Walking around Soho last weekend with ze German for the first time in ages, I was feeling carefree and like we were dating again. The sun was shining, Alice in Wonderland was running through Soho square, some guys were getting married at the church… it was London at its finest.
From the moment we left our place and headed across to Canary Wharf to take the tube to the west end, Wood Wharf was buzzing with life, as people lazed on the grass, watching the Tour de France, ladies handed out free Foster’s Radlers (a shandy) and food trucks simmered away. A perfect London weekend.
I was inspired by a documentary about the Crossrail earlier in the week, to go and walk around ‘my London’. (It turns out the digging from the works is causing old buildings like House of St Barnabus to sink, so they have come up with an ingenious way to keep things standing using injections!). So we wandered around and took in the sights.
When hunger pangs struck, ze German advised efficiently that Honest Burger was around the corner and as my university friend Gratzi had told me very sincerely that this was a good burger spot, we went to indulge.
Hidden in a cute side street off Wardour St this was a lovely bit of respite from the hustle and bustle. (Although a tip for those who like me avoid Saturday tourist shoppers in Oxford St – if you stay off the main roads, London is still a gem at the weekends, its like the tourists are too afraid of getting lost, so you feel like you could be in Diagon Alley next to the muggles!). And there are a number of other branches dotted around.
We sat outside at a small but perfect table for two and watched the locals (lady with cutest pug) and Londoners walking by – made for an interesting pastime!
I had a Honest cocktail which was utterly delicious! I thought the lemon puree may be a bit sour but it was light as a Hendricks and tonic. Ze German had a very Bavarian Paulaner – and star number one for Honest Burger – they offered him 2 small ones for the price of 1 large one as they thought that the bigger bottles were not cold enough!
We went for the Honest Burger and the Tribute Burger to share so we could try them both (yes I ordered my Tribute without the bacon!). The burgers looked huge and came with oodles of delicious rosemary fries.
The burger bun was soft and light and beautiful, it was like poetry. Yes I am aware I am waxing lyrical about bread, but it was that good! It wasn’t crunchy like some buns, which made it possible to enjoy the whole burger without feeling huge afterwards (it was stil huge!). The meat was tender and delicious and with that bit of melting fat taste and texture that makes a really good burger melt in your mouth as a guilty pleasure. And – they do gluten free ones too!
Of the two, the Tribute was (sorry!) by far the better burger. The sauces made it utterly more-ish. The Honest Burger was a good effort to make something different and it might work for someone else but for both of us it was a tad too sweet with the red onion relish and we felt the sauce just made the other one perfect. Gold Star!
So when the bill came in its cute tobacco tin, we were pleased to see that Honest Burgers had earned their 3rd star of excellence, by being, well, honest! They took off 50p for my lack of bacon in my burger. It is not a big thing, but great to see that it is possible to have a great burger in a great location at a very reasonable price and they still want to reflect the real price of what you pay for on top of that.
So, this place is definitely a winner! We will be back and its now on my top 3 list! Go check it out!