The Best Burgers In The World

To celebrate the holiest day of the year, National Burger Day, I’ve rounded up The Best Burgers In The World for you to feast your eyes on. Get ready to salivate…

TRIED AND TESTED

Bleecker St Burger

Possibly the best burger in London. At least, it’s my favourite out of all I’ve tried so far. Bleecker St is a prime example of a small scale street food project that has blown up into a cult favourite amongst Londoners. What makes it so good? Simplicity executed exceptionally well. Their beef comes from The Butchery in Bermondsey, where it’s dry-aged for up to fifty days, creating an intense flavour that I can’t recall being matched in another London burger. Whack in American cheese, special burger sauce, add bacon and you have a dream of a burger. Tip: go double. With meat this good, you deserve two patties.

Double Cheeseburger by Bleecker St Burger

Patty & Bun

A very, very close second to Bleecker St Burger for me. So much so that it wouldn’t go amiss for me to run some sort of experiment in which I buy both and and alternate mouthfuls until I can determine a clear winner / die of happiness. I’ve long been a fan of Patty & Bun and am happy to see them expanding and spreading the gospel word. My usual go to is the Ari Gold: beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, ketchup, smokey P&B mayo on brioche, chucking added bacon as an extra but I recently sampled the Smokey Robinson, which is pretty much the same, but with caramelised onions in place of pickled and the bacon already on there. It’s just as good but a little – you guessed it – smokier than the Ari Gold. Just as good and just as messy, Patty & Bun is a firm favourite. Oh and their brisket nuggets are well worth finding extra room for.

Smokey Robinson by Patty & Bun

Shake Shack

Another export, this time from New York City, Shake Shack started out in Madison Square Park as a hot dog truck for a few summers before becoming a permanent feature that now spreads across America and beyond, with stores everywhere from Japan, Russia, Turkey, Korea and of course, the UK. And not only in London, but Cardiff too. They really are spreading like wildfire, and quite rightly too – these burgers are well crafted, simple buns of flavour joy, and they’ve nailed the crinkle cut fries as well as their famous milkshakes. I’ve heard their buttermilk chicken burger is also amazing, and being a fried chicken fiend, this one is high on my list to try. Oh and they also do frozen custard now. Hold me back.

ShackBurger by Shake Shack

Mother Flipper

Bacon is a must for me on any burger. Sure they are great without, the beef is the star, but I’m always going to add both cheese and bacon wherever possible. Enter Mother Flipper’s Double Candy Bacon Flipper, in which the bacon is cooked in maple syrup before being added to your medium rare 28 day aged Black Angus chuck burger. Plenty of yellow American cheese, pickles and lettuce sandwiched between a shiny brioche bun make this one of the best burgers on the street food circuit, and luckily for me they are regularly down at Brockley market on Saturdays, a short walk from me and my hangover. Shout out also to the fries here, which are excellent and super crispy. Very much worth the trip to the South East.

Double Candy Bacon Flipper by Mother Flipper

Burger Bear

Popular on the pop up and festival scene for years, I finally got my hands on a Burger Bear cheeseburger at Magic Roundabout this summer and it didn’t disappoint. Perfectly cooked juicy patty with yellow cheese melted just right with the ideal amount of salad filling to boot. The Quarter Panda with bacon AND bacon butter, smoked swiss cheese and sriracha mayo is the next Burger Bear I’ve got my eye on.

Classic Cheeseburger by Burger Bear

AROUND THE WORLD 

LOS ANGELES: In-N-Out

A favourite of Gordon Ramsey, Anthony Bourdain, even Julia Child, California’s In-N-Out burger chain is the finest of fast food. Introducing the Double-Double Animal Style, AKA the best burger in America. Two patties cooked with mustard sandwiched together with bright yellow American cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onion and extra In-N-Out burger spread, which comes from a secret 60 year old recipe. It’s as near to perfection as a burger can be, and all yours for under $4, believe it or not. The photograph speaks for itselThe Double-Double Animal Style by In-N-Out

SAN FRANCISCO: Super Duper Burgers

Sure, San Fran may have In-N-Out but that doesn’t mean you should miss Super Duper Burgers whilst you’re there. All ingredients are fresh and locally sourced, and the quality is noticeable. Topped off with cheese and bacon with red onion, tomato and lettuce sandwiched between the lightly charred brioche bun, this is an exemplary burger very much up there with the likes of Patty & Bun and hugely popular in the northern Californian city. Don’t be fooled by the ‘mini burger’ – it simply means one patty, though no one could blame you for going bigger for an extra $2.25 here. Make sure you save space for the crispy fries, indulgent ice cream shakes and the famous free pickles though, as they shouldn’t be missed either. Oh and they’re organic and environmentally too. Super.The Mini by Super Duper Burger

NEW YORK: Burger Joint

New York is clearly home to many amazing burgers, because it’s New York. My favourite I’ve ever had in the Big Apple is the burger from the Burger Joint, a down to earth little place tucked away near reception inside Le Parker Meridien hotel, signposted only by a neon burger sign. They’ve now expanded as close as Greenwich Village and as far as Sao Paulo, the UAE and Singapore, but the original surely can’t be beaten. The walls are covered with scrawled autographs of celebrities and the burgers are simple but fantastic. Your choice is hamburger or cheeseburger, and whether to double that up or not. Additions are the classics: onions, pickles, burgers – this isn’t about pimping up your burger, it’s about doing a classic well. To wash it down you’ve got sodas, shakes or beer (also available by the pitcher). I recommend going dressed up late night after a show on Broadway – it’s even more fun that way.