Honest Burgers (Oxford Circus), London

My burger of the year for 2013 had to be from the Soho branch of Honest Burgers and I have been desperate to return for my burger fix. It seems that the brand has really taken off in the past year blooming into a mini chain including new branches in Oxford Circus and Kings Cross. The compact Oxford Circus restaurant is based on Market Place just off the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.

With a regularly changing special which collaborations this year with BrewDog and The Rib Man, Honest keep things fresh and give reasons for diners to return. I was gutted to miss the collaborations and had to settle with the special burger this time with the signature Ginger Pig dry aged beef reared in North Yorkshire, comte cheese, Alsace bacon, red onion relish, sauce gribiche and baby leaf.

Burgers come pink as standard and my burger was certainly perfectly pink. However I would of liked the outside of the burger to be grilled more to form a harder crust as the whole consistency of the burger was soft like the inside. The comte cheese was quite mild and the bacon overpowered it. A good burger but not as impressive as the honest burger. This was echoed by a colleague who had the honest burger with red onion relish, smoked bacon, mature cheddar, pickled cucumber and lettuce proclaiming it to be amazing.

Another colleague who visited the Soho branch with me last year choose the Tribute burger with bacon, American cheese, burger sauce, frenchs mustard, pickles, onion and lettuce. He also thought the burger needed to be grilled more on the outside and that the Honest burger was still top.

Consistency is key when it comes to expanding brands and given time I’m sure this will be rectified but it just gives me more reason to return and try the other branches.