[Review] The Flying Burger Company - Burgers in West London

The Flying Burger Company flew onto the horizon at the end of November 2013, landing initially in West London - serving a spattering of W postcodes around SheBu, Notting Hill, and Goldhawk Road.

Pan Ham burger from Flying Burger Co.

Now, I currently don't live in West London, and definitely not in Shepherd's Bush (although I did in 2003 - why did I move?!) so the Flying Burger Co.'s Chief Airhostess organised a tasting in a pub on Goldhawk Road, a ragtag bunch of passengers had the opportunity to sample Flying Burger Co.'s entire menu.

Here's my breakdown of the engineering behind Flying Burger Co.'s West London delivery burgers and a peek at some of the burgers themselves.

Presentation:

Great! The presentation starts when the delivery driver arrives at your door kitted out as a pilot and wearing a 1920's flying helmet, flying scarf and goggles. He salutes and hands over your burger takeaway. It's awesome. Oh and the burgers are look good.

Being saluted by the Flying Burger Co. delivery pilot...priceless

Toppings:

Very good. I had the opportunity to sample almost the entire range of Flying Burger Co.'s burgers over the course of the evening (starting with full burgers, and ending with halves...I'm not an animal), and I was pretty impressed with the toppings overall, particularly the condiments, which were as follows:

Bacon mayonnaise: I don't need to explain this. It's every bit as awesome as you'd expect it to be.
Dijonnaise: As in Dijon mayonnaise.
Chorizo and bacon jam: oh god, I could eat this by the jar.

Meat:

The meat Flying Burger Co. use in their patties is pure-bred Aberdeen Angus that free ranges on open pastures in Ayrshire - these cows are 100% grass fed and the meat is dry aged for 28 days before being coarsely minced.

The blend is 70% chuck to 30% trim.

The patties themselves are small, weighing in at just under 3oz each, but the basic burgers have two each, while the bigger Lindbergher has three. The sear, caramelisation, and seasoning are all very good.

The burgers:

Twin Prop - £7.50
This is Flying Burger Co.'s standard burger and it contains not one, but two beef patties with a standard set of accoutrements - pickles, tomato, dijonnaise - it's good, but for me the addition of cheese and bacon in the Pan Ham makes it more awesome.

Flying Burger Co. Twin Prop burger

V-52 - £7.50
It's a veggie burger, and it's actually pretty good. A crisp, sweetcorn fritter sits at its heart, topped with tzatziki, pepper jam, gherkins and dijonnaise - the great thing about the fritter is it's still crisp even after delivery.

The Pan Ham - £8.75
Flying Burger Co.'s bacon cheeseburger is a double beef patty burger topped with melted american cheese and some of the best crispy streaky bacon I've had in London. It comes with pickles, of course, and is finished off with a bacon mayonnaise, which is frankly genius. There's a whole world of pig in this burger!

Pan Ham burger from Flying Burger Co.

The Afterburner (chilli burger) - £8.75
This is the chilli cheeseburger - it features a double beef patty topped with chopped jalapenos, melted american cheese and chorizo and pepper jam. It also features the obligatory pickles. It's very good, but the level of spice is mild and it could do with being ramped up a couple of notches.

The Lindbergher - £11.95
Flying Burger Co.'s biggest burger, this monster has the lot. Three beef patties, melted american cheese, loads of crispy bacon and pickles, topped with onion jam, dijonnaise, bacon mayonnaise and crispy onions. There's a hell of a lot going on, but it's a massively moreish mouthful.

The Lindbergher burger from Flying Burger Co.

Bun:

It's the usual cliche - the bun has been road-tested for months before getting the right recipe - but for Flying Burger Co. it seems to have been a VERY long process which involved a US and UK burger bun review. They tried and tested brioche, demi-brioche, white flour, potato rolls, seeded, non-seeded, glazed, unglazed, wholegrain and onion-based to finally come to their decision. And it's a good one - a glazed white bun with a great balance between sweet, salt and softness, perfectly fitting the burger and robust enough to take a world of condiment punishment and delivery before hitting your doorstep.

Yeah, these guys take their buns seriously. They've even created a bespoke bun toaster...

Accessories:

Fries - The FBC fries are something to shout about, neither french nor chunky, but somewhere inbetween - they arrive steaming hot and crispy, even 15 minutes delivery drive away...not bad for just £2.95.

Wings - These are excellent. A generous portion of BBQ sauce smothered wings - sticky, sweet, and moreish.

Harry Combs Hailstones - Like crack. Any order from FBC should include a bag of these.

The details:

Flying Burger Co. currently serves burgers in  West London in the following postcodes:

W6 7
W11 4
W12 8
W14 0
W14 8
W11 1
W11 2
W11 3

So that's Hammersmith, Notting Hill, High Street Kensington, and Shepherds Bush. Go get your burger wings!