Review: Burger Brothers, North St, Brighton

Review: Burger Brothers, North St, Brighton

It seems I am on a bit of a mission at the moment to try out all the amazing burger joints around Brighton. The craze for making the most “dirty” or most gourmet burgers has hit the town in the last couple of years. In fact I just found out that the burger-related term “dirty” means smoky, as in a dirty sauce will have a smoked element to it. But don’t take my word for it – it’s all new to me!

So when I heard that Burger Brothers was the number 1 restaurant in Brighton on Tripadvisor I was intrigued to find out it is not even a restaurant – it is a takeaway with a few stools inside!! Then it began getting lots of mentions on social media and even in foodie mags such as Olive. Reaaally? Well, that was it; I had to get myself down there to see what all the fuss is about.

From the outside it doesn’t look like anything special to be honest, and inside were about 6 stools, an eating ledge and a chalk board menu on the wall. There are 6 different beef burgers to choose from – no fries here. But interestingly they do freshly made smoothies to wash the burgers down with. So, what to choose? I wouldn’t normally write the whole menu, but think it enables you to see the quality of the ingredients and that this is very different from typical post-pub takeaways. It isn’t the cheapest but you get what you pay for…

·         Simple Jack with the American cheese of choice - Monterey Jack, plus mayo and ketchup.

·         Our Favourite comes with goats cheese, roasted peppers, honey mustard, secret sauce, caramelised onions and Cajun sauce.

·         Bennetton Burger with Tuxford and Tebbutt blue stilton, Portobello mushroom, chorizo, wasabi mayo, caramelised onions and balsamic vinegar glaze

·         Classic Beef with  mature cheddar, tomatoes, wild rocket, mustard, relish, black pepper mayo and caramelised onion

Plus 3 non beef options:

·         Chicken Bazinga – marinated chicken fillets with beetroot salad, guacamole, caramelised onions and garlic mayo.  

·         Veggie Special which is their homemade vegetable patty coated in breadcrumbs and comes with beechwood smoked cheese, roasted peppers, wild rocket, caramelised onion, salsa and black pepper mayo.

·         Hello Me is a halloumi, Portobello mushroom, tomato, peppers, secret sauce and creamy Cajun sauce.

 

I opted for the Classic Beef which cost £6.50 as I think a simple burger shows you how good they really are. My friend had a Bennetton Burger at £8.50. We were offered extras such as halloumi, Serrano ham, chorizo, chilli sauce etc but declined. We took a seat on a stool and watched as they were freshly cooked - the burger was steamed with a cloche which I’d imagine helps to keep it juicy.  They arrived quickly and were placed in poly boxes on a tray with the essential serviettes and toothpicks.  (Note there is a toothpick in the centre of the burger) The shiny bun looked so appealing and it didn’t look scary-huge. Mine had a gherkin on the side – not sure if it had fallen out but I’d like to think they are being clever as not everyone likes them.

To take my first bite I literally had to just push my face into it! The relish mayo and caramelised onions ended up everywhere – it is quite a saucy burger, but not at all greasy. The burger was juicy and pink in the centre and tasted really beefy. My mate’s burger was also excellent and he said the blue cheese didn’t overpower any of the other elements. For me, everything was perfection – loved the wild rocket – will start adding that to my burgers in future instead of Little Gem. But the bun really made it. It was sweet and slightly chewy and much more suitable than brioche which is too doughy for the weight of burgers. The guys said it is Jewish Challah which they get from a local artisan bakery in Hove. And they mince their own Longhorn beef on the premises – they clearly take their sourcing very seriously and done their homework.

Actually, the other thing that really makes Burger Brothers worth a visit is the ‘Brothers’ themselves. Their friendliness and excellent service sets them apart from Grubbs Burgers or other similar takeaways. They are so proud of their product and asked us a few times if we were happy with our meals. They haven’t even been in the food business before, so considering they only opened 10 months ago and already have long queues on Friday and Saturday nights (and sometimes even sell out completely) they must have the formula bang on. Can definitely see them expanding to a bigger premises or opening a chain in the non-distant future. Watch this space.

In the meantime I am going back to try a Chicken Bazinga J