Shake Shack Special 'The Emilia Burger'

[@yesiamben] At lunchtime on Sunday I popped along to Shake Shack in Covent Garden to try a very special, limited run of 500, first come first served burger. The 'Emilia Burger' (named after the Emilia-Romagna area in Italy) was a collaboration between Shake Shack and Massimo Bottura, the owner and chef patron of Osteria Francescana. For those hearing the name for the first time, Osteria Francescana has 3 Michelin stars and was ranked the world's 3rd best restaurant in 2013. He'd made this burger as a limited special in New York for Columbus Day (and apparently it had gone down pretty well), so I was kind of excited to give it a go.

Honest Burgers 'Oktoberfest' Special

[@yesiamben] Yesterday I headed over to Honest for the inaugural night of their new special, the 'Oktoberfest'. It's no secret that Cheeseburgerboy and I both love Honest. We've been fans from the first night we sat outside waiting on a bench in Brixton market right through to today, where they can claim 7 restaurants. And the Soho branch is usually where I direct people who message and say "I'm in central London, where can I get a good burger?" (you know, because even if you have to queue they'll take a number, let you go for a pint and call you when they're ready [cough, cough] Patty and Bun :).

Dirty Tommi's popup, High Street Ken

[@yesiamben] Last Sunday I headed over to High Street Kensington for some lunch at Dirty Tommi's, a Sunday popup combining Dirty Bones and Tommi's Burger Joint. Now bearing in mind I've already claimed Tommi's is one of Iceland's greatest exports and Dirty Bones seemed like a cracking venue, I figured it should be a pretty good combo.

Burger Shack, Marylebone

An exciting new venture combining the talents of Burgerac and Nathan Mills of The Butchery, BurgerShack is a brand spanking new little joint in Marylebone.

The Feast Collective, Camp Bestival

[@yesiamben] Earlier this year, the kind folks behind Camp Bestival were kind enough to get in touch and send CheeseburgerBoy and I an invite down to their Dorset festival. This year, see, they'd decided to try something called 'The Feast Collective' - 'independent chefs, street vendors and creative food makers'. Something they (correctly) thought might be right up our strasse.

The Burgerac at Royale, Cape Town

"Burgers that make your soul tingle and your dreams come true." is the tagline at Royale, a trendy burger joint found on a street famed for its great selection of restaurants, close to the base of table mountain. I was taken here by some friends and was delighted to see that Burgerac has his name on a menu item. It made ordering very simple.

Beard to Tail, Shoreditch

Beard To Tail is was a barbecue restaurant primarily, but i didn't get involved in tasting any of that. I considered them a lot who know how to serve meaty dishes properly and as such assumed they would know how to mince a few assorted cuts of beef, form a patty from it, then cook it and bung it in a bun with some crunchy bits. There's varying degree's of skill involved in designing and producing a good burger, and based on those (and cramming in in your cram-hole) one can formulate an opinion on how successful the producer has been. In this case not successful. Un successful. Sans success. 

Dip & Flip, Clapham

Dip & Flip is located on Battersea Rise, which is a fairly busy road in Clapham. The whole front of the restaurant is open to the elements on warmer days which made for a rather traffic-noisy meal if you are eating earlyish. The interior is modern, with bespoke gravy flavoured wall art (not from messy eaters!), and school desk/chair type seating arrangements, a bit like you'd find in an Honest burgers.

Secret burger, TGI Fridays

After a bizarre twitter invite to try their new burger, i happened upon my local TGI Fridays for a nostalgic step back in time to my teenage years. TGI Fridays followed by the cinema was pretty much what i did on a Saturday before i looked old enough to buy alcohol. Then i'd substitute TGIs for a nice sit in a park with my friends and a bottle of cheap booze. Wholesome stuff i'm sure you can all relate to.

Little Social, Mayfair

Ok, so i try not to follow the crowd but after reading of this wildcard new entry hitting the number one spot on Burger finder extraordinaire Daniel Young's top ten list, combined with Burgerac giving it 5 gold stars, I had to try it ASAFP. Full marks from these heavyweight burger explorers is a cast iron seal of approval. 

Starvin' Marvin's, Greenford

How many times have we all driven past Starvin' Marvin's Diner on the A40 into/out of London and looked in wonder at this beautiful slab of kitch 50's Americana. A beacon of shiny stainless steel hope set against the miserable shitness backdrop of Greenford. 

I still can't not look at it when i drive past, risking a potential fast-lane shunt. It offers a hint of the apparently happy, care-free lifestyle of 50s America, and it always makes me smile.

Ranch Burger, a Cafe Italia experiment

Stop the press! A high street restaurant chain has jumped on the burger bandwagon! This latest offering is from the Cafe Italia crew who have converted their High Wycombe restaurant into "Ranch Burger" offering what they describe as 'speciality burgers'. Although they would better be more accurately described as just 'burgers'. This one off restaurant is a test bed to gauge interest, but apparently it looks very much like they will be opening more soon.