London’s top 10 burgers

It’s National Burger Day today, when Britain celebrates the wondrous joy of biting into a juicy patty within the soft confines of a brioche bun. Nothing hits the spot quite like a burger and the quality of those available in the capital has rocketed recently.

In honour of NBD, we’ve rounded up what we deem to be the top ten burgers in London. If we’ve missed your favourite off the list then let us know in the comment box below. Happy munching!

10: Hawksmoor Big Matt (£13.50)

One of the pricier burgers on our list, the ‘Big Matt’ is a clever and cheeky take on the McDonald’s Big Mac, and looks equally tasty to us. You’ll find it on the bar menu at Hawksmoor in Spitalfields.

Formed of a pair of aged beef patties slathered in secret sauce, onions, pickles and iceberg rammed in a sesame bun, the Big Matt is best enjoyed with a side of triple cooked fries and a Full Fat Old Fashioned, made with butter-infused Bourbon.

9: Veni-Moo at Mac n Wild (£11.50)

Voted the UK’s best burger in 2016, Scottish restaurant Mac n Wild’s Veni-Moo burger is a marvellous, melting thing of beauty that sees a beef and venison patty piled on top of one another and oozing with gooey cheese, creamy béarnaise, and caramelised onions.

It’s not the kind of thing you can eat daintily, just roll your sleeves up and get lost in its meaty joy. If you’re feeling really dirty then pair it with a side of haggis mac n cheese but be prepared for the carb coma afterwards…

8: K-Pop burger at Chick ‘n’ Sours (£12)

We’ve spent many a late night dreaming of this bad boy, which is so big, it’s a feat in itself just getting your chops around it. Served at hipster hangout Chick ‘n’ Sours, which changed the game with its clever combo of banging burgers and killer cocktails, the K-Pop is the star of the show here.

Taking centre stage is a behemoth hunk of fried chicken whose crispy batter hides marvellously moist meat. But the real magic is found in the toppings – a tangy blend of Asian slaw, fiery Gochujang mayo and chilli vinegar. The result is a taste sensation that hits all the flavour buttons.

7: Dirty Burger cheeseburger (£6)

Founded by the brains behind Soho House, Dirty Burger was always going to be a winner. Taking the opposite tack to the chic surrounds of the private members club, DB is all grungy interiors and paper-wrapped buns.

With sites in Kentish Town, Vauxhall, Whitechapel, Balham, Tooting and Shoreditch, Dirty Burger makes our list for its exquisite burgers at wallet-friendly prices – just £6 for a cheeseburger rammed with pickles, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Don’t leave without trying the triple-cooked chips.

6: Piggy burger at Bar Boulud (£19)

While the hefty £19 price tag may be off-putting, Daniel Boulud’s Piggy burger at the London outpost of Bar Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge is a thing of beauty.

While the Yankie and the Frenchie burgers are also stellar, we’d go for the Piggy every time. Oozing with feather-soft barbecued pulled pork, it’s made all the more magnificent with the addition of jalapeño mayo and cabbage. Beg, steal, or borrow your way to a reservation.

5: Cheeseburger at Lucky Chip (£8.25)

Like a number of entries on our list, Lucky Chip started life as a humble burger van flipping patties for lucky east Londoners. It retains its nomadic nature but parks up for longer stints these days, its latest location being Birthdays in Dalston. The juicy, messy, oozing Royale wit Cheese nods to the McDonald’s classic but is executed with more flair and downright deliciousness.

Dripping with fiery mustard and sunshine yellow American cheese, and loaded with pickles, this humble cheeseburger proves sometimes the simple things are the best. You need one of these in your mouth. Notable mentions also go to the Kevin Bacon, John Candy and John Belushi burgers.

4: Ibérco Pork and Foie Gras burger at Opera Tavern (£8)

This is a burger for foodies. What it lacks in size it makes up for in flavour. Using top quality Ibérico pork, head chef Jamie Thicket adds foie gras shavings to the patties, which gives the meat a divine richness, juiciness and depth of flavour.

And if that wasn’t enough, the tiny morsels are also stuffed with melted aged manchego cheese, lettuce, homemade onion jam, crispy red onions and aioli. Served in soft brioche buns, the sliders come with hot, sweet pickled chilis. They had us at foie gras.

3: Dead Hipper burger at MeatLiquor (£8.50)

It was a tightly fought contest between the Dead Hippie and the Buffalo Chicken burger, something db often dreams of when on the way home from wine-filled soirées. Slathered in tangy hot sauce and indecent amounts of mayo, the Buffalo Chicken is hands down the best chicken burger in London but the Dead Hippie is a winner for those in search of a beef encounter.

Guaranteed to give you the meat sweats, this insanely tasty burger put MeatLiquor on the map. Made with two medium-rare, mustard-fried chuck steak patties stacked between dribbling squares of American cheese, the beauty of the burger comes by way of tangy pickles and dangerously addictive “secret” sauce. Who knows what it’s laced with, but if it tastes this good, we don’t really care.

2: Bleeker St. Burger cheeseburger (£6)

Another burger joint that started life as a van, the revered Bleeker St. Burger finally got a fixed site in Spitalfields this year, but you can also find the tasty treats at the weekends in Dalston Yard, under the bridge near the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank and dispensed from its black truck wherever it’s next whizzing off to.

Our Bleeker St. epiphany came at Citadel festival in Victoria Park. The beauty of the burgers lies in their simplicity: delicious medium-rare meat cooked to perfection and served slathered with American cheese and a peppery secret sauce in a lightly toasted seeded bun. The juiciest of the burgers in our line-up, ours was hovered up in under a minute.

1: Ari Gold burger at Patty & Bun (£7.50)

While many of the burgers in our round-up could deservedly come out on top, there could only be one winner. The popularity of Patty & Bun appears bulletproof – years after opening you’ll still find queues snaking down James’ Street much to our dismay. Thankfully we can now get our fix faster at its sister site in Liverpool Street.

While the Smokey Robinson is as hot as its name, the Ari Gold takes the gold medal for its perfectly pink patty served in a brioche bun with oozy cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions and crack-like P&B mayo. The difficulty of scoring a table at the restaurant only adds to the Ari Gold’s appeal and our constant craving for the burger. Come to think of it, Liverpool Street is only a short walk away…