By Natalie De Luca
Fast food has gone all trendy, forget frozen patties contaminated with horse, it’s now all about having your burger medium rare and served with homemade ‘slaw’. Brixton has plenty to offer in terms of this gourmet burger trend and purely in the name of research (ahem) I have been eating my way around a few of the popular burger eateries of Brixton. Those that will be battling it out to be the best are market favourite Honest Burger, charcoal grill Bukowski and art deco delight The Lido Cafe.
Firstly Bukowski scores big on points for decor, set in the trendy Market Row, it’s all bare brick and industrial lighting. More importantly the food delivered and the service was friendly. I had the Burger of the Month which at the time was Hereford beef with tarragon and truffle aioli, sautéed wild mushrooms and emmental cheese, delicious! There are plenty of sides on offer, I opted for a side of Waldorf slaw and one of tobacco onions. The onions were great, a slightly spicy take on onion rings, although not in the traditional ‘ring’ formation.
Another reason Bukowski was a popular choice for me was the fact that it had milkshakes on the menu; I went for strawberry and wasn’t disappointed. In comparison to the other burger establishments Bukowski was up against it was probably bottom for value for money. Burger of the month was just shy of a tenner, without any sides.
Honest Burger has a small but perfectly formed menu and as the delicious rosemary chips come as part of the parcel it’s good value for money. I have tried both the chicken and the beef burger at honest and both are top notch. The beef is not just any beef but Ginger Pig dry aged beef since the key to Honest Burger is all in the name and quality ingredients prevail. The onion relish which comes in the beef burger adds an extra element, and as I’m a big onion fan, this met my approval. The chicken burger was moist and sizeable. No milkshakes here but a good, again small, selection of beers, wines and soft drinks. Handily they serve wine by the carafe for times when a bottle is too much.
The main drawback to Honest is the fairly regular 45 minute queue which its popularity has brought with it.
If you’re after a value for money mid-week treat The Lido Cafe is the place to go. On a Wednesday you can get a burger, halloumi or pulled pork bap with a glass of wine or beer for a tenner. What’s more The Lido is a great space with an outside terrace overlooking the pool and walls lined with art of the Lido itself and Brockwell Park. On my visit I opted for the pulled pork (it’s almost a burger ok!). With smoky meat so tender it could be gently teased apart by fingers alone and served with a tangy sauce this was a real winner.
(In fact it was so good, I couldn’t put it down to photograph it!)
Verdict –
Price – Honest and the Lido Cafe both deliver quality food on a budget. Bukowski also serves a great burger but be prepared to pay slightly more if you want to enjoy sides and specials.
Taste – All three deliver delicious burgers and I would recommend each of them. If I had to pick a winner Honest would just come up tops due to its simplicity, use of high quality ingredients and amazing chips.
Venue – Bukowski is bang on trend and looks great for it. However for me it would have to be the unique setting that is the Lido Cafe’s Art Deco home.
What do you think? What’s your Brixton burger of choice?
Natalie De Luca is the editor of South London Blog and is on Twitter at @S_London_Blog
Hi Natalie…are you still blogging about burgers in Brixton? If so feel free to come and try mine.. on the house of course..
McDonalds every time. Me and my friends come from Fulham and just love the quaint ‘rough round the edges’ feel of the Brixton branch. It’s such a shame these new trendy places are taking over. Of course we bring our own chutney avec, but if you want the real Brixton then look no further than the Golden Arches. Yumster.
Honest appear to have their offsite prep kitchen just around during the corner from my place and despite seeing the finished article and the continually glowing reviews, I never make it past Bukowski. I’m lured in by smoked gherkins and an excellent IPA. their simple, no frills burger is fab. Staff are routinely fab. Burger of the month… The did a jalapeño one a while back that was off the charts good but mostly I find them overly thought through. Simple burger FTW 🙂
The Brixton burger at the Crown & anchor is also excellent (apart from the cheap-ass bun that goes soggy quickly). But they’ll accommodate no bun, extra slaw and extra gherkins with a smile and it just damn good venue, full stop.
Phone auto correct going nuts tonight, sorry!
in my opinion, by quite a stretch, the white horse has the best burger in town.
I had an Honest chicken burger last week and was disappointed. It wasn’t actually a burger but a boring fillet of chicken breast that was perilously close to undercooked along with some boring salad in a bun. It cost nearly the same as the Honest burger which has loads of tasty trimmings.
The chips never taste of rosemary and 2 out of 3 times they are overcooked.
Stick to the Honest burger, it seems to be the best value. Their chips are lovely when they cooked just right.