The Best Burgers In London

A burger doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it doesn’t need to be complicated. More often than not, it’s restraint which makes a good burger. I want you to stop for a moment and picture the most delicious burger you’ve ever eaten. What did it look like? What did it taste like? If it was one of those over the top six-patty behemoths stacked with deep-fried onion rings, bacon, and the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure, I’ll be surprised. And worried.

The truth is that keeping things simple is, like most things in life, the key to getting the best burger results. You want a patty that’s made with more beef than filler. You want it to get a good amount of face time with the grill. You want an inoffensive bun (potato rolls are stellar, brioche can take a hike) that’s sturdy enough to not fall apart in your hands. You want a bit of lettuce for health. You want the acid lift of a few emerald coins of gherkin. You want a dash of classic American mustard. And, if you’re anything like me, you don’t want ketchup anywhere within a fifty foot radius of your burger. We’ve got plenty of great burger recipes on our website but there’s nothing like going out for a big greasy burger, is there? That’s why I’ve written this guide of where you can find the best burgers in London. Think of it as my version of a public service announcement.

No, this list isn’t exhaustive but I think it fairly accurately sums up the crème de la crème of London’s best burgers. These are the spots you should be hitting up if you’ve got a hankering for beef that needs to be scratched.

You can't properly call yourself a connoisseur of London’s food scene until you’ve had a brunch or lunch at Bake Street. This popular spot on Evering Road is al fresco dining only and consistently flocked with regulars and first timers destined to become regulars once they’ve realised how good everything on the menu is. The burgers are why Bake Street’s on this list. The patties are perfectly smashed, well-seasoned, and – crucially – not fucked with in any other way. Anthony Bourdain was a big believer that the perfect burger is one you can eat with just one hand. I can tell you from personal experience that you can eat the burgers at Bake Street with a single hand. Not only does that make it a perfectly commutable meal but it also means you can load up your other free hand with another burger and wield one in each like you’re some sort of bovine Edward Scissorhands.

58 Evering Road, Lower Clapton, N16 7SR

The dexter cheeseburger at The Plimsoll might just be the most hyped burger in London. It’s impossible to visit this Finsbury Park food pub without ordering at least one for the table and, honestly, after a bite you’ll quickly realise that the hype is justified. It’s juicy, cheesy, meaty, and just the right level of greasy. The gherkins are essential in cutting through the richness of the meat, giving it a super eatable and zen-like sense of balance. Napkins are necessary. If you were wondering whether The Plimsoll was just a one trick pony: don’t. The dishes that aren’t the burger are very good, too.

52 St Thomas's Road, Finsbury Park, N4 2QQ

There’s a couple of Bleecker joints dotted about the city and every one one of them is a prime location for getting your laughing gear around one of London’s best burgers. A pre-train cheeseburger at Bleecker before catching a train from Victoria is something I like to call: “the move”. Everyone and their dog was up in arms when Bleecker got rid of the Bleecker Black – a double cheeseburger which had a slice of black pudding sandwiched between the patties – and it's telling there’s not many other franchises which can instil that much passion within its fanbase. When Bleecker first burst onto the scene as the hot new thing, many people were calling it London’s best burger. Not much has changed since then, to be honest.

Various Locations

High-welfare, high-quality British meat – that’s the secret to Black Bear Burger’s success. Nothing less, nothing more. The beef used to make Black Bear Burger’s burgers is sourced from grass fed native breeds that roam the south west of England. Happy cows, basically. That beef is then dry-aged on the bone and split so that a range of different cuts are thrown into each patty, giving every burger a rich mouthfeel that threatens to overwhelm but takes its foot off the gas at just the right moment. The result of all that time, effort, and attention to detail is a burger that’s a step above the rest.

Various Locations

Nothing pairs with a burger quite like a cold beer and The Montpelier on Choumert Road is a great pub to head to if the sound of that combination has got you salivating. Now, before we go any further, I’d like to add the disclaimer that most pub burgers aren’t very good. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that most pub burgers are bad. That’s thankfully not the case at The Montpelier where Whole Beast are currently taking up residency. This live fire-focussed nose to tail concept is all about using up every part of the animal (the whole beast, so to speak) and their burgers are some of the best you’re going to find in London. Previous specials have included burgers topped with everything from bacon fat onions and bourbon jam to pickled, fermented and roasted green chillies but it’s hard to ignore the classic. Come here on the weekend and sit yourself down with an aged cheeseburger and you’ll be in something close to heaven.

