Apple's Burger Blog
I love burgers. This is a record of my burger eats for posterity, for when I inevitably die of burger related disease and/or obesity. Enjoy Apple's burger reviews, enjoy burgers more (responsibly of course)
Let this be a tasty warning. Enjoy !
p.s. View on Chrome, Edge formatting is rubbish
Bukowski Grill
Shoreditch
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Purpose: Burger assessment
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Good for: New tastes
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Verdict: Burger in brioche arrived looking very greasy, pooling on the plasticised paper in the basket, looking not particularly appetising - but the burger couldn't have been further from the look; nice beefy patty (not greasy at all), in a good bun with OK cheese, tasting good. If we'd stopped there, it would have been 4 stars. But, ignoring the rest of the nice burger selection I had a beer from the nice compact selection, and some chips - which was my problem area. The chips are cooked in beef dripping, which nowadays seems an acquired taste, frankly I didn't enjoy them so much. Must be getting old. Sorry Dad. Additonally, although I applaud the concept of homemade organic ketchup, I'd rather have had the worlds best. But hey, if you like dripping and artisanal sauce, you'll be chuffed.
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Burger: Really quite good.
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Cost: ££
Web: http://www.bukowski-grill.co.uk/
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Stars: ***
Gone Burger At The Pack And Carriage
Euston
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Purpose: Burger Assessment
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Good for: Excellence
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Verdict: Thank the gods - a brilliant burger, nice meat, bun, cheese - everything, except too much (admittedly nice) BBQ sauce swamping the flavour a bit. Despite the fires being skin on, they were properly armadillo (crisp on the outside, soft on the inside) - I didn't think it was possible. Beers all over, and some nice ciders for drinks. I'd like to check out the other burger options, wife had the pulled pork (no burger, just pork) and that was really good also. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I can't go back in case the memory is ruined. Probably. And 'cause I'm rarely in Euston. I advise you to go though.
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Burger: Excellence.
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Cost: ££
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Stars: ****
Smoke 'N Roll At The Joker
The Joker pub, Islington
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Purpose: Burger Assessment
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Good for: Farmers Market (although the food and beer aren't bad)
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Verdict: Popped in on a Sunday lunch on the off chance, and happy I did. Burger was a bit old school, not a bad thing - thick and meaty, medium cook, coarse grind, nice meaty taste. "Artisanal" brioche struggled to contain it, nice cheese flavour with the Cheddar, onions & relish. Wedges instead of fries, crunchy with spice sprinkles and a side salad (handy after the Saturday evening excess, probably only in my head. Good selection of beers. Friendly staff. On the whole, good Sunday.
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Burger: Meaty.
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Cost: ££
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Stars: ***
Handmade Burger Co.
London Designer Outlet, Wembley
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Purpose: Burger Assessment
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Good for: Choice
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Verdict: This is likely to be divisive, but I wasn't impressed. There is a huge selection of burgers on offer, with three variations of Cheeseburger to choose from ("dirty", standard and the free range rare breed Jimmy's Farm). I could only manage two, so I had the standard and Jimmys - worryingly (and annoyingly as Jimmy's was £2.30 more expensive!) I couldn't tell the difference in the patty. Neither could the other two in the party. This wasn't helpded by the overcooked nature and solid seasoning. Overall the burgers were OK, big, good toppings, reasonable bun - don't go for the Buttermilk bun option for the beef, it doesn't cope so well - and a chunk of beef, but it was well done which left the whole thing a tad disappointing. I can see why people would like it, but it just wasn't for me. I would have preferred some pink in the meat, especially the rare breed/free range - I mean, there's no point having great meat (which it wasn't) and then ruining it. Sides were OK, again some nice choice, and a good subset of beers. I don't know what defines the "dirty" burger, but if it's medium cooked I'd give it a go.
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Burger: Hmmmmm.....
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Cost: £££
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Stars: ***
Burgers@N8
N8. Doh.
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Purpose: Burger Assessment
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Good for: Villagey Feel
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Verdict: A bit disappointing, for which I'm pointing the figure at the joint in question. There are some good indicators - community involvement, local suppliers - but the execution doesn't match the publicity. The meat was nicely charred, but then overdone in the middle, with that sweet taste that comes with this - not unpleasant but not great, and the irregular shaping didn't impress. The bun was a bit dry, but otherwise OK brioche, and the toppings just didn't do it for me - not as tasty as their descriptions suggested. The triple cooked frozen chips were OK, and the beer nice, and local. Ketchup/mustard available, limited additional options at £1. Overall, a little bland, and a little expensive.
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Burger: Rustic
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Cost: £££
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Stars: **
Two Buns
Harrow, not on the hill
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Purpose: Burger Assessment
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Good for: Those who think Meat Liquor/Dirty Burger is too dirty
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Verdict: Not overly impressive, but not bad either - middle of the road really. I don't get to use the word ambivalent enough, so I'll do it again, it left me ambivalent. None of the products were anything special, and I didn't really want to like it but it wasn't offensive in any way. The burgers (all come with 2 or more 3oz patties) were medium rare, tasting of a higher end fat content and heavily seasoned, not caff but not Ginger Pig (google it). The bun was a bit soft for brioche and not really toasted, and I worried it wouldn't hold together long enough, but it did. I should point out that my life is reasonably stressful, so it's not a top 10 worry, but there you go. The lettuce, tomato and sauce were fine, the cheese tasty in an american burger cheese kind of way. Fries were apparently skin on, which I'm not wild about as you may have noted, but these were industrial frozen types so managed to be crispy but not overtly potato. Non-alcoholic (fruit?) beers available, or soft drinks. Staff were nice and working hard, so that was a positive.
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Burger: Cheap.
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Cost: ££
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Stars: ***