The Admiral Codrington / Chelsea, London

Nestled on a road a stone’s throw from the Conrans and Chanels of South Kensington, ‘The Cod’ is an upmarket pub, of a similar ilk to the area it’s in (the bar staff all wear matching formal striped shirts, pints cost over four quid), but luckily lacking it’s pretention and stuffiness. Still, I went in wearing a hoodie and carrying a Boots carrier bag and felt like a right tramp.

The burgers’ arrival were greeted a with hushed silence from the table. The patty looked HUGE, and the juices flowing down the burger onto the plate were so mesmerising I made a video of it. Seriously.

On first bite, there’s a rich, sweet ketchuppy tang. Under the top bun is a deep red spread, which I was later told was primarily onion, red wine and tomato juice reduced down to an almost-puree and then thinly spread. It was a brilliant addition, and complimented the patty, which was moist and soft, adding a depth to the meatiness and sweetness of the beef..

This was paired with a sauce, which I gathered was a mayonnaise with flecks of coarse-grain dijon mingled in. This, mixed with the meat, the reduction, and the pickles meant every delicious taste blended and combined to create something very original and, I think, quite special.

All the juice of the burger, the sauce and tomato conspired to decimate the bottom of the bun, it capitulated quickly. But I couldn’t say I really cared, the taste of the whole thing was so *interesting* and jammed full of *flavour*. 

Now, at 15 notes, this is squarely in the pricey end of the burger spectrum. Hawksmoor money. But, I’d say it’s well worth it. And the place itself lends itself to a nice, relaxing dinner. So, next time you fancy a burger for, say a birthday, or an anniversary, or fuck it, a Wednesday, get yourself down here.

Oh, wait, the **SNACKS**:

Hats off to the mini sausages. These were INSANELY good. Ever so slightly bigger than a cocktail sausage. Covered in a honey and Dijon Mustard glaze, they had a caramel-like quality in it’s consistency and sweetness. They went. Quickly. The calamari rings were fresh, crisp, not greasy at all, combined with slithers of green chilli peppers that added real fire. The Pork crackling was thinly sliced like skinny curly fries, light and bubbly with a rich, sweet apple dipping sauce - very clever. 

theadmiralcodrington.co.uk

• Rob.

Elliot's Café / Borough Market, London

So Rob is back from the West coast tour and while we wait for him to compile the epic list of dive bars, food trucks and various Denny’s locations he visited, here’s a little write-up of Elliot’s in Borough Market.

I’ve been keen on Elliot’s ever since they ran a highly celebrated pop-up in Victoria Park’s Pavilion Cafe. Now it’s open, Borough Market finally has a restaurant that is correctly positioned. Roast is too sartorially aware and posh. Applebee’s is too dirty. Black & Blue is grossly misplaced, looking like a cavernous, empty, shiny insult to the neighbouring Ginger Pig. I never went to the Oyster place. The sushi restaurant is uninviting. None of the pubs serve anything remotely edible. This could well be the Market’s first proper restaurant that feels like it actually belongs there.

Borough is a food enigma, and over the last few years has begun to spiral into a joke what with the former MD being a tit, the rampaging tourism, the neverending rail bridge build, booting out great traders and the overall quality of available produce being a bit embarrassing. It is a place of queues and disappointed tourists chewing on disappointing takeaway sandwiches. I worked next to Borough for nearly two years, and watched this steady, gradual decline happen right infront of me. I saw legions of sandwich-chewers wondering what the fuck all the fuss was about. Any small town market across the Channel makes Borough look like the preening, over-praised street-bauble it really is.

So I was excited to go back for the first time in months to see what Elliot’s had done. Maybe they’d captured the essence of what it used to be and had made good on their mission of uncomplicated, good food using market traders to source ingredients.

We ordered burgers. They took about 25 minutes to arrive. At the time of writing, they are only available at lunchtime. They come served with shoestring fries, which I left most of. Shoestrings can be amazing, but these were like a plateful of the broken bits you get in the bottom of a bag of McCoy’s. Hard to eat.

They were also accompanied by a few slices of pickled cucumber. I would prefer a proper dill pickle, but can get behind the sentiment. There was also an excellent homemade spicy ketchup.

As for the burger, it’s not as revelatory as others are suggesting. The beef is excellent quality and very tasty. The olive oil bun is the best thing on the plate. Soft, yet solid enough to prevent any spillage. The cheese is salty and posh, and therefore not quite melted properly, and I think there are some onions in there too. My main complaint is the lack of saucing. After a lacklustre first half, I emptied the remainder of the aforementioned spicy ketchup, and the whole thing improved immeasurably. Had there been a mayonnaise in that bun, and perhaps some mustard to wake up the beef, I think this could be a real contender as a top London British burger. Bread nerds should certainly sample the bun: it’s really excellent.

I think Elliot’s is lovely. Borough does finally have a restaurant that matches its aesthetic, and everything else on the short, simple menu sounded great.

I think they’ve succeeded with everything they were trying to do and I hope the rest of the area can start to meet this new standard.

• Simon

• Elliot’s serves cheeseburgers on weekday lunchtimes.

The Roaring Fork / Austin, TX

The patty was as good as you’d expect in a restaurant at this level - well seasoned, delicately pink in the centre and wicked juicy.

The Roaring Fork is slap bang in the middle of downtown Austin, cuddled up to the InterContinental and just down the street from the lovely Paramount cinema. This is classic steak and cocktail territory, the kind of thing other national chains base themselves around, but with a distinctively upscale cowboy vibe.

We snuck in for a quick burger lunch to escape the heat.

The tantalisingly-monickered $13 Big Ass Burger awaited. A hefty, shiny, properly laid out steakhouse burger, easily a half-pounder, with poblano peppers, American cheese and bacon. Elsewhere on the menu is a $15 Kobe beef option, but the pesto aioli meant we left it on the sidelines this time.

The Big Ass Burger arrived closed with a healthy portion of fries and a side order of green chili macaroni cheese. On first glance the shine and colour of the bun was hugely pleasing, and when split the burger held its structure very well and was beautifully soft. The patty was as good as you’d expect in a restaurant at this level - well seasoned, delicately pink in the centre and wicked juicy.

The green chilli mac didn’t pack as much heat as the name suggests, but was a rich ‘n saucy poshed-up example. Solid, but not life-altering.

Overall this was one of the tidiest Austin burgers we’ve had, despite its ample proportions. Great service and a welcome escape from the bustle of downtown Austin. Recommended if you want a relaxed sit-down lunch instead of chasing down a local foodtruck.

• Simon.