So let's start with Gourmet Burger Kitchen, or GBK to its fans. It has become a regular haunt of ours and meets with the approval of American SO. In fact, on our first visit back to the US after he moved here he declared a burger he had in one of our favourite places there "not even as good as GBK". I'd say that was quite a recommendation in itself. Our "local" one is West Hampstead and I have to say it is still the best one that I have been to. The others I visit regularly are Soho and Covent Garden and the SO also goes to one in the City.
Having cut bread out of my diet recently I always get a burger without the bun and they are always very accommodating about it. No fuss at all. I get a plate with a burger and its toppings, with the salad toppings and relish on the side, and also a good amount of extra salad leaves with house dressing which I never even have to ask for.
This is my plate here. It's a cheesburger, cooked to a perfect medium (which is standard, if you like your burger done any other way you need to request it), topped with avocado. On this occasion the avocado wasn't quite ripe enough and wasn't as tasty as usual but still good. Somehow I feel better getting so much green on my plate, however misplaced that might be!
The SO had a cheeseburger the usual way as shown here. A tasty towering delight with a generous wedge of real cheese.
He also got fries and garlic mayo which I clearly forgot to photograph due to the focus on my own screaming hunger when my burger arrived. These are some of the best fries in London in my opinion, thick and golden with a mealy inside and just enough crunch on the outside. It is nothing short of torture that I can't eat them at the moment. But I do love the garlic mayo we always order them with. Be warned though, it is strong stuff and not for the faint-hearted. If you order it everyone at the table has to eat it, or those who have cannot speak to anyone else the rest of the night. You think I'm kidding but once you've tried it you will know what I mean. I stole some of it last night for my burger and salad. It was the only decent thing to do. There is a garlic mayo burger on the menu too and I recommend it, although not if you have to interact with people afterwards (or indeed the next day). Don't be foolish enough to believe toothpaste or mouthwash will help either, this is strong stuff.GBK is also a burger joint you could take your vegetarian friends to. We have gone there before with a veggie couple and they had a portobello mushroom burger and the goats cheese with aubergine burger which they liked. There is also a falafel burger which I see on other tables often and seems a popular choice. I myself have only ever had the one veggie option which was the goats cheese burger. It was really tasty but a lot of goats cheese and I am of the opinion that you can have too much goats cheese in one go. But that's just me. There are also other interesting menu options like a chorizo burger, various chicken options, a venison burger, etc. and while they always look interesting to me I can rarely bring myself to order anything other than a standard burger since that's what I'm really there for.
Overall I love GBK as a reliable casual dining option and it's a no-brainer when we are at a loose end and don't fancy trying to figure out where to go. They are also doing a lot of 2-4-1 offers at the moment which makes it even more attractive. If you haven't been, go to their website and print off a voucher and try it out. They are all over the place now too. I remember when there were just the 2 available to me and now I'm spoilt for them. Go! You won't be disappointed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment