A friend and I went to visit Byron for lunch soon after it opened, in December. It’s located across the street from the Kensington Odeon and replaces what once was a branch of the Ask chain. It’s had quite a nice makeover and markets itself as a posh burger joint. Does London need another one of those though? There are already the GBK and Hamburger Union chains and plenty of others too. And Byron’s menu is also little pricier.
My friend ordered a rare cheeseburger with Cashel blue cheese and when we brought it to their attention that it was well-done, it was replaced without a fuss. Her burger looked delicious while my order, the mini classic burgers were a disappointment. Nothing was wrong with it – it was tasty – but there was significantly less burger for my money and I would have done better by ordering a regular hamburger. The pickle on the side was very tasty though – half sour and half sweet and wholly crunchy.
Sides were hit and miss. The French fries were nice but the batter of the onion rings (red onions!) had herbs in it and the rosemary overpowered everything.
I’ll leave it to you to decide whether the whole burger craze is still going strong or is starting to wane. But Byron’s not going to be my first choice when I next crave a big, juicy hamburger. You know, all this has me thinking what the next restaurant trend in London will be. What would be fun is some interactive eating – Chinese hotpots or Korean barbeques. Very social and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Just my two cents.
Byron
222 Kensington High Street
London W8 7RG
Tamarind and Thyme 
Sun, 27 Jan, 2008 at 06:23
too bad the minis weren’t worth the money, they look like the perfect size!
Sun, 27 Jan, 2008 at 14:33
Most people will happily eat a grilled steak … so what changes if you mince that beef and form it into a patty before grilling?
Seems to me the big mistake was ordering sides with your burger … I occasionally eat at Big Mac’s, BK or Wimpy’s (not so bad if you don’t do it too often)
But, so often, I’ll say … I want a double cheeseburger, with a little onion, and that’s all … but, invariably get the ‘inquisition’; do I want relish? Sauce? chips? salad? …
Sun, 27 Jan, 2008 at 23:13
Wow that looks so good!
Mon, 28 Jan, 2008 at 18:33
Kat: They’re definitely cute. But they’re about 2 bites each…and 6 bites won’t fill me up. 🙂
travelrat: Unfortunately, I definitely needed the sides to fill me up after the little guys. A regular hamburger would probably have been enough.
Sometimes I want a steak and sometimes I want a burger – I reckon the burger makes me feel more primitive as I’ve got to eat it with my hands. But then again, the steak is just a slab of meat… I could go on but then you’ll think I’m weird. 🙂
mywoodenrobot: They do look good, don’t they?! My friend confirms that the cheeseburger was very very good!
Tue, 29 Jan, 2008 at 00:30
I’m glad the burgers were tasty, though! Here in the States, it’s really, really hard to get a rare burger… I guess the government thinks it’s going to kill us all.
Tue, 29 Jan, 2008 at 16:12
I agree – there’s way too many of these ‘gourmet’ burger joints popping up (and I personally don’t think they’re all that great… but I’m not a big fan of burgers anyway). I think if they’re going burger crazy, they should get an import from Japan, like MOS Burger! Now I like THEIR burgers…mmmm! 😀
Tue, 29 Jan, 2008 at 23:03
girlie: It’s not common to find a place here that’ll do that either – so thumbs up to Byron for that! They do have confidence in their meat source.
supercharz: Now THAT’s an idea! I’ve always wanted to try MOS burger. Two trips to Singapore in the past 5 years and NO visits to MOS burger…bah! There just wasn’t anymore room in my stomach!
Fri, 7 Mar, 2008 at 17:10
What burger places would you recommend? I moved to London from NY and am craving a decent burger -GBK is pretty poor.
Sat, 8 Mar, 2008 at 21:29
jxhusa: You should give Byron’s a go – their regular sized burgers weren’t bad (don’t eat the little ones) but pass on their onion rings. I’ve heard good things about Hache in Camden but I’ve never tried it myself.
Thu, 8 May, 2008 at 20:46
jxhusa, of all the gourmet burger places Hamburger Union is the best for a real quality burger but if you’re after something closer to an NY burger Ed’s Diner in Soho is probably right up your street. I whole heartedly agree when it comes to GBK, all style and no substance coupled with ridiculous prices makes for a pretty poor meal.
Supercharz, did you really enjoy MOS burger? I had a MOS burger at their Kyoto branch and it really was wholly unimpressive (though I did enjoy the Teriyaki burger and would have liked to sample the yakiniku burger), not at all what I would equate to a quality burger.
@Su-Lin – I would LOVE for a k-bbq craze to take off so I could finally walk into a place without being stared at and just to end up with some good Korean food closer to home would be a godsend. That’s not to say I have anything against the current burger craze, I just think that it really pitched itself to the wrong end of the market. Who wouldn’t want to pay >1.99 for a good quality burger with a properly cooked patty and a balanced amount of extras and condiments. Something you could easily eat two or three of without having to break the bank. And how hard would it be to be able to buy a burger and not have to buy chips and a drink to make it worthwhile. Sorry, ranting on…
I’ll be quiet now.
/me goes off to dream about galbi
Sat, 10 May, 2008 at 19:13
newmiyamoto: 😀 Korean bbq would be terrific…now craving some…
And don’t worry about ranting… I like to hear about new recommendations!
Sat, 25 Oct, 2008 at 19:13
[…] did find one substitute: mini burgers. But after a slightly disappointing mini burger experience at Bryon’s, I put off slider thoughts in my mind for a […]
Wed, 27 May, 2009 at 08:03
[…] Byron’s Burgers – I visited the first Byron’s burger restaurant in Kensington soon after it opened. […]
Wed, 9 Dec, 2009 at 18:45
Hi Su-Lin, thanks for checking my blog out 🙂 I agree, Byron wasn’t too great when I visited it earlier this year. I only recently started eating meat so when I visited I opted for a veggie burger. It was forgettable. My boyfriend’s cheeseburger was below average as well.
Sticky Fingers around the corner does really good burgers and milkshakes – the best I’ve had in London really. They’re a bit on the pricier side but on Mondays they have a 40%-50% off deal on the menu!