Branches in Islington, Wardour St, Kings Rd, Gloucester Rd, Kingston, Kensington, White City. www.byronhamburgers.com
Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Eating at Byron was a ten-ton truck of revelation hitting my poor Saturday morning self. And if that sounds like some deep-fried Dixie Bible-belt conversion, well then, it’s not too far off.
My very first bite of the “Byron” – 6oz burger, dry cure streaky bacon, cheese and special sauce – brought back sepia-toned childhood memories of burgers past. It was so good I came back 24 hours later to go through the whole experience all over again.
I’ve eaten burgers aplenty in the UK, from dodgy old vans in the early hours to top notch Mayfair steak restaurants. I’ve made them at home, eaten them at friends’ houses, at barbeques, beaches and bistros. But none has ever captured that uniquely American taste. Until I went to Byron.
Which is kind of odd considering Byron’s burger itself is made from British beef and comes as a loosely packed moist patty of succulent meat. Very different from the densely packed, fine-ground, corn-fed US patty. By keeping it simple, having the right condiments, a soft bun, the right sort of pickle, and putting it together in the right way, Byron have captured the elusive espirit de burger.
Half my family come from the US, more specifically from the deep south – Georgia & Virginia, and the mid-west – Arkansas and Missouri. Much of my summer holidays were spent on long, hot, red-earth lined highways. Passing through stretched out towns, stopping for mid-journey munchies at fast-food joints.
The burgers at Byron take me right back to those heat blasted holidays and interminable, but fascinating journeys through a landscape both strange and strangely familiar. Good ol’ boys, rocking chairs, great white churches, gas stations and liquor stores, pickups and hunting rifles.
The burgers come cooked medium (although mine was more medium rare) and are properly juicy. The soft buns mean you can grip them to slot them into your mouth easily. So much better than fancy-schmancy brioche.
The smell brought saliva flooding into to my mouth in anticipation. The first bite released sharp piquant cheesy flavours, and as I chewed the rounder savoury beef came through. Then a lingering savoury meaty aftertaste. Until the next bite.
The American radioactive yellow mustard swirled with the ketchup into a toxic orange mix made for the perfect accompaniment to dip bits of the burger into, adding more spicy piquant flavours.
Courgette fries
Sides of fries and courgette chips were good, but didn’t come close to the main event. The drinks are an eclectic mix of Americana – from Boston lager to A&W cream soda (fizzy vanilla paradise – and very bad for you indeed) – and perfect accompaniments. The milkshakes, particularly the Oreo cookie version (think cookie dough ice cream) are indecently good. But share one because they’re huge.
It’s not fine dining, it’s not somewhere to discuss politics or fine art over haute cuisine. It’s somewhere you go chill out and chew the fat for an hour over some damn fine food. And with that in mind, Saturday (and Sunday) lunch there was one of the best eating experiences I’ve had this year.
It knocks all those other burger bars – Fine Burger Co, Ultimate Burger, even GBK – into a cocked hat. And Byron does it by getting the simple things right. No fancy ingredients filling 84 different types of burger and teetering creations held together with cocktail sticks. Just 6 burgers (including one chicken and one veggie) with simple additions. Perfect.
“It knocks all those other burger bars into a cocked hat. and Byron does it by getting the simple things right. No fancy ingredients filling 84 different types of burger and teetering creations held together with cocktail sticks. Just 6 burgers (including one chicken and one veggie) with simple additions. Perfect.”
Yup!
Goodness. This review needs an 18-rating. This is pure burger pornography!
I will definitely have to go and try one. The cream soda will be sorely tempting too…
@Kavey – they don’t mess around with stuff too much – so important.
@Tom – sensual, succulent, juicy, meaty tasty – yup – pure food porn! If you go, get a cookie milkshake to share – they’re indecently good.
Boiger boiger boiger boiger
I could eat that right now …
@meemalee – I could eat it Twice! BurgerBurgerBurger indeed
So delicious.
Perhaps it’s me but my couple of visits to Byron have failed to inspire such love and devotion. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the burgers I tried but they weren’t life changing. Anyway, life would be boring if we all shared the same opinions!
@Mr Noodles – I think the key for me is both that it is a good burger, but also it taps into memories and nostagia, making it resonate with something deep inside. A get a similar joy out of a well made pasty – the taste takes me right back to sitting in the car as a kid overlooking Cornish beaches and chomping in a hot pastry pocket full of steak, potato, turnip etc.
This sort of food is true comfort food in the sense that it brings a feeling of deep comfort welling up as memories are triggered by smell and taste.
Fair point Grubworm. We should never forget that food is a deeply personal affair that connects on a different levels to different people. I’m just envious now – until McD’s opened round our way, my childhood burger memories were of Wimpy. And now I’m feeling old……..
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