Burgers, glorious burgers...

Recently I’ve been on a bit of a burger binge. Maybe it’s the burger craze that’s still sweeping London or perhaps it’s the fact I’m Scottish and just love meat. Either way, I’ve visited (or you could say dutifully researched for gluten dodgers) a number of London burger joints. Here’s the run-down of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Giant Robot (Lucky Chip) in Clerkenwell – burgers provided by the infamous Lucky Chip who have residency at a couple of bars. Very impressive. Juicy, tasty burger with cheese, onions and bacon, and good fries (both the patty and fries are GF). No gluten free rolls, but I’d checked this in advance and so took my own.

Giant Robot (Lucky Chip) Clerkenwell on own gluten free Genius bun

They also informed me they are looking into a gluten free bun, but haven’t found one they think is good enough yet. Other menu options are the sliders (without the bun – unless you bring your own – and not the chicken one) or the pork meatballs with olive oil mash. And you can book a table. Rating: 4/5

Meat Liqour in Soho – greasy burgers, big queues (no bookings) and too try-hard. Unimpressed. No GF rolls. Rating 2/5

Hache in Clapham (but they have a few others too) – really tasty burgers (GF), perfect fries (GF) and a great selection of meat, chicken, lamb, duck and veggie options. They don’t have gluten free buns but are happy for you to take your own roll and they will prepare it for you. The Steak Mexican is amazing and the chicken fajita is really good too (caramelised onions, cheese, gauc, sour cream, salsa and jalapenos). No bookings but they do takeaway. Rating: 4.5/5

Hache takeaway on own gluten free bread

Honest burger in Kings Cross, Soho or Brixton village – tasty well cooked burger (but not as good as Lucky Chip or Hache), great gluten free rolls available and Estrella gluten free beer (the best in my opinion) to top it off. A lot of people rave about the rosemary chips, but I think they are over-cooked. Simple and effective menu, no GF hassles and one of the few places you can have a beer makes this a great choice. No bookings, but they also do take-away. Rating: 4/5

Still to try Patty & Bun, smashburger and Mother Flipper. And In ‘n’ Out Burger is meant to be coming to the UK soon too. It’s an American institution and they do what they call a ‘protein burger’ which is the burger wrapped in a lettuce leaf rather than a bun, which makes it gluten free.