Beef Sliders with Scampi Fries

It's been a while since I posted a recipe - truth be told we've been doing up our house and moving our kitchen to a new, bigger home, so things have been challenging, but I finally found myself with a free weekend, and so had the chance to whip up a new burger recipe for the blog and get some photos taken.

This first recipe is a Hamburger Me! take on the classic slider. As 'slider' and 'mini burger' become interchangeable in foodie vernacular (something which angers me intensely), this is an opportunity for me to demonstrate what a slider traditionally is - i,e a thin piece of beef steamed through onions on a griddle. I cheated a bit and gave one side of the burger a sear, but that's the way I like 'em.

Any London burger delivered to your door with Jinn

This is a short post that may just change your life...

Jinn got in touch with me the other day to tell me about their app which aims to deliver you anything from any restaurant or shop in London within 60 minutes. They offered me free delivery (normally £5.95) to try it out...so on Friday I ordered 2 x Dead Hippie Burgers and Poppaz delivered to my desk from MEATMarket, and all I had to do was answer the following questions:

This was my answer:

This is what I received 45 minutes later:

My Dead Hippie burger was still PINK!

So, to recap. I can get any burger, from any joint in London, delivered to my DESK within 60 minutes in London. The cost of the service is £5.95 for delivery and then 10% of the items' price.

Team lunches are never going to be the same again...download the Jinn app now!

A blog about London's Burger Blogs

I kicked off Hamburger Me! at the end of  2010 in an environment where burgers were seen as a bit of a poor cousin to real restaurants across London. Since then, there has been a steady stream of London-focused burger blogs cropping up across the internet, with a range of different styles and propositions.

Here's my current bakers dozen of London's burger blogs.

1. Hamburger Me!

Run by yours truly - Hamburger Me! is your choice for the latest recommendations on where to eat and where to avoid in the capital.

I created the original London Burger Map in 2011, and my list of London's Top 10 Best Burgers is updated every 6 months.

2. Burgerac

Burger detective Burgerac focuses on some of the best burgers in London with mouthwatering pictures and prose, as well as a healthy dedication to design and all things burger-y. He works with some great artists to produce burger art, and also runs Burgerapp - an Android and iOS London burger app. Follow him @burgeracblog.

3. Burger Anarchy

Simon and Rob run Burger Anarchy and are (in their own words) "contrary wankers". They take a sarcastic view on burgers and BBQ in London (and further afield), pulling no punches in their take down of places that aren't up to scratch and wild hyperbole on those that float their boat. Follow them @burgeranarchy.

Watch out for their video features as well.

4. Burgaffair

Nick and Andy together run Burgaffair, which has been going for a couple of years now. They take down burgers as a double act - each rating the burger in a number of areas and then agreeing on a score out of 40.

The boys at Burgaffair have a burger leaderboard and a London Burger Map. Follow them @burgaffair.

5. Burger Addict

Liam from The Burger Addict has transitioned out of writing about London's burgers after taking up a job with Bleecker St. Burger to support their marketing efforts. He still covers burgers from outside London, but posting is fewer and further between.

6. Cheeseburger Boy

Cheeseburger Boy is a blog that's been running sporadically for a few years. Reviews are posted by two guys with a penchant for burgers and it focuses on London and the home counties. Follow him @cheeseburgerboy.

7. Londons Best Burgers

A parallax scrolling site with minimal information, but some serious burger porn. Follow them @LDNBestBurgers.

8. London Burger Museum

An off-the-wall tumbler with snippets of burger life. Follow @BurgerLDN.

9. London Burger Quest

Ben writes this blog, with his first posts from December 2011. He focuses on every burger, not just the 'gourmet' ones, and so he covers a range of fast food outlets, kebab shops, and cafes as well as gastro pubs and burger joints.

10. London Burger Queen

Hannah (@Hansyhobs) writes the London Burger Queen blog, expect honest write ups and some great burger pictures.

11. Burgers & Bruce

A combination of a Bruce Springsteen infatuation, and an unhealthy addiction to burgers marks Hannah's Burgers & Bruce blog. Expect global gig-hopping antics, and burgerporn by the bucketload. Follow @burgersandbruce.

12. Burger Mad

A London focused burger blog in its infancy run by burger fan Sean de Souza. This flip book style blog has coverage of some of the usual suspects, as well as some of the Byron specials. You can follow him @burgermad

13. Burgers and Nails

One of my favourite, off-the-wall blogs which, quite simply, takes user-submitted pictures of people eating burgers with their nails on show. Brilliant.
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So there we have it folks, a bakers dozen of blogs iun London focusing on burgers. Who knew there were some many people writing about burgers in London! Have I missed out any of your favourites? Let me know...

[Review] The Heartbreaker Burger from Tongue 'n Cheeks,

Tongue 'n Cheek is not your usual burger slinging, street food set up, oh no. They're focused on nose-to-tail eating, using the parts of the animal that don't tend to make it onto mainstream restaurant menus.

And at the heart of their offering (no pun intended) sits the Heartbreaker burger - a glorious blend of beef and ox heart.

I caught up with them at Kerb to find out how good their burgers actually are, but you can also sample their wares at The Joker on Penton St. in Angel.

[Burger Business] GBK launches the 15-minute burger lunch

I make no secret of the fact that I've had mixed experiences of Gourmet Burger Kitchen over the years. Back in the early naughties, GBK was the only burger joint doing anything like a decent burger on the high street. Then came the copy-cats like Ultimate Burger and other generics, and burgers became more mainstream, then the copy-cats started to drop like flies in the face of a new wave of bodacious competition. Somehow GBK has resolutely hung on in there.

Back in 2012, GBK began a programme titled 'upping the game' to respond to the threat of other, more popular, burger joints that were in their ascendancy (I'm looking at you, Byron) and riding the wave of burger fever that gripped London. Joints which made GBK's large, complicated menus and cookie-cutter restaurant design look deeply uncool.