The first wave of burgers came out of the United States (to varying degrees) in the late sixties and early seventies and pretty much dominated the fast food scene. Then, interestingly, there was a backlash against the major fast food chains and the humble burger was 'on-the-nose'. Sure, they were still popular, but the fast food dollar started going to other franchises and cuisines. It got really interesting when movies like 'Fast Food Nation' and the hit Morgan Spurlock movie - Super Size Me came out. Burgers it seemed, had approached their use by date.
Then a strange thing happened, burgers were cool again and just about every celebrity chef and chains of alternative (and healthy) burger joints started opening. It was about this time that I started loving burgers again and for the last few years, I've been on a journey to find the best burger joints, which has taken me to the home of the Burger - the USA! (see post here) For me, there is no doubt that some of the independent burger joints around are making the best burgers.
With this in mind, we'd stumbled upon an interesting looking burger joint in Soho, with a great name - The Butchers Club Burgers, which is part of a stable of shops, butchers, a deli and even a TV program. Now, just about every burger joint you go into has a range of burger options, but you've got to respect a place that is so confident in their burgers that they only offer one choice - appropriately named the Burger. In fact, the Butchers Club has a pretty simple menu, so simple, it has three items in total! Burger, Duckfat Fries and Ice Cream Float!
We arrived to find the little burger joint pumping, but luckily spied a couple of spare seats and while I made my way to place our order, SC jumped on the seats. With such a simple menu, it was really easy to order - two burgers and some duck fat fries. So, as we sat around waiting for our burgers, I found out a little about the joint.
The burger patties are made from 100% certified 300+ day dry aged Angus beef, reared on farms in Victoria and New South Wales specifically fed an organic blend of organic grain to ensure a full bodied flavour. The beef, which is made up of rump, chuck and brisket is ground to order on premises and them seasoned with the Butchers Club mystery blend of spices and slapped straight on the grill to be cooked a perfect medium rare.
Our burgers arrived and we marvelled at the simplicity. In between the lightly toasted buns were a couple of pickles (picked out, of course), a single large piece of tomato, the thick and delicious meat patty, a slice of melted tasty cheese, topped with a slice of bacon and a special sauce - simple indeed. It's in that simplicity that the Butchers Club has got it right, the burgers are completely and unbelievably good, easily the best I've ever had! Clearly, the effort they've put into securing the meat, then the love and attention in making the patties has paid off! They're not big, but any bigger and you wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing.
The burgers are so good, you could almost be forgiven for forgetting the duck fat fries, which are large, rough cut chips that have been cooked to perfection in duck fat! Fries don't get much better than that and while they were pretty amazing, they lacked a little seasoning - a little extra salt would have gone a long way.
It was an insight into Hong Kong sitting in the Butchers Club, there was a steady stream of customers coming in, ordering their burger, destroying it (mostly in record time) and then getting on their way. There is not a lot of space inside the shop, but all of the space is utilised and it seems that the best spots to enjoy a burger are at the counter, so you can watch the magic happen, or at the front window (where we were sitting), so you could watch the world pass by.
The burgers were so good, that I've been back a heap of times since my first visit and each time, the burger is just as good as the last. I guess, I have a problem now though.... It's actually on my walk home each day, so it's really tempting for me to just grab a burger every night on the way home. Right now, it's pretty hard for me to walk past the place without my feet automatically steering me to have (just one more) of those burgers...
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| You can see the beef in the glass fronted fridge - ready for grinding! |
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| The simplest of menus - that is a mountain of confidence right there |
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| The burgers are quite small, but packed full of goodness |
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| The melty cheese is perfect with the medium rare cooked meat patties |
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| All of the meals are delivered on a Butchers Club wooden bread board |
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