London, UK
Dirty Burger just opened a new branch in East London, at the base of Shoreditch House. This comes from the Soho House Group, who are also behind the very popular Pizza East and Chicken Shop. Dirty Burger also has locations in Kentish Town, Whitechapel and Vauxhall, none of which are central enough for it to have become something that everyone has tried. You have to make a bit of an effort to try this burger. I first ate Dirty Burger when they parked their food truck outside Boxpark for one day only. I went over to the little window and had a look at the goods, and it looked promising. I ordered the reasonably priced Cheeseburger for £6 and dug in. It was so juicy, so cheesy and running with hot mustard. I was very impressed, and finished it very quickly. I saw a sign saying they were opening a permanent spot just across the road, and this was good news indeed.
On the occasion of the opening, everything on the menu was 50% off. This meant that you could get a burger, milkshake, and fries for £7! As expected there was a long line at around dinner time, so I returned just before closing time at 11 pm. My friends and I ordered onion fries, cheeseburgers, fries and a chocolate milkshake. We started with the onion fries, which were tasty, but a bit too greasy. It was challenging to identify any actual onion with all the batter. The fries were crinkly and crispy, and really, really good! The milkshake was extremely chocolatey and filling, and didn't have the fluffy quality of Lucky Seven, nor the ice cream texture of Byron. I guess it's good that they have developed a quite unique recipe, but it wasn't my kind of thing. When we got to the burgers, one of my friends got unlucky, she ordered first, and got given one of the burgers that were already cooked and wrapped, so the cheese wasn't runny anymore, and it was getting cold. My burger was freshly made, and looked pristine. Despite this, it didn't live up to my memory from the food truck version. This one was slightly drier, and required some extra ketchup and mayonnaise, whereas the previous one was perfectly juicy. This could be because I came at the end of a long day with a never-ending queue. It was nevertheless very enjoyable, and I will certainly visit again, in hope of one day finding the perfect one that I tried the first time. Dirty Burger lives up to its name; you get dirty from the sauce running down your wrist, and despite this juiciness, the bun remains perfectly intact. To help out with the mess, each burger comes with a handy wet-wipe. This place will definitely take away a serious chunk of the client base from Byron just down the road.
London, UK
Spit and
Roast manages to satisfy two cravings I almost always have; a craving for a
good burger and for fried chicken. In London, burgers are all over its food grid,
but when it comes to fried chicken, it still remains a rarity to come across
that excellent piece of juicy and crispy poultry. This is not say there aren't
any good places serving fried chicken; it’s just not as common as finding a
good burger, which makes the experience of finding a place that perfects it
ever the more precious and enjoyable. Enter Spit and Roast, which I had
the pleasure of trying on one of my lunch breaks from work at my new favorite
eating spot in London: the Kerb food market in Granary Square. The Kerb is also
home to The Grilling Greek, and the previous home of Bleecker Street Burger,
both of which have been reviewed on the Food Grid. It was a sunny Wednesday,
and arriving at the Kerb the queue stretched quite far back, but I happily waited
eager to try the food emerging from the van with the longest line. Thirty
minutes later, I ordered their classic and most famous dish, the fried chicken
bap alongside an order of French fries, naturally. Ready within five minutes, I
rushed to find a place to sit and dig in. The burger not only looks delicious,
it tastes amazing. The fried buttermilk chicken is tender, crispy and just
the right amount of oily, complemented with their crunchy slaw and Korean hot
sauce, making this burger a fusion burger I suppose. With the summer season
upon us, I have no doubt the lines ahead of Spit and Roast will keep getting longer,
but I will gladly wait to have another one of their delicious fried chicken
baps.
London, UK
Lately,
around my area of work, Kings Cross, I have grown quite bored of the usual
lunching options and so The Kerb has become my saviour whenever I wanted to try
something new and refreshing. The Kerb King Cross is a food market located just
off the newly completed Granary Square, and attracts many food vans and karts
that spread their deliciousness across London. It has become the place where
up-and-coming restaurateurs and newly established food places go to promote
their name. On my latest visit to the Kerb I finally got to try The Grilling Greek, a food van
serving delicious souvlakis (Greek style fast food wraps), which I’ve been
hearing a lot about lately. I went at 12:30 pm on a Tuesday and to my relief
there wasn’t much of a line ahead of me. The van itself with its blue colours
and Greek accessories screams Greece and was very in tune with the culinary
offerings about to be enjoyed. The menu options are threefold where you can
choose a pork, chicken or halloumi souvlaki. All are served with red onions,
tomatoes, and Tzatziki (Greek yoghurt mixed with garlic, cucumber and mint)
wrapped in pita bread. I was particularly hungry on that day so I opted for both
the chicken souvlaki and the halloumi wrap, as well as a side order of the
French fries that are cooked with oregano and topped with feta cheese.
The friendly staff prepared the food quite quickly and within five minutes of
ordering my food I was ready to dig in. Both wraps were exceptionally delightful
and refreshing (thanks to the Tzatziki), very easy to eat and not messy at all
since they were cleverly wrapped. The halloumi was grilled and very light, and
the chicken was nicely grilled although a bit burnt in some parts. What I
didn’t particularly enjoy was the pita bread, as it was a bit too doughy and at
many instances disguised the flavours of the other ingredients. Also,
the French fries were excessively oily and over-cooked, and I only managed to
eat a few, so I would not recommend them. As an alternative to my usual lunch
spots, the Grilling Greek has proven to be a successful lunch option, but I
would not go as far as travelling out of my way to go to it, but I will
definitely return on my lunch breaks when I am strapped for choice to have
another souvlaki.
BLEECKER STREET BURGER
London
has recently been drowning in an overflow of new burger places. They are
popping up on a weekly basis, and each one seems to be the ‘newest’ and
‘hottest’ burger in town. This week we introduce you to Bleecker Street Burger,
which isn’t a newcomer as it established itself right around the 2012 Olympics,
but it has now developed a new cult following amongst many Londoners in the
know. Not a restaurant but a burger van, Bleecker Street Burger moves around
London during the week spreading its deliciousness across the capital. Bleecker
Street Burger is a black van serving simple American ‘New York’ style greasy
burgers. You have the options of the cheeseburger, the double cheeseburger and
the blue cheeseburger, which is naturally served with blue cheese. On my latest
lunchtime visit to Bleecker Street Burger, where it was parked on the ‘Kerb’ by Kings Cross St
Pancras, I opted for the double cheeseburger with French fries. The double
cheese burger is cooked medium rare and comes served in a glazed sesame bun
with American cheese and nothing else; no disguises. The burger was delicious,
the meat was phenomenal and the overall experience was nothing short of
explosive. The meat literally melted in my mouth, and the bun was flawlessly
toasted and crispy; it was an amazing burger, and an incredibly generous
portion. The hand cut fries were also good but did not live up to the quality
of the main dish. My only complaint about the burger is that I would have
preferred it to be slightly more cooked, although it did not bother me so much.
Bleecker Street Burger is highly recommended and I urge you all to log onto
their website and try to catch them at a London location near you; it’s
definitely worth travelling to and will not leave you disappointed.
