Byron Burger Review- Who’s Your Burger Daddy?
Byron Burger has been hot on my ‘must try list’ ever since I hit Shake Shack in Covent Garden earlier this year. It seems American burger joints have ignited all over London. Queues often stretch around buildings for hot new places in high traffic areas.
Once I blogged and raved about Shake Shack, I hit Five Guys in both America and London to do a little comparison. Then, it was brought to my attention through tweets, emails and conversations that Byron Burger should enter my burger mouth arena. They’ve been in London since 2007 and bill themselves as ‘proper hamburgers.’
I figured when the right time presented itself, I would give Byron Burger a go.
On a beautiful sunny day in London, Mr. Sunny and I decided to explore the beautiful Christmas holiday decorations in town. Late in the afternoon we hit our starving point and turned the corner to see this at 24-28 Charing Cross Road…
He suggested we test out their burgers, but I declined. My reason- it wasn’t the real Byron Burger. The building just didn’t look like all the other grey ones I had seen, so I thought this place was an imposter. Mr. Sunny explained that we were most likely standing in front of the original location. He showed me the ‘proper hamburgers’ label on a menu.
Once I agreed to go inside, we sat at one of the small tables. The space is tight, as tables are practically inches from each other. We placed our food order with a server and quickly received our drinks. Beer and red wine. Big surprise for us, right?
After a few sips, the manager nicely approached us about moving to a different table. Apparently a large party of men, who had likely just left a drinking session lasting a few hours in pubs, wanted to eat at Byron Burger also. The staff wanted to push all the tables near us together to seat them by us.
We were happy to move, because we didn’t really fancy sitting near this potential circus. But, I made a cheeky request for a complimentary dessert if we did relocate. Nervy, huh?
Now back to my beef.
Since I wanted to have the original burger for a genuine report on the blog, I ordered the Byron.
It’s dry cure bacon, mature Cheddar, shredded iceberg, tomato, red onion and Byron sauce for £9.50.
Since Mr. Sunny was treating me to dinner, he got a little festive and fancy with his choice, the Holy Cheesemas.
His burger was bang on beautiful. It’s two 6oz hamburgers, American cheese, Monterey Jack, mature Cheddar, Red Leicester, dry cure bacon, red onion, shredded iceberg, pickles and Cheesemas sauce for a whopping £12.95. Ok, ‘whopping’ is a bit dramatic, especially when you consider Burger and Lobster offers their burgers for £20. But, it is the most expensive burger of the menu items we’ve eaten at Shake Shack and Five Guys.
Anyhow, Mr. Sunny had no problem digging in to his holy meatness. He says it was the first time he’s ever had a burger that was actually cooked the way he wanted it- Medium Rare.
And, since Mr. Sunny was feeling extra generous, he also greased up our dinner with loads more food packed with chubby calories.
Yep. French Fries, Macaroni Cheese and Onion Rings.
I inhaled my burger, but made sure to save a bit of space for the last food treat, Caramel and Honeycomb Blondie with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
So, how did Byron Burger measure up in the American burger in London department? When comparing it to Shake Shack and Five Guys, it has some strengths:
Byron Burger Advantages:
– Great beef cooked right.
– No over the counter service. You have a server for your meal.
– They have a varied Drink menu. (Red and white wine, craft beer, bottled beer and cider, bourbon, ‘pink and fizz’, spirits, and milkshakes.)
– Four salads are on the menu. However, if you’re reading this, you’re probably not the kind of person who goes to a burger joint and orders green.
Who’s Your Burger Daddy?
While I enjoyed the experience and thought the complimentary dessert was super cool, I’m still going two thumbs up on Shake Shack. I can’t fault Byron Burger for anything. It’s just that the sauce on the Shake Shack burgers makes my knees go all silly.
