little dry too, but it soaked up the juices nicely.

For comparison, I “borrowed” a friend’s mushroom burger.  I have to admit, the veggie burgers look decidedly tasty.

GBK falls into the very good but not great category, which I feel is good news since they’re everywhere.  If they were to serve up a tastier patty they could really push for top honours. Equally, their prices aren’t particularly competitive if it wasn’t for the abundance of 2 for 1 type vouchers.

8.0/10

http://www.gbk.co.uk

I’d heard of The Diner through various internet searches, but hadn’t actually been meaning to visit it today.  My abysmal directional sense leading me astray.

The menu is mainly made up of burgers and all day breakfasts, milkshakes and cocktails.  Normal American diner buffet?

A bacon and cheese burger for me, with the usual fried egg on top.  For a bacon and cheese burger is came with surprisingly little cheese, and quite tough stringy bacon.

And for my friend, a double burger with cheese and some nice portobello mushrooms, also with little cheese apparently.

I would have to say I’m a little disappointed with the Diner.  For a place trying run the whole American experience, I’d hope the patties and burgers as a whole would be nicer.  The meat was tasteless, and somewhat overcooked, with me being someone who likes their meat medium rare at most.

The price was fairly acceptable, but with all the extras it adds up to a fairly standard price.

A step up from fast food for sure, but not really approaching a gourmet type burger.

5/10

http://www.goodlifediner.com/