The Grand Union Bar in CamdenThe Grand Union Bar is a chain of eight bars/pubs throughout London. They have a menu of 18 different gourmet burgers, as well as a couple of vegetarian and bread-less alternatives for ... the strange people.
My order consisted of a cheese and bacon burger, with chunky chips (which are the best in London according to Time Out magazine) and a portion of onion rings.
When the burger arrived it looked very good, although it's architecture was a bit uninviting due to its height. The bun was a sesame bun that had a sort of glazing on top. I should ask a baker what this glazing is, as most buns do not have it (probably egg-yolk and water just saw a recipe on the A bountiful kitchen blog). The size of the bun was small on first sight but turned out to be ideally proportioned to the size of the patty. The ingredients of the burger were very fresh. The lettuce and the tomato looked as crisp, as if they had just been picked from a field down the street.
The meat patty on the other hand had a strange smell to it, which I found a bit chemical. This can however be due to the cheese or my malfunctioning nose due to party favors I had the night before. As you can see in the picture, the meat has a very dark almost black look to it. I am sure that it hadn't been the worst meat quality I have ever had, but this chemical flavor somehow turned me off. On the upside, the burger had been grilled and not fried. Although probably on a gas or electric grill, as it didn't have any charcoal flavor.
The side dishes were both very good. Understandably the chips are award-winning, as the are made from a special potato (Fresh Maris Piper potatoes cooked in salted water, fried once only). But even more surprising were the onion rings. They were made from a fresh onion that was fried in a batter, that would normally be found on fried fish.
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