Beef Watch

I like eating steak, but not all the time. The only good shop I know for good steak are:
Beef eater, the Angus steak house and some good pub.

However, I saw this article on The London paper which is very good, but I dont think put a beef into a bun is a good idea though.

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Putting beef back in the bun by Humayun Hussain, Wednesday 11 October 2006 15:00

There was a time when eating a burger was either a guilty pleasure or something you did late at night after a skinful.

After all, who would willingly bite into a burger served in grim cafes with formica-topped tables without a strong drink inside them?

Wimpy was eclipsed in the 1970s by the arrival of the American giants McDonald’s and Burger King. But while their products were marginally more palatable, they were arguably no better for you.

These days a new breed of burger joint is boasting patties made with meat from animals “naturally reared, grass fed and free range”.

Beef isn’t just beef, it’s “100 per cent beef” that has either been “hung” or “aged”.

The range of choice has ?increased, too. You can get burgers made of barn-reared chicken, chorizo sausage, or even citrus marinated halloumi.

Sides will include “hand-cut” chips rather than the ubiquitous fries. Salads may well feature vine ripened ?tomatoes and roasted red peppers. To drink, there’s the choice of smoothies and imported beers.

Even Gordon Ramsay’s Boxwood Caf??, in Knightsbridge, does a veal and foie gras burger with parmesan, cos lettuce and chips for a whopping ??22.50.

McDonald’s may have invested ?140 million in a modernisation drive this year, to launch new colour schemes and furniture ?including “Big Brother” style chairs. Still, the hottest names for gourmet-style burgers in London are Hach??, Hamburger Union, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Fine Burger Company and Ultimate Burger.

Berry Casey, managing ?director of Hach?? in Camden, says his establishment is based on the burger concept, but run along the lines of a restaurant.

“The burger is just like any other food,” he says. “It’s there to be enjoyed. Customers should be able to sit down and eat the burger in their own time.

“In most burger joints, the moment queues start building up, you get harassed-looking staff behind the counter getting all robotic, shouting at their colleagues and smiling even less.”

At Hach??, the burger patty is made from 100 per cent Aberdeen Angus beef from the same London butcher that supplies the Queen. It is served in a 5in ciabatta bun.

Its most popular burger is the Steak Canadian, which comes with sweet-cure bacon and mature cheddar cheese, costing ?7.95.

At Hamburger Union, which has four branches in and around Central London, not only do the gourmet-style burgers come in “single” and “double size”, each one of its ten or so burgers comes ?“protein style”, which means there is no bun. Instead, the burger is served between lettuce leaves.

“Public tastes are much more discerning now,” says Hamburger Union’s proprietor, Hugh Fowler. “With ?concerns over the BSE and foot-and-mouth outbreaks of recent years, people want to know where the beef comes from. But they also want greater choice, quality ingredients and more imaginative flavours in burgers.”

The bun for Hamburger Union’s burgers, which start at ?3.95, is made by Portuguese bakers while the menu declares that the chips are “proper chips, never frozen”.

Casey states that the burger is such a simple and wholesome food concept that it will always be popular.

“Burgers are now a part of the staple British diet, but what’s important is that the ingredients are healthy and made from top-end produce. This is why places like mine and others are proving so popular in London.”

Beef watch
Hach??24 Inverness Street NW1 7HJ Tel: 020 7485 9100
hacheburgers.com

Hamburger Union4-6 Garrick Street WC2E 9BH Tel: 020 7379 0412

hamburgerunion.com

Gourmet Burger Kitchen44 Northcote Road SW11 1NZ Tel: 020 7228 3309
gbkinfo.com

Fine Burger Company 330 Upper Street N1 2XQTel: 020 7359 3026
fineburger.co.uk

Ultimate Burger 34 New Oxford Street WC1A 1AP Tel: 020 7436 6641
ultimateburger.co.uk