London Burger Bash Final

Heroes in a half bun

6 April 2014 - Borough Market

Burger power!

There are no photos (here's a good photoblog from Hamburger Me), so I'll try and keep this brief.

The event was the culmination of an 18 month-long competition launched by Daniel Young of the Young & Foodish blog to find London's best burger. There were four prize patty pugilists who had ground their way through the group stages, to face off in a meaty maul to see who would walk off with the Golden Patty trophy. The contenders in this burger battle royale were:

• Tom Reany - Burger Bear. (I'm a big fan of Burger Bear. Definitely in my top 3, and his bacon jam is incredible)
• Zan Kaufman - Bleecker St. (I'd tried bleecker once before. Liked it, but didn't think it was too spectacular)
• Joe Grossman - Patty & Bun (Love Patty & Bun. Possibly my favourite London burger joint)
• Fred Smith. (Never had the pleasure of eating Fred's food before, beyond a few Byrons, which I don't think counts. Missed the Admiral Codrington, which I am reliably informed was immense.)

So although I'd tried the majority of these guys' wares before, I wanted in on this as I figured A-games would be brought to win the prize (and for a £47 ticket price for 4 half burgers - £23.50 a burger - they bloody well should have done and all).

Getting there and seeing the descriptions of the half (half!) burgers we would be eating, two immediately stood out as sure fire contenders. Patty & Bun were delivering 'The Piggy Rascal': Mangalitsa brioche bun, aged rib cap patty, Tallegio cheese, Mangalitsa belly bacon, confit pork shoulder, trotter & smoked pig dripping glaze, pickled cucumbers, smoked garlic mayo. And the Burger Bear was offering 'The Grizzly G&T': aged beef patty, wild sloe berry gin bacon jam, smoked bacon, smoked yuzu ketchup and American cheese in a disco bun. Both of these sounded like taste sensations when compared to the altogether more simple descriptions from the other two: Fred's Bacon Cheeseburger, and 'Bleecker Black': beef, cheese, black pudding.

But as with many things in life, things don't turn out like you expect. I wanted to love Patty & Bun and Burger Bear's efforts. But I merely liked them. Despite the power of Patty & Bun's porky prose, everything got a little lost. It just tasted like a burger with some tasty pork on it. I don't remember any hint of smoked garlic, or the crunch you'd expect of confit pork belly (P&B's confit chicken wings being a-bloody-mazing). And Burger Bear's just didn't taste different enough from his standard (but still absolutely delicious) Grizzly Bear. And the 'disco bun' was just a bit of edible glitter. Both perfectly great burgers that you'd be more than happy with in a restaurant. But this was a competition - where was the knock out punch?!

It was over on the other two stands. Fred Smith is widely regarded as some sort of burger wizard, and on this evidence I can see why. This was the perfect bacon cheeseburger. The quality of all the ingredients shining through, individually excellent but forming like Voltron to create an immensely satisfying eating experience. The patty, juicy without being messy or greasy. The cheese, perfectly melted. The bacon cooked exactly how I like it (i.e. still juicy. I don't get crispy bacon - you get less bacon!), all encased in a pillow soft bun. The closest thing I've had to this level of execution in a bacon cheeseburger was at Little Social. Loved it. And we got a badge. Again - I'm easily sold.

But at the end of the day, it was still a bacon cheeseburger. Which is why Bleecker was by far and away the best burger. The addition of black pudding was a master-stroke. The fact I was hanging out of my arse and this was like having a fry up in a bun might have swayed me - but they won, so it can't just have been me. The peppery spice of that black pudding between the lovely moist patties blew me away. And it was so different from anything else there. They went hard, and they went home with the trophy.

But one final word: Almost Famous - I don't care how delicious your crispy crackling-dusted, sweet & regular potato 'Squeal Piggy' fries were. Put barbeque sauce on a Percy Pig, and I'm always going to think you're some kind of monster.