8.5/10 - Rivington Grill, Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London

Rivington Grill Location:

Set on the trendy Rivington Street a short walk from Old Street, Rivington Grill is set up in an old industrial unit, the black doors and windows contrast the white walled interior, and walking inside I felt transported back to Agatha Christie's time - Poirot, I felt, could be sitting in the corner with his waxed moustache, bowler hat and cane.



Price: 
Rivington Luxury Burger £12.75 (includes chips and three toppings - egg, cheese and bacon). The plain Rivington Grill burger comes in at £10, and extra toppings can be added for £1 a topping (the extra toppings are as above).




Starters came out first (this is a rare pushing out of the boat for this burger blogger), which included lamb scrumpets (whatever they are - we felt we needed them in our lives - who can resist a good scrumpet). These were swiftly despatched by me and my fellow diner, along a delicious plate of grilled prawns and squid.

Fresh, warm sourdough bread (and no cover charge...hooray!)

Lamb Scrumpets - now where on the Lamb does the scrumpet come from...

A grilled prawny and squiddy starter

Presentation:
Great. Presented in a great little package on a wooden board, the burger was served lid-on, alongside a pewter pot of golden chips, a pile of DIY salad, and a small pot of homemade tomato sauce. If any presentation of a burger could be called unpretentious, it would be this one - rather it was a homely group of happily complementary items resting together in perfect harmony.

Toppings:
Excellent (apart from the egg). The bacon was a salty, meaty rasher of top quality pork that added deep meatiness to the burger, and cheekily poked out the side of the bun. Cheese was a mature yet mellow cheddar, gooey and melted over the patty. The egg... well I'll be the first to say it, I don't think egg has a place on a burger, but after hearing a number of people extolling the virtues, I felt it was about time to try. I maintain that egg should not be used on a burger. There is something about the rich creaminess of the yolk that totally clashes with almost every other element of the ensemble. This is strange as toasted bap with bacon and egg is one of my favourite breakfasts, but it doesn't cut it for me here.


Meat:
This meat is WINNING! A great, thick patty made up of course ground, juicy beef. Sadly my pictures don't do this burger justice as it was getting dark, but even with my grainy, half-attempt at a picture, you can see the meat was crumbly and pink, the juices soaking into the bottom bun. This is a beefy, fatty and incredibly satisfying patty experience!

Bun:
Very good. This style is unfloured bap, lightly toasted and relatively fluffy. It absorbed all the juicy punishment thrown at it up to the very last bite. Not even a hint of a bun fail. This is not a particularly exciting bun, but it is an utility bun, and does the job magnificently.

Accessories:
Very good. The chips were incredibly moreish. Crunchy and fluffy as you like, like little puffy clouds of potato wrapped in a crispy, golden shells. Pickles, tomato and lettuce were tasty, but were consumed apart from the burger. I quite liked the 'build your own' method of salad delivery as it allows you to keep your burger pure and add salad to taste. It is far more satisfying to add elements to your burger, than to take them out...

Overall burger rating: 8.5/10
The Rivington Grill burger is a great, solid, all rounder and scores highly in each of the five criteria. There are only two things I would change with the whole ensemble - I wouldn't have the egg next time, and I would like to have a better camera to capture in detail this truly glorious burger.
This burger totally deserves its place in my 'Top 5 Best Burgers in London' list.
Oh, and they have Cowshed handwash in the toilets as well. Cool. Don't wait, go.