A Date With a Burger - Bar Boulud: Knightsbridge, May 1st, 2011

As I mentioned in yet another late piece some time ago, Bar Boulud would feature with its second review on this blog, amalgamating two visits, with one central theme: burgers. We had two burgers with afternoon tea during Christmas 2010 - a ridiculous and exceptional evening's work - and I knew there and then that we'd be back to eat them again before long.

The occasion that brought us back was my brother and his wife's birthdays. We picked a date between the two (in May as it happened) and treated them. The reasoning for Bar Boulud was simple: somewhere they may not usually visit (these two are as comfortably suburban as young couples get) and the fact that my brother had disclosed to me not long before this that a burger and chips was his favourite meal.

Now burgers and chips are fabulous, but only in the right circumstances. The best burger I've ever had is probably at a place in Greenwich Village, New York. It was a $5 burger served on a paper plate in an old New York tavern. I couldn't tell you exactly why it was the best burger ever, it just was. With most meals I could write about individual flashes of brilliance, perfections via combination and unforgettable tastes that made me love it, but not this. The circumstances and the holiday made it so.

I've expounded on the merits of excellent burgers before but finding perfect burgers is a little like finding outstanding pizza: near impossible. No matter how rare and juicy I want my meat, how perfect I want the sauces and how much lettuce should be in the mix, there are times a quarter-pounder from McDonald's is just the ticket. You can find awesome food in unexpected places, usually depending on the time of day and how hungry you are. It has been rightly said that hungry people make for great food, so perhaps there is no recipe for perfection.

As with a McDonald's, another place you might not expect to find a great burger is in Knightsbridge. Bar Boulud was a strange place to find such excellent burgers - there's no point in any suspense because I've already mentioned they're lovely - but Daniel Boulud has pedigree. One thing that seems to have survived the French chef's journey from New York to London is the burger.

There are other things on the menu at Bar Boulud - too many things if you ask me - but few of them have the same pull or simple elegance of the burgers. To summarise briefly (because I only really want to talk about the burgers), we ate a few terrines to start which were not really on the ball - too cold, too hard and too bland - and the other half had some oysters (left). Despite my relative ignorance of great oysters, I could tell these were good and she was equally impressed.

My sister-in-law picked an egg with asparagus (right). It was beautifully presented; crispy on the outside, served on top of the vegetables with some duck breast. It was, to be frank, an unique dish of pure French beauty amongst other choices which are hiding simple tradition amongst an array of confusing descriptions and over-emphasised flavour combinations. This wasn't perfect, but enough to write home about. Just.

On, then, to the main event and the reason we were at the restaurant. We each ordered a burger: two piggie burgers, one yankee burger and one frenchie burger. These are the three options and they are all wonderful. To do the things justice, I will write the descriptions exactly as they appeared on the menu that night:

Yankee Burger (£11.25): Grilled beef patty with iceberg lettuce, tomato, sweet onion, sesame bun, pickle. Add cheddar cheese supp + £1.00

Frenchie Burger (£12.25): Grilled beef patty with confit pork belly, rocket, tomato-onion compote, morbier cheese, peppered brioche bun

Piggie Burger (£12.25): Grilled beef patty with BBQ pulled pork, bibb lettuce, green chili mayonnaise, cheddar bun, red cabbage slaw

Take a moment to read all that in. If you're a vegetarian, a non-beef eater or insane, then this may not be for you. But have a good look through all the components and ingredients in each of the burger choices. Let me tell you: having tried at least some of each of these burgers, they are unimpeachable in their quality.

Burgers might be simple, working-man's food, but this is taking something that can be pure and unadulterated and turning it into a right old roll in the hay with its blue-blooded, twice-removed cousins that are way richer. Each burger is special in its own right, each unique enough to stand out.

The yankee burger is all about the basics done brilliantly (left). It's soft, sinuous meat that mixes well with the cheese and tomato to give the crispest, cleanest taste of all the burgers. It's unpretentious and totally not what you expect from a Knightsbridge hotel. The sweet onion gives it a perfect kick to finish on.

The frenchie burger is about showing off. The confit pork belly is an outrageous touch of high-end pomposity that I defy any meat-, burger- or food-lover to dislike. Serious calories (as it should be) mean serious flavour. The rocket lends a peppery sourness to the dish which is balanced by the sweeter tomato-onion compote. The crowning touch for me is the brioche bun: a fluffy counteraction to the greasy filling.

Finally, my favourite (as well as my brother's and my choice for the evening): the piggie burger (right). The addition of barbecued pulled pork to anything makes it better, but when it also has the slight added heat of the green chili (I don't know why they don't say "chilli") mayonnaise, it's truly a splendid thing. The smartest part of the burger is the fact they don't add cheese and they do add the perfect, sour yet tangy red cabbage slaw. Both of these set the thing off; a soft, slightly fiery mouthful of perfection. The bun being flavoured with cheddar is a clever touch too.

A word on the sides: the chips, French peas & beans and truffled mashed potato were all super accompaniments to the patties we picked. Particularly the mashed potato. Creamy, gloopy and with all the sharp delights of truffle, it was a great side that I might not normally put with a burger.

Desserts were a non-event. The other half wanted chocolate but no mint in her dessert and got both. Mint goes about as well with chocolate as toothpaste, which is what eating mint chocolate is like. I had a cake with pears and cinnamon ice cream. It was an okay sponge which unfortunately didn't allow the pears and ice cream to flourish. The rest - a praline soufflé and some pineapple with fruity accompaniments - were not much to write home about and not really worth what they were charging.

So, if there is one thing you take away from this review - and I don't really feel I need to spell it out - it should be that burgers at Bar Boulud are the way to go. Afternoon tea isn't half bad either, and their seafood is worth a little further investigation, but the main event is the beef in a bun. Go for lunch, have a glass of something, order a piggie and the mash. It's an experience that won't cost you an arm and a leg, and one that you'll be sure to remember.

Bar Boulud