I got invited to review Burger Theory about a month ago by Rory Perriment, 25 year old founder and chef of Burger Theory. My love of Burgers and.. well, food in general, combined with the fact that it was my first ever official invitation to review a restaurant made me adamant I wanted to go.
I dragged along my fellow burger demolishing friend Kate and, having both just worked 8 and 9 hour shifts at our respective jobs, we were ravenous. We had booked to eat at 7 and were greeted with a glass of champagne each (I probably shouldn't write this, since that is probably just reviewer treatment ;) but I'm an excited new reviewer on the scene so just let me be excited) upon our arrival and were introduced to Rory.
Burger Theory first got started at the Brighton and Hove Festival back in April of 2012 when 25 year old Rory, having been travelling about the world gathering exciting tastes and flavours for his burger perfection, decided that it was about time he put his talents and research into a business. And thank God he did, because he came up with something spectacular.
We were shown our table in the Snug Room of The Golden Lion and were brought our menus by Rory himself. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the most manly of them all, The Lion's Share (the name says it all), which had also been highly recommended to us by one of the people that works at The Golden Lion. The rest of the menu contained other uniquely delicious looking burgers and some classics with their own unique twists, but as the meatiest of them all, The Lion's Share looked irresistible! I also ordered a side of large onion rings, and Kate ordered large cheesy chips.
I dragged along my fellow burger demolishing friend Kate and, having both just worked 8 and 9 hour shifts at our respective jobs, we were ravenous. We had booked to eat at 7 and were greeted with a glass of champagne each (I probably shouldn't write this, since that is probably just reviewer treatment ;) but I'm an excited new reviewer on the scene so just let me be excited) upon our arrival and were introduced to Rory.
Burger Theory first got started at the Brighton and Hove Festival back in April of 2012 when 25 year old Rory, having been travelling about the world gathering exciting tastes and flavours for his burger perfection, decided that it was about time he put his talents and research into a business. And thank God he did, because he came up with something spectacular.
We were shown our table in the Snug Room of The Golden Lion and were brought our menus by Rory himself. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the most manly of them all, The Lion's Share (the name says it all), which had also been highly recommended to us by one of the people that works at The Golden Lion. The rest of the menu contained other uniquely delicious looking burgers and some classics with their own unique twists, but as the meatiest of them all, The Lion's Share looked irresistible! I also ordered a side of large onion rings, and Kate ordered large cheesy chips.
This is my happy face, as a result of the anticipation of the burger that was about to enter my mouth. The burgers arrived, towering high and oozing in juices. The bun was cold admittedly, but I don't think that particularly matters, as long as the fillings are hot, which they were. You've got to have a pretty big gob to get your chops around the height of this particular burger, but I did it without spilling burger-ish juice all down me, which cannot be said for Kate.
The bottom layer of The Lion's Share is a small amount of salad, the next level up was a juicily tender thick slab of 8oz beef. One up from that was oozing cheese topped with jalapenos, and above that was a piece of thick chunky Southern fried crispy chicken breast. If that wasn't enough, a nice strip of bacon was laid right at the top, with arrogant presence.
The flavours were quite honestly unlike the flavours in any burger I have ever tried before, in a very good way. The flavour of the burger had just the right amount of bite and spice, without it being too spicy, and this was a unanimous opinion of ours. Don't be terrified or put off by the jalapenos featuring in the middle, as they were mild and in no way overpowering. The cripsy chicken pleasantly surprised me, as I was fully expecting just a slab of chicken breast, but the tenderness of it and slight crisp to it made it melt in the mouth, and added all the extra flavours the burger could want.
Kate took one bite and proclaimed "This is my new favourite burger place!" - no word of a lie. I was too busy cramming it into my mouth like it was about to be snatched from my hands to talk. I had my pleasure face on.
We were expecting Kate's cheesy chips to be a bit of a let-down, as the cheese was yet to melt, and only topped the first layer or two. But our preconceptions were soon swept away, as Kate took a bite into the chips, experiencing what she described as the "smokey" flavour of the organically grown locally sourced potato chips. And the quality of the chips was brilliant. None of the cheap junk you get in your local fast food shop.
My onion rings were also brilliant. Kate said that prior to tasting them she didn't generally like onion rings, but these were juicy and original and had that authentic look about them (if that's a thing when it comes to onion rings) in that they all looked different from each other. Again, much the opposite of the junk you get in your local fast food shop. In fact, ignore fast food. This could not be further from it, despite its definition as a pop-up burger bar.
