Review : Burger Bros

Reviewed by Ruman
Note : since this review was published, the restaurant willingly violated our intellectual property by posting our photos from this review on their Instagram feed without permission or credit. The owner of the restaurant acknowledged that he had stolen our photos and asked us to remove this review in exchange for taking them off Instagram. We decided to keep this honest review of their restaurant on our site. Instagram has since taken down the photos for violation of intellectual property.
What could South London’s burger scene possibly have to offer two North Londoners? Hearing that the restaurant’s beef and chicken is free-range, grass-fed and outdoor-reared in Kent, Zohra and I ventured over to the other side of the river on a Monday evening to see what Burger Bros,a newly-opened, 18-seater diner and takeaway restaurant in Streatham had to offer.

Whenever we try a new burger joint, we always go for the classic beef option which in Burger Bros’ case was the Big Cheese Burger. The 6oz beef patty was topped with American cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, burger sauce, French’s Mustard and ketchup.
The burger itself was a good attempt but there was some room for improvement. The quality of the beef and the flavour would have been better without the addition of black pepper to the patty. There was a little too much pepper on there which overpowered the meaty flavour from the patty. It was also cooked more medium-well than medium. I’m not a fan of shredded lettuce in burgers and think this burger would have been better with a leaf instead. Zohra and I agreed that the burger also came ready prepared with too many sauces which again overpowered the taste of the meat. If a restaurant is going to use ketchup, it has to be Heinz or something better. Zohra did a little taste test using the bottle that was on our table and it seemed as though it was another brand being used which resulted in a watery condiment*
We all have our preferences regarding what makes the perfect burger and unfortunately The Big Cheese didn’t hit the spot for me though with a few tweaks it could be much better. Perhaps a choice of what sauces go into the burger before it’s made could help with the overall taste.

We also tried the Big Bird Burger which consisted of buttermilk fried chicken, American cheese, hash brown, lettuce, mayonnaise and ketchup. Unlike other buttermilk chicken burgers we have tried, the coating of the chicken was made up of a variety of spices which gave it an interesting flavour. ZK remarked that it was almost like the coating you get in KFC except with better quality chicken. Though the burger did have the same failings as the beef burger (shredded lettuce, too much ketchup and mayo), the chicken was crispy and the hash brown added an extra layer of crunch to the burger.

As a side, we tried the grilled chicken which was marinated in ‘a secret blend of herbs and spices’ and prepared using a sous-vide cooking method. The restaurant has a choice of flavours – bbq, buffalo, lemon and herb, and peri peri. The chicken was juicy, had a nice char to it and the buffalo flavour we had chosen came through well.

Overall this restaurant uses good quality ingredients and we’re looking forward to seeing a few improvements in how the dishes are constructed. Highlights for us were the grilled chicken and the buttermilk chicken. If you’re a chicken fan, this is the place for you. Just ask staff to hold back on the sauces. A note on the staff: the team were extremely helpful, really friendly, and were the kind of staff that leave you thinking that the people who work at the restaurant make such a difference to how you feel about your experience. We’ll be back to see them again.
*the restaurant has clarified that they only use Heinz ketchup.
RATINGS
Food: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere/Decor: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10 (£20.10 total bill // £10.05pp – we received a complimentary meal)
Overall: 7.8/10
Halal Status: All meat served is halal. Beef is organic. Alcohol is not available.
Address: 6 Sunnyhill Road, London, SW16 2UHQ
Nearest station: Streatham (Southern / Thameslink trains)
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About Ruman
Ruman eats a brownie a day, but only with coffee. She struggles to eat more than 2/3 of an adult size portion of food, but always has room for dessert. When not exploring restaurants, galleries or cities around the world, Ruman is a Marketing Ninja at Halal Gems, where she also holds the title of Chief Chocolate Officer.
Forever consumed by a mixture of wanderlust and FOMO, her interests include all things social media, travel, charity, photography and food.
You can follow Ruman on Instagram and Twitter.