Now, what I haven’t done yet is eat at Dirty Burger. I’m certainly entertained by the name. Because face it, there’s nothing pretty about putting your hands and mouth around a big juicy burger. They also have my full attention with the breakfast burgers featured on their menu. I can fantasize that their combination of sausage and egg in the morning is something that would definitely get me out of a warm bed on a cold winter day.
What are your thoughts, Sunny friends? Who’s your London Burger daddy?Â
Yay! I’m glad you tried them out and liked them! We eat there at least once a month since it’s less than a 5-min walk from our flat. We were just there two weeks ago and saw the Holy Cheesemas on the menu, but even Cory couldn’t stomach the thought of actually eating all of that! 🙂 Kudos to your husband!! They really do do a good job geting the meat cooked just right with lots of flavor!
Haha! It looked like a super delicious burger! It’s definitely a great burgwr place. Hope you had a great Christmas 🙂 All the best for a fab 2015 too!
Chicken Shop is good… I had chips at Dirty Burger but I don’t eat beef. I wish they did chicken sandwiches. I went to the one on Whitechapel Rd which is a joint ‘Dirty Burger’-‘Chicken Shop’. I have heard Dirty Burger is good and the Chicken Shop was alright….didn’t much care for the sauces (they tasted ‘chemically’…but then I don’t eat ketchup and I’m picky).
Hi Jenn. I haven’t heard of Chicken Shop. Dirty Burger is super high on the list. If you don’t eat beef, I imagine your burger restaurant stops are fairly limited 😉 Keep me in the loop of more chicken places though!
I haven’t yet tried Shake Shack but tried Byron and five guys a few times and like them both. I do prefer to have a more restaurant setting for meals though! Byron are quite good with the cocktails and wines. Plus I love the feel of their restaurants! I’ll let you know if I get to Shake Shack!
Katie <3
Thanks for reading, Katie. My husband really loved his burger, so I’ll have to get it next Christmas. So many burgers, so little time… 😉 Hope you had a nice holiday season and start to 2015.
Wow. These burgers look heavenly. Like a proper well made burger like you said! I have wanted to try Byron Burger for a while, but this post just confirmed my visit! I think you had every right to ask for that complimentary dessert, they were a bit cheeky asking you to move to accommodate them! I will definitely heading down when I get a chance. Brilliant post Melanie.
Thanks, Aftab! The burgers were super fab. Thanks for making me not feel so bad for asking for the dessert. I didn’t need the calories, especially in December, but I did want to try it. Let me know if you make it there. Also, I’m always accepting burger place suggestions, so send me those too!
OK, forget my comment on Triberr. Mr. Sunny actually did go in and try the Merry Cheesemas! Way to go!
You need to get to bleecker st burger. Run by American lady as well!
You need to get to bleecker st burger. Run by American lady as well!
I came across your post in a G+ community and had to stop by. I am even not a big fan of burgers but by far the best burger I have had this side of the atlantic is Bleecker St. Burger. It’s an American lady and it’s a food truck that travels around London. So no tables, not service, nothing but amazing burgers. I’ve only had it once but I can’t wait to have it again. Highly recommended (by someone who isn’t even crazy about burgers except this particular one).
Byron and Shake Shack definitely do great burgers (I’m always underwhelmed by Five Guys). Have you tried Honest Burgers and Patty & Bun? Their burgers are fantastic. I agree with Chris, Bleecker St are delicious too.
Do they do non-beef options Melanie – I LOVE burgers but don’t eat beef so that immediately cuts out a lot of my choices!! But I agree with some of the comments above that Patty and Bun was delicious 🙂
Being in London for almost 23 years, I consider myself a Londoner. And I have to say, out of all those fancy burger shops around (I have been to a couple of them, Byron included), I still prefer the burger from my local Kebab shop! 😉
Ah I LOVE Byron burgers! They’re so good! You have to try Patty & Bun and Meatliquor!!! Meatliquor is insane in the best way possible! Lemme know if you want to head to either of them as they’re both right by my office! Blogger burger outing? 😉
C x
Lux Life