43 Choumert Road, SE15 4PE

Lagom is the creation of Elliot Cunningham – a barbecue pop-up you can currently find at Hackney Church Brew Co slinging out everything from grilled trout belly to (you guessed it) gloriously messy burgers. Fire is what makes all the difference to the burger with its crispy exterior and juicy interior adding an extra dimension of flavour that’s missing from patties that are smashed to an inch of their life on lesser planchas by lesser chefs. You can safely judge a barbecue joint by the quality of its burgers and, using that rationale, there’s no doubt that Lagom is one of the best.

17 Bohemia Place, E9 6PB

It doesn't matter whether you're eating in or taking out, Patty & Bun has the answers to your prayers. As long as your prayers are vaguely burger-related. Other miracles need not apply. P&B's regular menu is stacked with tasty options (the 'Ari Gold' is a legend for a reason) but it's their specials which really rocket Patty & Bun up in the ranks of the best burgers in London. The current special is the Carmela Soprano comprised of a beautiful Aged Beef Patty, Taleggio Cheese and a Burnt Onion Mayo. Yum.

Various Locations

Beer + Burger does what it says on the tin, really. The folks here make good burgers and serve them with cold beer. If it ain’t broke, etc. The bacon cheeseburger at B+B is undoubtedly one of London’s best burgers. It’s a big, meaty, messy triumph. Subtlety isn’t really on the agenda – Beer + Burger doesn’t do things by half measures. What do I mean by that exactly? Well, the double cheeseburger actually contains not two but three aged, smashed beef patties slathered in the joint’s signature “goop sauce”. Imagine those patties rammed into a glossy glazed bun and you’ll get the picture.

Various Locations

Manna is the brainchild of Feroz Gaija (the same genius behind Bake Street) and one of the shining stars in central London’s Arcade Food Hall and Battersea Power Station's food offering. The fried chicken sandwiches alone are worth enduring the never-ending Tottenham Court Road escalator for but we’re here to talk about the beefy side of the menu. Manna’s signature smash burger is a simple and delicious construction where every thin patty gets a good snog of the grill before being layered up with all the yankee staples of American cheese, mustard, ketchup, mayo and diced onions. It’s a prime example of what a burger should be. If you want to get a little hot under the collar then the ‘Hot One’ is a welcome option thanks to the addition of Manna sauce, pickled jalapeños, and spicy chilli oil.

Various Locations

A sultry sexy bar is an excellent arena for burger eating. Second only to a shitty dive bar, of course. I'm partial to both. But still. There’s something novel about eating a humble mass of meat and cheese in a venue that feels like it’s where important discussions about the general state of the economy are held. The Lowback is Hawksmoor’s swish bar in Canary Wharf and 'The Big Matt Burger' is its entry into the best burgers in London canon. Two dry-aged beef patties, Hawksmoor special sauce, Sparkenhoe red Leicester cheese, shredded lettuce, onions, and homemade pickles. Partner that up with a portion of beef dripping fries on the side and you’ll be in something like heaven. As long as you can ignore the fellas from KPMG chatting at the table next to you, that is.

1 Water Street, E14 5GX

Previously an off-menu item for those who were ITK (or for those who’d read an online listicle about the best burgers in London), the burger at Blacklock is a certified banger. A Top 50 hit. The kind of thing that’ll be played on KissFM nonstop in five years’ time. It’s a double cheeseburger with caramelised onions that have been cooked down with a good old glug of vermouth. Classy, sophisticated, timeless.

Various Locations

Run by brothers Richie and Alex Calver, Slow Richie’s is something of a Peckham institution. They’ve been slinging out big beefy burgers since 2014 and you can expect to get your chops around plenty of meat near Peckham Rye station. The “classic” burger isn’t just a beef burger but a thick British beef topped with honey-glazed pulled pork and chilli lime dressing. I’m not entirely sure what’s classic about that, but Goddamn it’s delicious.

18 Peckham Rye, SE15 4JR

An Essex burger truck-turned-restaurant, Burger & Beyond is a reliable pitstop to get your hands on one of the best burgers in London. Made using freshly ground dry aged beef sourced from only the finest cuts of meat, the patties actually taste like beef and not just miscellaneous meat and salt. The regular burger is my favourite but they also do a “bougie burger” with steak sauce, beef marrow mayonnaise, and beef fat onions. If that sounds like a bit of you, get yourself down to your nearest Burger & Beyond.

Various Locations

If you haven’t already walked past the queue that snakes outside of Supernova then consider yourself lucky. This heavily-hyped burger restaurant opened up in 2023 and has been inundated with influencers and eaters ever since. It’s not hard to see why – the joint’s Instagram-friendly aesthetic and keen price point makes it a great lunch to eat and, most importantly, be seen eating. The smash burgers are lacy while still being juicy. Make sure to get yours with the house sauce, it really does make the difference.

25 Peter Street, W1F 0AH