Proper Burgers (American) – Leyton, London

Proper Burgers is a well-known and well-established restaurant at least by East London’s Leyton-standards.

While the restaurant offers modest seating for six outside its premises, we’ve been told it can cater for around 50 indoors.

With a brightly lit open kitchen and coffee bar, the place itself is equally bright, airy, and spacially set out, and boasts an attractive wall feature made up entirely of 80’s cassette tapes that extends across one side of the restaurant.

Although they open fairly late during the weekdays at 6pm, and at noon during the weekends, we can confirm that the restaurant offers an all-day breakfast.

NOTE: Proper Burgers has a sign displayed on its counter which inconveniently declares that only cash is accepted!

Cosmopolitan (left), Strawberry Mojito (right), £4.95 each

Isn’t that Cosmopolitan beverage elegantly presented? Alas,”a sin prevailing much … who give their eyes the liberty of gazing”! This was a clear case of style over substance: lack of flavour; too much ice; all in a fancy glass.

The Strawberry Mojito, on the other hand, despite being presented in a small glass, contained fresh strawberries that demanded far more of the mint flavour to come through than it did. In the end, however, the sheer quantity of ice drowned out much of the flavour. Thus, while it didn’t deliver that tangy edge, it was a good drink, but one which, given its size, didn’t justify the fiver price-tag, at least not by Leyton’s standards.

Buffalo Chicken Wings: x6 £5.95, x8 £6.95, x12 £9.95

Although this was one of the better BBQ sauces we’ve had, being thick and viscous, not only was its ratio far too much in comparison to the modesly-sized wings, but perhaps it would have been more efficacious to use the sauce as a marinade while the chicken’s being grilled so as to achieve that deliciously smoky glaze. Each to their own though!

Hot Chicken Wings: : x6 £5.95, x8 £6.95, x12 £9.95

Boy was this a hot and fiery hot sauce, with a flavour reminiscent of Tabasco. However, its watery consistency allowed it to come across as manageable without being overpowering.

And while both sauces are recommended, 6 wings for £5.95 is pretty steep for Leyton.

Morris Burger – Two 4oz beef patties with green chilli, roasted chillies & served with mature cheddar, lettuce, gherkins, tomato, fried onions & chilli jam in a cream brioche bun. 4oz £6.50, 8oz £9.95

The Morris Burger certainly succeeded in creating an outward impression. This was one attractive looking burger – filled to the brim, and with each layer made distinct from the other.

But if we’ve learned one indisputable fact from all the burgers we’ve tried over the years, it’s this: the bigger the burger and the more condiments therein, the more difficult the task of achieving a balance between the many flavours.

In this particular case: a whopping 8oz beef patty, whose true nature will always be difficult to conceal. This, sadly, lacked that natural umami taste of good quality beef, and was far too fatty and chewy in texture. A pity, since the rest of the burger was pretty well executed, from the beautifully caramelised layer of grilled onions, which couldn’t have been done any better, to the copious quantity of creamy mature cheddar. The green chillis, however, weren’t that potent, and the lack of  chilli jam was overwhelmed by the competition. There’s definitely room for improvement here!

Proper Burger – Two 4oz beef patties, American Cheese, lettuce, tomato, gherkins, fried onions & Dijonaisse in a brioche bun. 4oz £5.95, 8oz £8.95

And the same problem that undermined the quality of the above burger came to haunt this one.

The restaurant’s signature was let down by the sheer quality of the meat.

Additionally, the Dijonaisse, which should have packed more of a punch than it did, came through tamely.

This was, indeed, an American burger where the fried onions didn’t quite cover the lack of a meaningful burger sauce.

Cheesy Fries £3.95

Standard fries done ultra crispy, with a generous amount of melted cheese on top. Ergo, these went down a treat!