"I have ataraxia*. It's a condition categorised by freedom from worry."
*I don't have ataraxia.
I thought I'd add that quote from Lucky Number Slevin to kick this review off. If truth be told, I was mildly worried about whether Lucky7, an east coast-styled burger and hard shake joint tucked out of the way in the heart of residential Westbourne Park, was going to be anything other than mediocre. Pre-conceptions are a terrible thing.
I'd arranged to meet Masterchef 2012 contestant Jonathan Dale (@jmdal01) at Lucky Seven. As a fellow burger lover, I was keen to compare burger hit lists and see where he felt the best burgers in London were to be found. Considering how out of the way this is, we were delighted to bump into the Simon and Rob from Burger Anarchy and promptly joined them for a good, old fashioned, burger smashing session. As the beers began to flow, my ataraxia waxed.
Price:
Bacon Cheeseburger - £7.95.
Kalifornian - £9.75.
Fries - £3.95. Onion Rings - £4.25.
Presentation and toppings:
Excellent. I want a cartoon napkin, telling me about the construction of my burger, everywhere I eat!
Both burgers arrived top off, like a bare-chested Slevin, wrapped in a cheese towel. On the Lucky7 Bacon Cheeseburger, crisp streaky bacon rode a wave of gooey, tangy cheese, which coated the satisfyingly-charred, medium-rare patty.
The Kalifornian, as well as bacon and cheese, was coated with a layer of guacamole and topped with half an oven-roasted tomato, itself topped with a great dollop of sourcream. All great bar the tomato, which was watery and lacked flavour. A touch more chilli in the guac' would have added an extra dimension as well!
In what was deemed by our entire table as a bit of a cop out, the burgers were accessorised with lettuce, beef tomato, sweet onion, sliced pickles and 'slaw, in an 'add it yourself' approach.
Meat:
Good. Both the Bacon Cheeseburger, and the Kalifornian sported a solid, medium-rare patty, nicely charred on the outside and beautifully pink in the middle. If anything, the grind was a bit fine for my liking, my preference being for a coarser grind. It was juicy, and satisfying.
Bun:
Good. The toasted, white sesame seed bun had clearly been build for juicy burger punishment, and so couple its absorbtive qualities with light airy dough and you get a solid wrapper for this burger package.
Accessories:
Fries were ok. They didn't have much flavour, but were crisp enough. Onion rings were big greasy monsters, but lacked a certain requisite crunch that could have made them great.
Beer:
Top quality Anchor Steam beer from San Francisco. Nice.
Overall Rating: 8/10
This is a well composed burger from the guys at Lucky7. Nothing was stand out, thigh-slappingly amazing, but it went down really well. If not for the £8 price tag on the bacon cheeseburger, I would call this a great session burger, and would happily have taken down a couple of these in one sitting. The Kalifornian was good, but the oven roasted tomato was insipid, and the guac' needed a bit of chilli kick to pep it up a bit.
The company, on the other hand, was top notch! Thanks for an enjoyable evening chaps!
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| Retro diner menu at Lucky7 |
Excellent. I want a cartoon napkin, telling me about the construction of my burger, everywhere I eat!
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| Lucky7 bacon cheeseburger. |
Meat:
Good. Both the Bacon Cheeseburger, and the Kalifornian sported a solid, medium-rare patty, nicely charred on the outside and beautifully pink in the middle. If anything, the grind was a bit fine for my liking, my preference being for a coarser grind. It was juicy, and satisfying.
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| Lucky7 Bacon Cheeseburger, with added pickles and French's mustard. I'd prefer a coarser grind. |
Good. The toasted, white sesame seed bun had clearly been build for juicy burger punishment, and so couple its absorbtive qualities with light airy dough and you get a solid wrapper for this burger package.
Fries were ok. They didn't have much flavour, but were crisp enough. Onion rings were big greasy monsters, but lacked a certain requisite crunch that could have made them great.
Beer:
Top quality Anchor Steam beer from San Francisco. Nice.
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| Anchor Steam Beer |
The company, on the other hand, was top notch! Thanks for an enjoyable evening chaps!
Those burgers have not been in coarse grind rather they have been pre salted well in advance of cooking. see link: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/12/the-burger-lab-salting-ground-beef.html
ReplyDeleteI think you're probably right about that Calzone12 - I think this is a brilliant piece of research, and one I've often flagged to people when the say they make good burgers - just wait for the upcoming Browns review...terrible case of pre-salting!
ReplyDelete