It’s been so long since our last official Battle of the Burgers!
Hope you are all having a fantastic summer. As the weather last weekend began to cool down, inevitably our burger cravings returned and our quest for the best burger continued. We hope you enjoy this post, where we battle Burger & Beyond’s vs. Burgers & Fries at KERB Camden Market.
Location: Camden Market, London
There are so many exciting food stalls here. Whilst scouring out the market we saw Baba G’s, who do mouth watering Indian style burgers. We will definitely be back here again to do another battle.
We got to Camden quite late so unfortunately Burger & Beyond ran out of bacon 😦 Note to self: head out earlier to avoid the disappointment of running out of burgers!
If this is your first time visiting Camden, we would also recommend taking a digestive walk along the river heading towards Little Venice. This route will also take you around Regents Park, where you get to see a sneak peak of London Zoo.
Burger & Beyond
Even though the founders, Craig and Tom, don’t yet have a brick-and-mortar restaurant they aim to serve “restaurant-quality” food from their converted Citroen H van at Camden KERB. They source their beef from their own farm in Essex.
Their beef is aged for at least 45 days, but they also offer a 90 day aged chuck and brisket patty (which unfortunately was not available when we went there). On their website they proclaim that they want to “serve meaty happiness in a bun”. What a noble ambition…
:O This is what you call a double cheeseburger
That is one cheeky burger 😉 The bun can barely hold the patties together
The Patty
Just from the looks of this burger you can tell that it contains a lot of beefy goodness. Even before the first bite the aromas already hit our pallets and when we finally sink in our teeth, the patty slowly melts in the mouth. It immediately unfolds its fresh and raw meat flavour. Once we make it further into the core of the burger we notice that the mince has a bit of a granular texture.
The 45-day aged, medium beef patty has a delicate, succulent flavour making this burger surprisingly light for the size that it has. With its two patties and loads of cheese this burger is definitely more on the greasy side. Thanks to little seasoning (just a bit of salt) the focus of this burger really is on the beef.
The Sauce
There is a bit of smoky mayo on this burger, but it’s really all about the cheese. They add two slices of American-style cheese on every patty on the grill to make them melt together. When you look at the burger you can clearly see the layering of beef and cheese. This is a proper cheeseburger (and not just a burger with some cheese on it)!
The cheese is super creamy, but doesn’t overpower the beef flavour. There really wasn’t any need for more sauce which is presumably why there is only little mayo on the burger.
The Bun
The burger comes in a (most likely) brioche, sesame bun which is really smooth and greasy because both sides were put on the grill. Given the tenderness of the beef this adds an element of chewiness. Even though the bun is a bit too small it manages to hold the two patties together fairly well.
Overall tastiness
Johannes: This was really quite a meat and cheese feast and I thoroughly enjoyed sinking my teeth into it. I’m usually quite a fan of fancy sauces and seasoning so this burger was a bit bland for my taste. Nevertheless, you can really taste the quality of the beef, so this burger gets a 🍔🍔🍔🍔
Yvonne: This is a true classic cheeseburger! It was simple, with all the expected flavours coming through from the fresh beef patty and cheese. I love it: 🍔🍔🍔🍔
Burgers & Fries
When heading out to Camden Market we had planned to battle Tongue’n’Cheek against Burger & Beyond. As it turned out, there was no Tongue’n’Cheek stand at the market, but rather a burger stand that was using Tongue’n’Cheek patties. So confusing 🤔. Anyway, let’s do this.
The Patty
On the first bite this burger unfolds its combination of textures. The patty is a little crispy on the outside, but then reveals its juices and flavours. It is well-seasoned with peppercorns and the bacon adds a salty note. When you think it’s over a smokey aftertaste comes through on your palate.
The heartbreaker patties are made from 50% ox heart and 50% dry aged beef. Having never tasted ox heart before it didn’t really taste any different from most cuts. The smokiness comes from using a basting lid when grilling the patties.
The candied bacon was cut into smaller pieces making it much easier to eat, and it made the overall burger taste very salty. It slightly overpowered the flavour of the beef patty turning this burger into a salty meat feast.
The Sauce
They don’t add any sauce by default, but offer a selection of the standard condiments. There is one slice of cheddar cheese melted on the patty, but it is quite mild and barely noticeable. The shredded lettuce gives the burger a nice crunch, but it did look a bit odd in the burger.
The Bun
The ciabatta-like bread was crunchy adding another texture to this burger. It is particularly crispy on the edge making the first bite really satisfying. The bun gradually gets more soggy and starts breaking apart towards the last few bites.
Overall the burger does not feel very greasy, mostly due to the bun not being soaked in fat. The bun doesn’t appear to have been grilled together with the patty and hence didn’t absorb much burger juice.
Overall tastiness
Johannes: This burger is chewy and crunchy, which is something I can always enjoy. Overall, I found the burger quite vanilla and hardly memorable. The patty was kinda nice though 🍔🍔🍔
Yvonne: Judging this burger by its appearance, I was surprised how flavoursome it was. The patty was seasoned well and it was the first time I’ve ever tasted bacon in a burger. It lacked having its own sauce, which always plays an important role for me. Also, over time the saltiness of the bacon took over and this burger slowly reminded me of a bacon bap. Still, its a good burger and would give it 🍔🍔🍔
It looks like we have a clear winner in this battle, and the winner is:
🎉🎉 Burger & Beyond 🎉🎉
See you in the next round!
Was this review too harsh? Should we give Burger and Fries another chance? Did Burger & Beyond deserve it? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
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Battle of the Burgers 