Monday 15 March 2010

Gourmet Burger Kitchen (Covent Garden): Review

Gourmet Burger Kitchen
13-14 Maiden Lane
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 7NE

0207 240 9617
Website | Email

Visit: March 2010
Summary: Big burgers with nice flavours.

We had tickets to the theatre and luckily, this restaurant was on a narrow street just behind the it. We also had a voucher, which made things a little cheaper: two burgers with fries for £10.95. Considering most burgers are around £7.50 to £8, the voucher was very good value. Even if we didn't have a voucher, we'd much rather spend £7.95 on a burger and chips from GBK than the same from one of the major fast food burger chains.

Drinks: The lemonade was very refreshing and not too sour or too sweet. It had zing and a great lemon flavour.

Sides: The chips were nice, if a bit greasy. We ordered the onion rings, which turned out not to be the uniform size breaded things you'd get in most places, but they were of very different sizes, and generously cut. Tasted great as well.

Burgers: You have the option of customising your burger. If you don't want the bun, you can have it without, and so on. We had a Blue Cheese beef burger ("aged Stilton dressing, salad, mayonnaise & relish") and a Camembert & Cranberry chicken breast burger ("camembert, cranberry sauce, salad, mayonnaise & relish"). Both very generous in size and skewered with a wooden stick to hold them together. There wasn't much of a Stilton flavour in the dressing, but the burger itself was very nice. The chicken burger didn't stand out at all, unfortunately - it wasn't really any different from a standard breaded chicken breast burger from a generic pub, so that was disappointing. Overall, the assembled burgers were very juicy and flavourful.

Service: It was quite busy for an early Wednesday evening (then again, London is different from Nottingham), so it felt a little on the slow side, but considering the place was packed, it was to be expected. You have to place the order at the counter, not at the table. Staff were friendly and happy to help.

Inside: Not a massive place, so a bit cramped when full. Nice and modern décor, big photographs and paintings on the walls.

Outside: Quite a narrow London back street, just behind the theatres on the Strand (one of the nearest is the Adelphi).

We expected some tasty burgers, and what we got wasn't just an upmarket Whopper or Big Mac, but something a bit more distinct, and definitely a lot nicer. You get what you pay for. Would we have gone if we didn't have the voucher? Perhaps, perhaps not. As the restaurant was just behind the theatre we were going to, it meant we didn't have to get lost on the winding streets of the capital, but instead, we had a nice meal and then had plenty of time to leasurely stroll over to the theatre.

Would we go again? I believe so. There are plenty of great-sounding burgers on that menu, and we were both interested in one of the the lamb burgers, so we'll be back. If not to this particular franchise, then to another one.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen is a chain and they have restaurants not just in various parts of London, but all over the UK. See their website for your nearest one to where you are. They also have some restaurants in other countries. You can eat in or take away.

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