Before I began I was determined to clean the entirety of my burger up into my stomach, and I did - easily. It wasn't painful, neither did the quantity of food make me feel I was about to throw up. I didn't want it to end, in fact. By the end the actual bun had fallen apart, inevitably, and I didn't care how messy I got. Although saying that, I never ever care how messy I get when it comes to hands-on eating. I'm that kind of girl, y'see.
Our night was made complete by blues, soul and jazz band Victoria Klewin and The True Tones who wooed us beyond the wooing of the food, and all in all we had a great night. The atmosphere in The Golden Lion is relaxed, yet trendy and the dimly lit venue is the perfect place for such quality food.
Let's discuss price. Now as a reviewer I did get my entire meal free, but I have judged the food as if this was my own money. The burger we chose was £8.50, but that didn't include anything else. Most of the other burgers were around £5-£6.50 in general, also without anything else. This is slightly more than I would pay for a burger by itself ordinarily, but ordinarily burgers don't taste as incredible as this did. The amount that was crammed in, teamed with the beautiful quality of the food made the price reasonable. You pay for personality, you pay for honest food, and you pay for the explosion of your taste buds inside your mouth. Graphic, right? But you'll agree when you go.
So go, please go. You won't regret it one single bit.
And if those prices are too much, go down to the launch at The Golden Lion on Gloucester Road TONIGHT where all burgers are 1/2 price. Not a night to be missed, and you'll even be treated to live music from Shoot The Moon.
The bottom layer of The Lion's Share is a small amount of salad, the next level up was a juicily tender thick slab of 8oz beef. One up from that was oozing cheese topped with jalapenos, and above that was a piece of thick chunky Southern fried crispy chicken breast. If that wasn't enough, a nice strip of bacon was laid right at the top, with arrogant presence.
The flavours were quite honestly unlike the flavours in any burger I have ever tried before, in a very good way. The flavour of the burger had just the right amount of bite and spice, without it being too spicy, and this was a unanimous opinion of ours. Don't be terrified or put off by the jalapenos featuring in the middle, as they were mild and in no way overpowering. The cripsy chicken pleasantly surprised me, as I was fully expecting just a slab of chicken breast, but the tenderness of it and slight crisp to it made it melt in the mouth, and added all the extra flavours the burger could want.
Kate took one bite and proclaimed "This is my new favourite burger place!" - no word of a lie. I was too busy cramming it into my mouth like it was about to be snatched from my hands to talk. I had my pleasure face on.
We were expecting Kate's cheesy chips to be a bit of a let-down, as the cheese was yet to melt, and only topped the first layer or two. But our preconceptions were soon swept away, as Kate took a bite into the chips, experiencing what she described as the "smokey" flavour of the organically grown locally sourced potato chips. And the quality of the chips was brilliant. None of the cheap junk you get in your local fast food shop.
My onion rings were also brilliant. Kate said that prior to tasting them she didn't generally like onion rings, but these were juicy and original and had that authentic look about them (if that's a thing when it comes to onion rings) in that they all looked different from each other. Again, much the opposite of the junk you get in your local fast food shop. In fact, ignore fast food. This could not be further from it, despite its definition as a pop-up burger bar.
Before I began I was determined to clean the entirety of my burger up into my stomach, and I did - easily. It wasn't painful, neither did the quantity of food make me feel I was about to throw up. I didn't want it to end, in fact. By the end the actual bun had fallen apart, inevitably, and I didn't care how messy I got. Although saying that, I never ever care how messy I get when it comes to hands-on eating. I'm that kind of girl, y'see.
Our night was made complete by blues, soul and jazz band Victoria Klewin and The True Tones who wooed us beyond the wooing of the food, and all in all we had a great night. The atmosphere in The Golden Lion is relaxed, yet trendy and the dimly lit venue is the perfect place for such quality food.
Let's discuss price. Now as a reviewer I did get my entire meal free, but I have judged the food as if this was my own money. The burger we chose was £8.50, but that didn't include anything else. Most of the other burgers were around £5-£6.50 in general, also without anything else. This is slightly more than I would pay for a burger by itself ordinarily, but ordinarily burgers don't taste as incredible as this did. The amount that was crammed in, teamed with the beautiful quality of the food made the price reasonable. You pay for personality, you pay for honest food, and you pay for the explosion of your taste buds inside your mouth. Graphic, right? But you'll agree when you go.
So go, please go. You won't regret it one single bit.
And if those prices are too much, go down to the launch at The Golden Lion on Gloucester Road TONIGHT where all burgers are 1/2 price. Not a night to be missed, and you'll even be treated to live music from Shoot The Moon.