Hache, Camden

Hache in Camden are one of the first 'gourmet' burgers places i can remember eating at. I raved about the place to people for ages after a few trips there to experience their fab burgers. Unfortunately my recent visit was pretty disappointing. The venue hasn't changed, its still nicely done out with a hint of French bistro chic. Staff are polite and friendly, the problem was the damn buns and fries. But i'll get to that. 

Hache have what i consider to be an unnecessarily long burger menu. I'm always cautious of a place that has many choices - how much R&D can a kitchen have done when they have 20 burgers on the menu? Hache offer 14 beef burgers, 2 lamb burgers, 6 chicken burgers, 1 duck burger, 2 fish burgers and 4 veggie burgers. That's 29 by my count. But whatever, they seem to know what they're doing when it comes to beef and their 'Louisiana' which comes with a peanut butter smothered patty has always been my favourite. 

On the waiter's recommendation, I went for the £9.95 'Steak Milano' which comes with Buffalo Mozzarella, Parmesan shavings and sun-dried tomato tapenade. I ordered some fries too. My buddy @yesiamben went for the bacon burger as is his norm. Both burgers were served in stale buns. It ruined everything. But it gets worse. The fries had that god awful old fry oil taste. They were, without fear of contradiction, the worst fries i can remember eating. I ate six of the nasty things, and the last five were eaten purely out of morbid curiosity. This next pic was taken at the end of the meal.

Anyway, back to the burger - the patty tasted good, came a nice medium rare but could have been a little juicier. The mozzarella and tapenade worked pretty well, the tapenade adding a nice sharpness not often found in a mouthful of hamburger. The parmesan added more flavour and a little texture and all ingredients were pretty balanced (perhaps their R&D dept. have gone through the list thoroughly). I probably wouldn't order the Milano again, but it was ok...Apart from the stale bun, which spoiled it. 

Usually i'd give Hache an 8/10 and thats based on at least one visit a year for the last 7. But last month they only get a 4/10. Lets hope they jump up off their late naughties review laurels asap. 

4/10

24 Inverness Street 
Camden Town, NW1 7HJ
http://www.hacheburgers.com