“Home of the proper hamburger” Byron was recently sold for a whopping £100m which is a humongous sum of money for their 36 outposts across London and the UK. I think that means we’re going to be seeing a lot more of them.
On a Sunday evening our burger obsession got the better of us and we popped along to Byron on the Cut, right by Waterloo. What I quite like about this burger chain is that no two restaurants look the same – each one has a slightly different look.
It was quite a large restaurant occupying three long and narrow rooms. Exposed brick, chequered tile floors and the marble table in our cosy booth made us feel like we were in a posh pie and mash shop – we liked it a lot.
To drink, I went for the chocolate milkshake (£4) which was served in a giant metallic cup. It was seriously thick; sucking it through the straw involved super strong jaw muscles which is exactly how a proper milkshake should be! It was a chocolatey delight.
I opted for the signature Byron Burger (£9.25) which featured a medium beef patty topped with dry cured bacon, mature Cheddar, lettuce, tomato and red onion generously squirted with Byron sauce. It was a fairly clean cut burger; there was no sign of any grease or beloved burger juice running down my hands as I munched my way through. The overall flavour however was really tasty and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I didn’t need a Rennie afterwards.
The fries (£4) were pleasant enough but could have been left in the frier a little longer as they were slightly anaemic in colour. They were at least well seasoned though. The macaroni cheese (£4) reminded me of the one my Mum makes which is never out-of-this-world but always comforting and cockle warming.
My gentleman companion went even healthier and ordered the chicken burger (£9.95) featuring chargrilled chicken breast, baby spinach, tomato, red onion and tomato mayonnaise. It was also very enjoyable with an equally virtuous after taste. The chicken was grilled to perfection and the tomato mayo added some sweetness which was lovely.
I’ve had many a Byron in my time and they’ve always been consistently good; lovely staff, lovely food and lovely surroundings. Personally, if I had the choice, I’d prefer to get my burger fix tucking into a Patty&Bun or a MeatLiquor purely because I love leaving a burger joint with grease round my chops and bits of burger juice in my hair and that’s not something you’ll ever get from a Byron. But if it’s a reliable burger with no queue you’re after then look no further.
8/10
