When I heard that London’s best burger (as per the London Burger Bash competition, April 2014) was one served out of a roaming burger van, I’m unafraid to admit that I was sceptical. Perhaps that’s because I used to work in a Yorkshire motorway-side burger van and equate the memories more with the gritty spray of roadkill and a fast track to salmonella than with a gourmet experience. But nevertheless, we bloggers are slaves to hype so when it began I knew it was only a matter of time before I made the pilgrimage to Bleecker St. Burger.
I finally made it down while it had a trading spot on the South Bank and ordered the cheeseburger and ‘angry fries’ which are chips drizzled in hot sauce and blue cheese. A black and white painted buggy type thing; the term ‘burger van’ is no exaggeration, however what’s being dished up from there is perhaps as far from your stadium side fast food as you can get.
The first shock was being asked how I wanted my burger cooked (they do it medium rare as standard). Back in the Yorkshire van, I’m pretty sure our proprietor bought our burgers from roadside pikeys and I wouldn’t have dared have it less than incinerated, let alone rare. The quality of the Bleecker St. meat however is clear from the first bite; deeply beefy and you can practically taste its hanging days. It’s a juicy patty, probably (just guessing) around 30:70 fat to meat content, and isn’t densely packed so it kind of melts and oozes away when you gobble into it. In days where it seems everywhere in London is doing things in a sodding brioche bun (even my local chippie), Bleecker St. opts for a traditional sesame topped bread bun. I appreciated it. The cheese is bog standard American and really, it’s all eyes on the meat.
I finally made it down while it had a trading spot on the South Bank and ordered the cheeseburger and ‘angry fries’ which are chips drizzled in hot sauce and blue cheese. A black and white painted buggy type thing; the term ‘burger van’ is no exaggeration, however what’s being dished up from there is perhaps as far from your stadium side fast food as you can get.
The first shock was being asked how I wanted my burger cooked (they do it medium rare as standard). Back in the Yorkshire van, I’m pretty sure our proprietor bought our burgers from roadside pikeys and I wouldn’t have dared have it less than incinerated, let alone rare. The quality of the Bleecker St. meat however is clear from the first bite; deeply beefy and you can practically taste its hanging days. It’s a juicy patty, probably (just guessing) around 30:70 fat to meat content, and isn’t densely packed so it kind of melts and oozes away when you gobble into it. In days where it seems everywhere in London is doing things in a sodding brioche bun (even my local chippie), Bleecker St. opts for a traditional sesame topped bread bun. I appreciated it. The cheese is bog standard American and really, it’s all eyes on the meat.
| I also tried the burger they won their award with; their black pudding double cheeseburger (the name pretty much says it all). I expected to go crazy for this. I adore black pudding with a fiery offal-loving passion and the thought of it sandwiched between all that juice in a burger as big as my face (really…watch my video of it below) just sounded a dream. In reality, I didn’t love it as much as I thought. For me it was too much on the iron front and at heart I’m kind of a purist. Give me that cheeseburger alone back and I’m a happy bunny. Angry fries: great. Sharp, tangy hot sauce (that isn’t TOO hot) and salty blue cheese – always was going to be a winner. |  |
In summary; Bleecker St. done good. I’d definitely rank them in my top 4 burgers in London – to be honest, probably my top 3. Isn’t London a strange place where I can say that about a burger van! Head on down and check them out.
To get a proper glimpse of these man-sized mouthfuls, check out my 1 minute video of me eating at Bleecker St. below.
To get a proper glimpse of these man-sized mouthfuls, check out my 1 minute video of me eating at Bleecker St. below.
