Brioche Burger – West Ham
THIS RESTAURANT HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED DOWN!
When Brioche Burger kindly invited us to come on over to the heart of East London’s Green Street to sample their burgers and steaks, we were only too happy to oblige.
And so we found ourselves at the far end of the imaginatively named East Shopping Centre seated in a rustically designed, two-storey restaurant, tucking into a variety of dishes. This invite was made all the more exciting, however, by the news that Brioche Burger had only this month successively managed, despite having recently opened, to secure a deal that has given it London exclusivity over Aberdeen Angus halal meat certified by none other than the Halal Monitoring Committee.
Not bad for a place that’s only been operating for just over nine months now!
DRINKS
Drinks are always an interesting affair; you simply don’t know what you’re going to get until you’ve tasted ‘em.
The pina colada mocktail was, in our opinion, slightly on the smaller side. It was, nevertheless, sufficiently creamy, with the flavours of the coconut and pineapple coming through fairly well. But, this wouldn’t be at the top of our ordering list.
The salted caramel milkshake was thick, as it ought to be, but let down badly by the lack of salt. This, of course, meant that it was simply far too sweet even for our sweet tooth.
The best of the lot, however, was the Lemonata where the deep strawberry sweetness was complimented perfectly by the sharp freshly squeezed lemony-lime flavour running through it – deliciously refreshing.
FRIES
Yes we ordered three types of fries, and yes they were all very well done.
The Sweet Potato Fries didn’t quite achieve the standard set by Pecking Order; but then again, these were thin fries as opposed to thick chips, and, therefore, very crispy, and, on their own merit, rather good.
The Cajun-salted Rustic Chips (again more fries than chips) on the other hand were very addictive. These incredibly crispy, double-fried chips were so perfectly seasoned and cooked that you’d be forgiven for crunching and munching, and then crunching and munching some more without any worries in the world. And because they’re a quid cheaper than the Sweet Potato Fries, we would seriously recommend two portions; you’ll be thanking us later.
Now these were surprisingly darn good. Recommended by the waitress, these chips were again double-cooked, but smothered in a really tasty in-house chilli sauce along with peppers and red onions that all combined to deliver a deliciously deep sweet-chilli taste. One to try for sure!
CHICKEN WINGS
Any thoughts of these wings turning up slightly on the smaller side were instantly dismissed after tucking into these little babies, particularly the oriental-inspired Dirty Dozen (above right), which were coated in such a interestingly unique and subtle sweet-spicy sauce that it really tempted us to order another dozen more! The Hot Chick Wings, covered as they were in a sweet-BBQ sauce, were pretty good too. All in all, these wings are definitely in the upper rungs of the chicken wing universe.
BURGERS
And, of course, these (along with the steaks) were what we really came for:
HMC-certified, grass-fed Aberdeen Angus, dry-aged for 21 days!
Let’s begin with the Fresh Prince of Green Street.
This is their version of a Philly Cheese Steak.
It’s made up of thinly sliced pieces of Prime Angus Rump generously coated in a tangy, creamy mixture of American cheese along with a couple of sauces which, if eaten when served hot and piping, made for a scrumptious burger.
Definitely worth a try this!
Every so often, Feed the Lion is served a dish of such rare beauty that it makes all that tiresome travelling and monotonous mastication truly worth it. And so it was with this extraordinary burger.
This was most definitely a case of being sold at the first bite.
We have no idea what this “homemade spicy BBQ sauce” comprised of, but oh Lord was it divine! It made this burger sing like no other. This easily rivals any of those exquisite burgers we reviewed at Stax Diner.
Must be tried to be believed; and once you do, you can thank us below.
And the reason why we know it was the Lone Ranger’s miraculous sauce that elevated this burger into the stratosphere is because the same quality of meat used there was also used in the Co Jack, except that this simply wasn’t anywhere near as amazing. Having said that, this is definitely above many of the so-called gourmet burgers we’ve tasted in recent times.
Please note that at the time of review, we were told, the patties for this burger would soon be increased to two 4oz patties – happy days!
To conclude then, these burgers were quite something, particularly the Lone Ranger. The brioche potato buns, or rolls as they call them, were fragrant – lightly crisped on the outside and tender and soft on the inside.
One thing Brioche Burger has got right with these, where many others have failed miserably, is not just the quality of the sauces, but the quantity. While the texture and cooking of each handmade patty was near perfect, ensuring that they were moist and succulent, the amount of sauce added was just enough to make doubly certain that each mouthful was sufficiently lubricated.
These epitomise the definition of the term ‘gourmet’ – well done guys!
STEAKS
It didn’t make much sense to have such fine quality steaks without trying them with all three available sauces for your entertainment, and that’s precisely what we did (don’t say we don’t go beyond the call of duty for you lions). And so we were served a Bearnaise mushroom sauce – subtly flavoured enough not to detract from the flavour of the meat; fresh beef gravy sauce, which was fairly thick though again subtly flavoured; and peppercorn sauce, which was, in terms of the pepper, perfectly balanced. And so our order of preference would be: 1) peppercorn; closely followed by 2) the Bearnaise mushroom; and lastly the beef gravy (though the owner’s favourite was this).
Unfortunately, the only cuts of steak available to us on the night were the rib-eye, which were presented on a smart, custom-made wooden steak board, large chunky chips, pan fried Heritage tomato (usually served with vine-rippened tomatoes), and red onion.
The double fried chunky chips were, as one would expect, ultra-crispy on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside, and tasted quite like roast potatoes.
The quality of the Heritage tomato coupled with the sweetness of a nicely caramelised red onion married beautifully with the taste of the steak. As for the steak…
… then we asked for medium-rare.
What we got instead was one that certianly was (below), and the other that certainly wasn’t (right).
That being said, however, these were very good steaks.
And since one can always tell cuts by their taste, then these definitely had that sweet undertone that’s so distinctive of quality cuts – rich, succulent, and just the right size when accompanied by said sides.
So what can we say of these HMC-certified, grass-fed, 21-day dry-aged Aberdeen Angus burgers and steaks?
What we can’t say is whether the price difference between the Angus and non-Angus burgers (£3 difference) and rib-eye steak (£5.04 difference) is worth it?
What we can say is that these are evidently better than most of the non-Angus steaks and burgers we’ve had the fortune (and, in some cases, the misfortune) of tasting.
So by logical extension. . . well, you can work out the rest.
- NO
- CHILD SEATING
The waiters were polite and welcoming. Not only did they seem to love what they were doing, but were also given enough freedom to be themselves!
The food was delivered speedily, coming out fresh and hot. And though there’s always room for improvement, from the communication we saw on their social media sites, Brioche Burger seems to take customer feedback very seriously – a rarity in today’s culinary world.
This is a place that needs to be visited by all lovers of meat and innovation. And as usual, don’t be shy in expressing your thoughts just as Brioche Burger's Managing Director did below:
Be the first to leave a review.
East Shopping Centre, 232 Green Street, London E7 8LE.
T: +44 (0)20 3816 0790 | W: www.briocheburger.com | E: [email protected]
Mo Sham
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Fresh Price looks cheesy fantastic. So hungry looking at this site.
24 Nov '15Mariam
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I’ll agree the Lone Ranger is a fantastic burger. A bit small for my liking. I haven’t tried the Angus meat version nor the steak, so thats next on the to do list.
27 Nov '15