LDNGuide
The Best Burgers In London Right Now
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Years of excessive exposure to meat, gherkin, and cheese has meant we’ve earned the very official title of Expert Burger Eaters. Yes, it’s 100% legit, please don’t look it up. And as expert burger eaters, we’re going to tell you about some of the best burgers in London. From crispy-edged smash patties, to messy burgers that require both hands, these are the 13 you'll want to try.
THE BURGER SPOTS
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
We have a theory that there’s a correlation between how great a burger is and how inconvenient a restaurant’s seating is. The better the burger, the less time you’ll want to stick around afterwards. And that’s the case with this often-crowded smashburger spot with uncomfortable backless high stools on Acton High Street. The crispy-edged double patty burgers are finished in five—sometimes three—satisfying bites, and the soft bun, tangy pickles, and creamy burger sauce make it taste like elevated fast food. You’ll consider ordering another one to go as you’re savouring the last meaty bite.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
The smashburger bun at Lagom is so buttery, you have to wipe your hands after every single bite. It’s partly why it’s so tasty, but it means you can’t take photographic evidence for your ‘Beautiful Burgers Spotted In The Wild’ group chat unless you want to make a sticky mess. But that won’t matter at this excellent barbecue restaurant inside Hackney Church Brew Co. near Hackney Central. Phones are abandoned, big groups jostle and laugh loudly, napkins become a precious commodity, and attention is torn between a disaster date story and the lacy crust of a smashburger smeared with sharp vinegar slaw.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
If you’re into burgers, chances are you’re familiar with California-based In-N-Out Burger with its thin patties and not-so-secret menu. And chances are you wish you could try one of their burgers without jumping on an 11-hour flight to LAX. Thanks to Bun & Sum, an LA-style takeaway burger spot, you can have the next best thing in Mile End. The crispy, juicy smashpatties are stuffed between soft buns, and topped with everything from brisket or pastrami to a straightforward slice of american cheese. There’s no seating, but the burgers are worth standing around and dripping consommé on your white trainers for.
photo credit: Rob Greig
With bright orange, neon signage, there’s no way you’ll miss this fried chicken spot in Brixton. Everything on the menu is great but the burgers are the reason you should come to the casual, pit stop spot. They’re the kind you can’t fit your whole mouth around and instead require nibbling away at, until you can take a perfect bite with a bit of everything. The juicy chicken, with craggy, crunchy edges, is the perfect shade of golden brown, and spills out of a soft, sturdy bun. Our favourite comes slathered in garlic butter mayo and showered with parmesan.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Burnt has a halal menu and the kind of BBQ platters that the Instagram algorithm feeds you in your hungriest moments. But the burger is our favourite thing to get. It’s so juicy and buttery that by the final bite, your bottom bun will have all but disintegrated. Hunker down in the archway under Leytonstone Station and you’ll find yourself elbow-to-elbow on a too-small shared table with strangers, trying not to make eye contact as you stretch your jaw biting into your double patty smashburger. But asking your new friends for a napkin through a mouthful of salty, moreish chicken salt fries is all part of the fun.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
This Hackney cafe’s fried chicken sandwiches are McDz-like in the best possible way. Soft buns, crisp, pounded chicken, and completely inhalable in under a minute. Flavours, be it a Nashville hot chicken or a spiced fish cutter, go above and beyond anything fast food-related, though. And for beef-lovers, the smashburger—a weekend-only menu highlight—is a perfectly done job, the kind that deserves a promotion.
photo credit: Buk
For those who have never been big fans of the ultra-thick beef patty, a smashburger means finally having all the right ratios. And Buk’s special burger has a thin but substantial, flattened beef patty, a double portion of melted american cheese, plenty of creamy, chilli house sauce oozing over the patty, and sweet caramelised onion to top it all off. This burger laughs in the face of the Big Mac. And we laugh in the face of anyone who hasn’t been to this laid-back Camden burger spot and tried it. Oh, and all the meat is halal.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Four Legs made their name at The Compton Arms where they helped create and nurture a delicious and fun kind of pub eating. At The Plimsoll, a boozer in Finsbury Park, Four Legs have taken their winning combination of one of London’s best burgers and floral crockery to the next level. The Dexter burger is an outstanding piece of beefy, buttery craftsmanship. It’s all meat, cheese, sauce, and gherkins. No lettuce. If you’re not into McDonald’s-style burgers, you may not like this. But the odds are, you will.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Arcade, a food hall near Tottenham Court Road station, is where you’ll find Manna and its perfectly formed smashburgers. It’s from the people behind Bake Street, so it’s no wonder the Nashville hot chicken is delicious, but when you’re in the mood for a dressed-up quarter pounder, their smashburger is an excellent move too. Heavy on the cheese, it’s also got plenty of pickles and some diced onion for good measure. Get a side of waffle fries as well, because… waffle fries.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
We’d love to tell you how often we order Beer + Burger, but our doctor might be reading this and at our last check-up we said we’d try this thing called “moderation”. But we can tell you that, err, it’s a lot. Our go-to order is the cheeseburger. It’s slightly charred, a little moist, and sloppy in a deeply satisfying way. Honestly, we might just order one now from one of its locations—in King’s Cross, Willesden, and Dalston.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
This American diner on the High Street in Uxbridge isn’t for those times when you could have a burger. It’s for those times when you want a burger that will result in unbuttoned jeans. Don’t let the hefty menu distract you. You want their signature Red Iron Burger. It’s got layers—yes, layers—of melted cheese, a juicy beef patty, house burger sauce, jalapeños, and it comes with a generous side of thick-cut chips. Count us in.
Right, bear with us because you’re about to get a glimpse into our deeply indecisive nature. Decisions? Very, very tricky. Especially when we’re asked to choose between Meatliquor’s cheeseburger and their Dead Hippie burger. One, a classic of the genre—super cheesy with plenty of red onion, just the way we like it. The other—spicy, with two beef patties fried in mustard. We cannot choose. And neither should you. Try them both at the diner/dive bar near Oxford Circus.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Burger & Beyond in Camden makes deceptive little buns. They’re palm-sized and filled with charred, but juicy, smashpatties. You’ll look at one and think, ‘I can put away two’. Au contraire our bun-loving friend, these little fellas are rich, smeared with smoky or burnt butter mayo, and dripping in american cheese. Of course you could just get a single patty, but where’s the fun in that?
