Dirty Burger vs. Honest Burgers

Kentish Town’s Dirty Burger, has just set up shop below the arches of Vauxhall station - I reviewed the breakfast they do here a while ago. But how does the North London "Dirty" burger compare to Brixton Market's Honest burgers? Bring on the meat sweats and over-eating, a burger-off was the only way to find out!

Dirty Burger

Honest Burger

The Burger

The Dirty Burger cheeseburger was the only one on the menu and it arrived looking like it had been scrunched in someone’s sweaty mustard-inked hand. The patty was cooked to medium and had a comfortable bite width, with a garnish of gherkins, burger cheese and crisp iceberg lettuce. It was slightly over seasoned but nothing a blob of sweet ketchup couldn’t neutralise.

The success of this burger is in the name: Honest. You know what’s in it unlike the half pounders that were scandalised in the horse meat gate. But now the burger has truly been given a rebrand and this one is a shining example.

Not at all greasy, the Honest cheeseburger arrived perfectly formed inside a fluffy glazed bun. Upon closer inspection, the medium rare patty was made using larger cuts of ‘Great British Meat’, I know this because it was emblazoned on their window. Proper cheddar cheese melted thickly over the meat with a sweet red onion relish and lettuce neatly piled on top. This was almost a perfect burger and that’s a tough task, considering it was tried after the Dirty Burger and the meat sweats had already kicked in.

DB 0-1 HB

Dirty Burger crinkle cut chips

Rosmary House fries

 The Chips

Dirty Burger’s were delightfully fluffy on the inside while being crispy on the out. Bonus points for the nostalgic crinkle cut kids-esque shape, but it’s tricky when up against something so sophisticated as Honest Burger’s Rosemary house chips. That single herb, effortlessly saying, it’s not a naughty greasy chip, it’s actually something rather gourmet.

DB 1-1 HB

The Drinks

At Dirty Burger, a small can of Brew Dog’s Dead Pony Club pale ale will set you back a staggering £4, otherwise it’s a Heineken for the same price. For what they lack in drinks variety, they make up for in milkshakes. We slurped the extremely chocolaty chocolate milkshake, which doubled up as a desert.

Honest Burgers has a nice selection of lagers and Redchurch ales as well as a special - a blonde Blanche de Bruxelles which was light and refreshing - was the perfect accompaniment to a heavy burger.

DB 0-1 HB

Clean condiments

Condiments

Nicely displayed - it was launch night after all - Dirty Burger offered French mustard and ketchup in a fun retro plastic tomato bottle. Honest Burger loses with a big fat industrial sized Heinz plunger bottle.

DB 1-0 HB

Homely Honest Burgers

The Interior

Dirty Burger is all wrapped up in corrugated iron, with the logo sprayed onto roughened up surfaces. It’s “dirrrty” but in a studied way. The stools are slightly too high making your feet swing uncomfortably off the ground. It’s more of a take-away joint, you’re not meant to hang around.

Honest Burgers has a noticeably more “designed” exterior than some of its Brixton market neighbours. It feels homely, with stacks of plates and hanging kitchen paraphernalia. It’s like they were halfway through a tidy up and then the doorbell rang. Un-matching chairs and a descriptive friendly menu chalked across a blackboard wall added to the unpretentiousness.   

DB 0-1 HB

Look at all the burger munching ladies!

The Customers

Dirty Burger was bustling with Vauxhall’s smart commuters tempted in with a launch day 50% off offer. Honest was surprisingly dominated by females and when we arrived at 7.15pm on Tuesday, there was a 40 minute wait, a testimony to how good these burgers are.

You can’t really rate the customers but Honest is going to get a girl power point.

DB 0-1 HB

The Result:

DB 2-5 HB

Wow, a well deserved win for South London and I discovered lively Brixton Market too! I will definitely be back to try out some more of the grub in the little food outlets soon.

Vauxhall Dirty Burger

Arch 54 6 South Lambeth Rd, Vauxhall, SW8 1SS

Honest Burgers

Unit 12, Brixton Village, London, SW9 8PR

For you North London dwellers, Honest Burgers have just opened a another burger joint in Camden Town!

Spend a Sunday at The Open Air Theatre, Regents Park

The outdoor stage

On Sunday evening, I went with my family to see Jimmy Carr at the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park. The outdoor venue was a stop on his Gagging Order tour and I have honestly not laughed that much in a long time. Let's just say the watershed does not exist there and he is a lot less censored than he is on TV!

Jimmy on stage

We got there early and ate our picnic on the grass, which can be a slightly cheaper and more fun option than the BBQ or restaurant they provide.

Our picnic

It's a beautiful place, twinkling with fairly lights. Luckily for us, it was a warm summer's evening - One year we went during one of England's more traditional Augusts and emerged completely soaked and frozen. But there is something seriously magical about being entertained under the stars.

Inside

The theatre is playing host to The Sound of Music until the end of September, you can buy tickets here

5 Ways To Stay Cool in Berlin

The Brilliant thing about Berlin is there is so much to see and do that you could go 10 times and have a completely different experience every time. As temperatures soared to 35°, traipsing around the sites was not an appealing option. Our priority was to keep cool and luckily for us, Berlinners are a very chilled bunch so here are my top 5 ways to wipe the sweat from the brow.

No. 1 Badeshciff

Head to Badeshciff, which translates to 'Bathing Ship'. It started as an art project which transformed the hull of a vessel into a swimming pool right in the middle of a neglected stretch of the Berlin Spree. There's nothing quite like the feeling of swimming in a clear pool, surrounded by the murky water. It all gets a bit flash on the decking, with a bar, DJ and expensive drinks but get up before the Berlinners and beat the queues of 1hour + to get in the water for one of the most amazing swimming experiences you'll ever have.

www.arena-berlin.de

No. 2 Wonder around (in the shade)

Berlin has been doing casual pop-ups before we coined 'pop-up' to mean a slightly contrived tempary set-up. We got chatting to a man who told us 15 years ago, without mobile phones it was impossible to plan where to meet because you would go to a bar or gallery one week and it would be closed the next. For that reason, some of the best Berlin has to offer won't be in the guide book. We stumbled upon a DJ playing on a beach on top of a yellow taxi, some optical illusion street art and got lots of awful photos taken in the Photoautomats.

Mauer Park watermelon

Engelberg meat and cheese platter

No. 3 Eat outside

Here are some snaps of some of our cullinary finds. Water melon from Mauer park flea market, a gerkin from a beer garden and meat + cheese plate from Engelberg cafe.

No. 4 Drink outside

Whether it be in a beer garden or just walking down the curb of a Straße, Berliner Kindl in hand. A cool beer is the ultimate accessory.

No. 5 Go to the Flea markets

Have a good old rummage in the Mauer Park flea market and you will be sure to emerge with a great cheap find. We did get a bit hot, but that didn't matter becuase we got soaked by these guys who responded to everyone's "cool me off" cries by attaching a fireman's hose pipe to a water main and drenching grateful passers by.