A review of Patty & Bun in W1
Burger lovers are spoilt for choice in Central London but undoubtedly one of the best offerings we’ve tried this year has to be Patty & Bun close to Selfridges in W1.
A 30-seat restaurant that occupies the site of a former outpost of Stockpot, Patty & Bun does not take reservations but after a brief wait at the small bar to the rear of the restaurant, we soon got a table. The room itself is simply decorated in a “pop-up” style and features artwork painted on old cardboard boxes. To minimise costs, there are no plates and there’s certainly no sign of freshly laundered linen. This is a burger restaurant that focuses on simplicity and one where one of the staff told us that upto 600 burgers are sold each day.
British ingredients are said to be the focus of the menu and with a choice of six burgers on offer priced between £7.50 and £8.50, we opted to try the ‘Ari Gold’ cheeseburger and the ‘Smokey Robinson’ burger. The meat – in both cases – was succulent and cooked just the way we like it – “as rare as possible, almost raw, hardly cooked”. The brioche buns were soft enough so as to be enjoyable but firm enough to hold the burger and the inevitable array of extras that included pickled and caramelised onions, bacon, tomato and lettuce.
Sides of homemade chips with rosemary salt (£2.50) and coleslaw were enjoyable and to conclude we finished with palette cleansing frozen summer pudding style ice lollies (£2.95). The drinks list at Patty & Bun is basic but a special of an Anchor lager from California was a most satisfactory starter drink and a bottle of Colli Argento Pinot grigio at £18 a bottle was perfectly adequate.
When we arrived my guest – a former restaurateur named Anthony Brown – looked less than impressed at the decoration and styling of Patty & Bun. Having worked his way through the menu, he admitted his first impressions were wrong and that he’d most definitely return. This, indeed, is a restaurant we’d wholeheartedly recommend to our readers.
Patty & Bun is open Tuesday to Saturday from 12 noon until 11pm and on Sunday’s from 12 noon until 10pm.
Patty & Bun, 54 James Street, London, W1U 1HE. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7487 3188.
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