Bar Boulud Review – Best Burger In London?

Two weeks ago, I found out via. Twitter that it was National Burger Day on August 27th. I didn’t waste any time and hopped straight over to Google to research the best place to go to get the best burger in London.

Google was awash with burger related content. Burger-flavoured ice cream, healthy recipes for National Burger Day, and much more.

I started looking for the best burgers in London. Six or seven restaurants kept popping up, so I simply chose one – Bar Boulud – and make a booking.

Bar Boulud is part of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, located next to Knightsbridge tube station, and a stones throw from Harrods.

We sat at the bar and ordered cocktails whilst our table was being prepared. I ordered a Black Phantom and my good lady friend ordered a Champagne Mojito. Both delicious. Good start.

We’d seen a couple of burgers come out of the kitchen, making their way to other hungry mouths in the restaurant. This allowed us to gauge two very important decisions. Should we have a starter? Should we have a desert? We decided to go for the full monty.

First up, a little amuse-bouche of light and tasty Gruyere Cheese Puffs;

These little cheese balls were washed down with a glass of red. We ordered two separate reds – I went for one of my favourite reds and got a Barolo from the Piedmont region, Italy. My partner in crime ordered a Malbec. Both were lovely. Mine was better. It was…smoother…yet £19 a glass! Worth it.

Next, onto the main event – burger time. I’d looked at the menu before I arrived, so I had  a good idea of what I wanted. That said, I didn’t anticipate the upselling skills of our French waiter…

I went for the Piggie – a burger topped with BBQ pulled pork, green chili mayonnaise and red cabbage slaw all packed into a cheddar bun. The other natural choice was the Frenchie – a burger topped with confit pork belly.

And then the waiter stepped in.

His upselling skills were unrivalled. We ended up getting more wine. And pommes frites. And mushroom fricassée.

The Piggie Burger

Inside the delicious Piggie burger

The Frenchie burger

“This is probably the best burger I’ve ever had“, came the shout from across the table, whilst devouring the final mouth fulls of the Frenchie burger. It was a big call, but it got me thinking…was this the best burger I’d ever had? It was excellent, but it didn’t feel like it was the best. And I’ve had A LOT of burgers.

We decided to share desert to mull it over. Chocolate and raspberry tart with a strawberry sorbet;

Then the waiter came back and sold me another sneaky upsell. I ordered an espresso.

Was this the best burger I’d ever had? Was this the best burger in London? I don’t think it was. It was excellent, and despite my teeth going on an incredible adventure cutting through cheddar bun, then BBQ pulled pork and then prime, medium beef, it felt like I’d had a better one. Somewhere…