Band of Burgers – New Menu Items (Camden)

We didn’t need any convincing really, particularly following our memorable first visit (review here), for round 2 of Band of Burgers after being told of the addition of two new flame-grilled burgers to their already impressive menu.

Having reviewed them not too long ago in April, this time we returned to try:

• The Tapenado
• O’live Forever

And since we were here, we decided on reviewing a few other additional items for your pleasure which we hadn’t had the opportunity (or room in our collective Ventriculuses) of trying the first time.

Sexy Smoothies £4.50 each
Electric Feel – Apple juice, strawberry, raspberry and blueberry (far-left)
White Sky – Pineapple, pineapple juice, coconut milk, lime and milk (left)
Bananarama – Orange juice, banana and strawberry (right)
Violet Hill – Apple juice, mango and blueberry (far-right)

We needed to know exactly how sexy these smoothies really were, and were, thus, presented with the following assortment of attractive looking and colourful beverages.

The Electric Feel delivered subtle flavours of a berry concoction that amounted to a pleasant drink.

With the strong, sharp lime being complemented well by the sweet mixture of pineapple and coconut, the White Sky turned out to be well balanced, aromatic, and the best of the quartet.

The Bananarama was poor in comparison though. You’ll probably like this if you like ultra-green bananas (though you might need a Ventriculus transplant thereafter). But for us, there was zero hint of any orange or strawberry to counter the banana’s sourness.

The Violet Hill was fresh with a sharp hint of the blueberry, but fairly sour nonetheless.

These two sides came with the two new aformentioned burgers.

Rocket Man Parmesan – Rocket and Parmesan with sundried tomato, £4.00

The Rocket Man Parmesan had a nice cheesy flavour to it that was tempered well by the rich and heady sweetness of the sundried tomato.

And there was certainly no skimping on the ingredients either. Kudos!

Green Leaves – Green leaf salad with feta and olives, £3.50

With a mild dressing, this salad had a good balance of all the individual items, with the saltiness of the feta cheese complementing the strong, pungent flavours of the black and green olives.

O’live Forever – Beef burger served with olive and sundried tomato, tapenado and wild rocket, £8.00

This was the first of the duo of new burgers added to their menu; and what a fine addition it was too.

That deep olive taste of the tapenado (variantly spelled tapenade) was superbly distinct, and went so well with the rich sundried paste.

As always, the patty was moist and perfectly minced, and covered in loads of gooey cheddar cheese.

The sweet and sour notes therein kept the palate undulating, and with the earthiness of the rocket leaves running in the background, this burger alone was worth the visit.

The Tapenado – Chicken steak burger served with olives and sundried tomato, tapenado, and wild rocket, £8.00

The Tapenado is essentially exactly the same as the above, except that it has chicken in place of the beef.

And what beautifully cooked chicken it was too. Despite its thinness, this was moist with just the right level of char to it, and went really well with the rest of the condiments.

Easily one of the best chicken burgers we’ve had in a while.

In hindsight, and call us what you will, but if we were to order this again, we’d request a combination of both beef and chicken!

Create Your Own – Lamb, Goats Cheese, Caramelised Onions, Jalapeno, Aioli sauce, Bacon (extra: £1.00) – £ 8.95

This was our creation which we proudly named after the arcade classic Streetfighter. And we thinks we chose wisely too. With a cheese as strong as goat’s, we knew we needed something equally strong to offset that intense goaty flavour.

Hence, we opted for the sweetness of caramelised onions along with the garlicy goodness of Aioli sauce and a touch of heat from the jalapenos. For a textural contrast, we decided on the addition of bacon rashers. Thankfully, the rashers were cooked just right – nice and cripsy. What’s more, the lamb patty was gorgeously moist.

In the end, what we concocted was something even Daigo Umehara would have been proud of devouring.

Chef Special – Beef, peanut butter, cheddar cheese, jalapeno, £7.95

And in honour of our visit (if we can be modest enough to call it that), we were presented with the Chef’s fairly daring creation of beef, peanut butter, cheddar cheese and jalapenos.

And before you balk at the idea of peanut butter, let us assure you that it kinda actually worked in a bizarre way.

However, we personally would have added a much needed sauce to counter some of the sweetness and the dry sticky texture of the peanut butter.

A pretty decent out-of-the-box suggestion, and a concept that’s both creatively fun and challenging in equal measure.