Recently we headed to a branch of Byrons in the Strand area of London. They have two options for veggie burgers on the menu, so I opted for the “Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Goat’s Cheese Burger” served with “roasted red pepper, baby spinach, tomato, red onion and aioli” (taken from the menu). It’s a little disappointing that they don’t have a speciality veggie burger, or at least a few options. If they market themselves as a burger place, you might expect that they would provide alternatives. This is certainly the case in other burger joints that I’ve been to.
Byrons Portobello Mushroom Burger
I love mushrooms, especially of the Portobello variety, so it was exceedingly disappointing that there was not much taste to the mushroom. It was not hugely warm either, so I’m placing the blame for that solely on the cooking method. It needs to be done with a little more skill in order to retain that juicy taste. There was a strong goats cheese flavour which overpowered everything else, and while I do like goats cheese, it needed something else to balance it out. Perhaps a stronger mushroom flavour would have done the job! The whole burger was quite thin and small, particularly when you consider that the price covers a burger alone. You do not get any sides with it unless you order them separately. What’s more, with so many ingredients listed on the menu, I perhaps expected a bit more height at least.
The bread of the bun was not memorable at all. It was served as only a thin slice, and only a little crispy – again, better cooking could have helped here. I could just about taste the spinach and peppers through the goats cheese, but they were nothing remarkable. The rest of the ingredients may as well not have been there for all the difference they made to the taste. As I ate the burger, the juices of the mushroom soaked into the bread, leaving me with a mushy mess at the end.
Byrons Portobello Mushroom Burger
I had been meaning to try this burger for a while, as we had been to Byrons before at a lunch time for smaller meals, and to be honest I expected more. I was really quite disappointed. When a restaurant shoves you into tiny spaces like sardines and charges stupid prices for it, you at least expect the food to be good. This wasn’t, and I won’t be trying it again. It’s unfortunate that they were not able to deliver even at a time when the restaurant was mostly empty. I did try one of their milkshakes which was pretty good, but considering it cost about the same as the burger itself, it wasn’t a great measurement of quality.
Byrons Portobello Mushroom Burger
I recently wrote a post on AXS about Byrons in general. There you can check up on the three branches they currently have in London if you are interested in trying the burger for yourself.
