10 of London’s Best Burgers

Lead image: Honest Burger

1 Dirty Burger Dirty Burger reminds you why you fell in love with eating burgers in the first place. We’re talking meaty, juicy, messy mouthfuls, the kind that invites dribbles with every bite. Napkins at the ready – it’s not called Dirty Burger without good reason. There are three offerings in total: the cheese burger, dirty bacon burger and dirty cop-out for vegetarians. The chips are crunchy, salty and oh so good, the onion rings are melt-in-the-mouth, and you can even have a pint to round-off the full ‘dirty’ experience. The original location in Kentish Town saw a back entrance tiny tin-roof outbuilding, reminiscent of the sort of place you’d probably stumble across in mid-west America. Since then the Soho-House based group, which also owns Pizza East and Chicken Shop among other outlets, has expanded into new locations including Vauxhall and St John’s Wood.Various locations from Kentish Town to Tooting

2 Honest Burger For meat lovers. Honest Burger, which originated in Brixton and in three short years has opened branches across London, uses Ginger Pig dry-aged beef and they serve it up rare. It’s the best beef you’ll get between two slices. Choose from a beef, cheese, Honest or the Special burger, that usually changes every month. There’s a chicken burger too, should you be inclined. All come with a side of rosemary chips which are simply divine. Messy and beautiful.Brixton, Notting Hill, Camden, Tooting, Oxford Circus, Soho & King’s Cross

3 Haché Haché is a place for variety lovers. Beef burgers topped with everything from Bavarian cheese and stilton to sweet cure bacon, chorizo or mozzarella and sun-dried tomato tapenade, you’ll never tire of the menu here. There are also a few chicken burgers and veggie burgers to choose from, as well as lamb, pulled pork and duck varieties. I highly recommend the Mexican burger.Fulham, Clapham, Shoreditch and Camden

4 Bleecker Street Burgers Inspired by an awesome burger devoured in East Street, New York, Bleecker Street Burgers is a labour for love for founder Zan Kaufman. For Kaufman, it’s all about the beef, so she keeps her burgers simple, using rare-breed, grass-fed beef from small farms in the UK. It’s dry aged and cooked when you order, giving it an intense, beefy flavour. It’s hard to beat the cheeseburger, a juicy little chap with American cheese, lettuce and house sauce. After years selling brill burgers from a street-food truck, she opened her first permanent burger kiosk in Old Spitalfields Market in 2015. In 2017, the team added 20-seater takeout joint in Victoria and 30-seater in the new Bloomberg building.Bloomberg Arcade, Victoria & Spitalfields

5 Fatboy’s Diner Fatboy’s Diner in trinity Buoy Wharf is the stuff of legend. The diner has featured in films like Sliding Doors, Vogue photoshoots and music videos with its 40s counter, red-topped stools and flashes of chrome. Try the Hot, Fat & Wow, a whopper of a burger of 100% beef, topped with homemade chilli, cheese and onion. It has a kick of heat and is huge, messy and delicious. Enjoy with sides of onion rings, fat fries and a banana milkshake.Trinity Buoy Wharf, 64 Orchard Place E14 OJW

6 Dip & Flip Dipping gravy and flipping burgers is the idea behind this fun little eatery, which opened first on Battersea Rise before opening further venues in Wimbledon and Tooting (plus a pop-up at Bar Elba in Waterloo). With its eccentric menu, Dip & Flip doesn’t need fancy décor to pull in the crowds, instead its pretty minimalist design takes on a low-key diner style with exposed bricks and wooden tables. Grab a simple burger, maybe have it dipped in gravy, or go all out with the delicious ‘dip & flip burger’. And to go with that, a milk shake with a double shot of Bourbon.Wimbledon, Tooting & Battersea

7 Patty & Bun Lovers of big, bolshie burgers should head for Patty & Bun, which has locations from Borough High Street – its newest and most ambitious site – to Goodge Street and Richmond Road. We highly recommend the Lambshank Redemption Burger, a layered feast of lamb buttermilk baby courgettes, pickled aubergine, cumin aioli and feta that’s not for the faint-hearted! The Borough site is a veritable burger palace, with a total of 50 seats, a buzzy open kitchen, a bar and milkshake offering, and a retro diner feel with deep red booths, exposed brickwork and neon light installations. They even serve up breakfast buns!Various locations

8 Ben’s CanteenBen’s Canteen on St John’s Hill isn’t all about burgers but it sure does do them well. There’s the pulled-pork burger, the crunchy chicken burger (see burgers aren’t all about beef), and our favourite, the Mexi-burger. For pescetarians and vegetarians there’s a crab burger and sweet potato with harissa burger. The restaurant is decked out in a cool, rustic-industrial style and dimly lit so it doesn’t matter if you end up with burger all over your face. A second venue has recently opened in Earlsfield, and both are family-friendly.140 St John’s Hill, Battersea SW11 1SL

9 Byron Byron has become one of the best-known burger chains in the UK, and for good reason – reliably good quality beef, a strong selection of sides and smiley, efficient service means it’s a safe bet for even the fussiest of burger lovers. Take a seat in a retro-style booth and go for the ‘Bryon’ – a 6oz patty topped with bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion and Byron sauce, accompanied by courgette fries and coleslaw or, if you’re feeling extra hungry, a side of macaroni cheese (completely unnecessary, but utterly delicious). There are also regularly-changing specials, for those who find themselves visiting rather more frequently than they’d care to admit…Various locations

10 Red Dog Saloon Famous in Hoxton for its signature burger The Devastator, a gut-busting 8 inch burger that is rarely finished, Red Dog Saloon recently brought its Man vs Food-esque challenge to Clapham. If you’re not up for the super-sized burger then more manageable 3oz and 6oz patties come wedged between guacamole, bacon and a smorgasbord of cheeses. Whatever you choose, wash your burger down with margaritas, bourbon or an all-American beer.Hoxton & Clapham