Honest Burgers

When I first came to Britain I didn’t care much about the burgers found at McD or Wimpy as the humble ones from my hometown were vastly superior in every way, shape or form. The quality of beef in Malaysia then, and as ever for that matter, has always been inferior to what we expect in Blighty. But give any bland tasting morsel of meat to a South East Asian, they’ll season it better than most and transform it into something that blows your palate away (and I don’t mean chillis). I had my first decent UK burger hereabouts back in 1983 when I was skiving repeatedly during college days. The place was called Peppers and they served genuine American-style burgers (please note that I haven’t been back since 1984 so I can’t vouch for their present offerings). The delicious charbroiled cheeseburgers had a profound effect on me, as it was also my first ever experience of the onset of rigor mortis on a plate; the burger was cooked medium rare and quite quite bloody! Eureka! From thence I learnt more about how to appreciate one’s beef dinner ought to be cooked than the Engineering Science degree I was struggling with and clueless about! Burgers are succinctly pleasurable.

I first heard about Honest Burgers from Limster, a prolific contributor on Chowhound. It’s located in Brixton Village, a redevelopment of nearby Brixton Market. Truth be told the last time I came to Brixton was a couple decades ago and that’s for no other reason than a lame one; I falter at the thought of crossing over the river.

The place is a shack, well at least size-wise it is. Turn up during peak-hours at your peril and you’ll be fussing about the queues and lack of tables. The cooking area alone occupies around 40% of the c.24m² space. Furniture is strictly self-made and at best raw and rickety. A few additional tables are available outside for pseudo al fresco dining (‘tis a covered market after all).

Here’s Tom, one of the head flakes at HB for he’s the one who does the cooking. A rather splendid and convivial chap I might add. And as scoops go, he was fond of the burger at Bar Boulud and the one at the Admiral Codrington pub was to be respected as well.

The no-nonsense menu on the wall.
Non-beef eaters and veggies are made to feel welcome as well.

Home-made lemonade.
Very good it was.

The cheeseburger.
All the burgers are served with triple cooked hand-cut chips seasoned with rosemary salt.

The beef comes from the legendary Ginger Pig butchers and has been dry-aged for more than a month. The cheeseburger comes with a choice of either cheddar or Stilton, much as I love the latter on its own I’ve always found it too overpowering when applied on a patty of good provenance, so cheddar for me instead. For those harbouring a fear of tomatoes, your wish is by default granted; slices of tomatoes are mandatorily excluded as they intrude on and drown the essential bits of an Honest burger.

One’s not asked about how they want their burger cooked. House rules suggest medium rare and so be it, and hip hip hooray for that! It was perhaps the juiciest, beefiest, tastiest, and most satisfying burger I’ve had to date. Alas, the chips were not to my liking; skin left on chips are a no-no in my books, tad too limp and soggy although I must admit the rosemary salt seasoning was pure genius.

If the very good burgers offered here and here are eights then HB deserves a nine. The home of the best and original London Burger does exist; it’s found at Honest Burgers.



Unit 12
Brixton Village
London SW9 8PR


www.honestburgers.co.uk