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Thursday 3 September 2009

Mission: Find The Best Burgers in London - Hache


Haché



 I love burgers. They are up there amongst my top three comfort foods. Recently I felt I should venture out in search of burger heaven. Following the footsteps of my London bible “Time Out”, I decided to go on my own personal quest to find the BEST burger in London, or at least have a pretty good go at it…

Haché was Time Out’s highest scoring burger joint, and that is where I decided to start this arduous task. Over the following months I will visit other locations, particularly those missed out by Time Out but highly recommended by other bloggers.


So before returning to my old time GBK favourite in Soho’s Frith Street, I went to the Camden Town branch of Haché encouraged by rave reviews from fellow food bloggers LondonEater and An American in London. I lived in Camden Town for most of the 90s and love going back to this much loved neighbourhood. 


Having read some critical reviews of Haché’s waiting service on London Eating (www.london-eating.co.uk), I was bracing myself as I walked in. To my surprise I was greeted by some very jolly staff who quickly showed us to our table. Haché is simply furnished, the careful lighting and crystal chandeliers suggesting a warmth and elegance which is a real step up from the usual GBK décor.




Haché’s menu is extensive, varying from beef to vegetarian, or fish, lamb, venison and duck (www.Hachéburgers.com/files/menu.pdf) the burgers will cater for all. I ordered the Catalan Burger with chorizo sausage, fresh chilli and tomato jam, with some chunky chips to accompany it. Mr G, my foodie partner on that evening, had the Spanish Burger with roasted red pepper and goat’s cheese.  He ordered his burger to be cooked rare, and I stupidly assumed that mine would be cooked medium which is the usual deal for any decent burger. I was disappointed however when I bit into my burger to find it nearly blue. It was an unfortunate oversight, but being a true lover of steak tartare and everything else French, I was determined to enjoy my experience at Haché.  As the name suggests, the burger meat was coarsely minced and tasted fresh and delicious.


 


As I ate my burger I felt that the ratio of bread and other ingredients was slightly disproportionate, with too much bread for the amount of filling, and that my ciabatta roll was also a tad dry.  I did not feel that there was enough meat juice, tomato jam or even the humble mayo to mop up or soften the bread. I am not sure whether ciabatta bread and burgers is a marriage made in heaven - the chewiness of this type of bread (which I love immersed in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar) does not show its best qualities in the same way in a burger. I think a good quality bap would have worked better here.




  

The chunky chips were well made and I polished mine off happily. Mr G echoed my feelings regarding his own burger. We shared a bottle of Argentinean Malbec which at £12.95 was of good quality and reasonably priced.



  
Verdict – For burger connoisseurs, I found Haché slightly disappointing. Our burgers were dry and lacked filling for the amount of bread offered. I am not convinced that ciabatta is the best type of bread for a burger either. The service was good, and the wines were reasonably priced. I would certainly like to come back and try it again, but will not be rushing back.

Hache Burgers on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

  1. I love burgers myself. GBK remains my favourite joint but I should go give Hache a try.
    Apart from GBK, the best Burger I had in London comes from Blue Cafe, a small sandwich bar open for Breakfast and lunch only in Smithfields out side St Barts Hospital. The place serves a good quality sandwich, ciabattas, panini, and freshly cut bread but the burger is the star of the show. They serve burgers on Thursday and Friday lunch only. Burger is served with salad leafs, onion, tomatoes and chilli jam.
    You should try it if you are free some lunch time, but you need to be quick. If you don't have your burger by one they would have sold out.

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  2. Hi Kano, great to see you here, and thank you for your commentary. Funnily, i was writing up a review on GBK today, following a visit last Friday, it is also and still is my favourite burger venue in London. Great tip on Blue Cafe, I will visit them as we are now moving offices to near St Paul's, and it is so close. Cheers!

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  3. Haache also figures highly on Restaurantspy's site.

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  4. The Best Burger in London is at the Cross Keys in Chelsea

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  5. @ Frank - thank mate, I will check this site right now.

    @ Anonymous - thank you for the info, I will check this place out too, but am hardly in Chelsea.

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