Leon Alonso 
Founder
We did the hard work of trying them all to find the best in the city
Great burgers, it turns out, are simple creatures. In recent years, we’ve seen a shift away from the traditional thick hunk of beef with towering layers of onion rings, relish, and cheese, and in its place, the nimble smashburger has risen. These trimmer patties are made by crushing balls of ground beef into thin discs that form caramelised edges when cooked. Then the stacking begins. Two, three, four, or an ungodly five layers of crushed meat make for a protein lover’s dream. They’re also addictively good. Here’s our edit of the best smashburgers in London.
Bake Street
Bake Street was one of the earliest champions of the smashburger in London, repping lacy-edged patties since day one. They’re still rightfully at the top of the burger mountain. The patties here are smushed until they’re thin but, crucially, still juicy, and joined by a classic combination of American cheese, ketchup, mustard and sweet-tart pickles. A smattering of fried shallots, which adds a welcome bit of crunch, is just about the only thing you wouldn’t find on a classic diner burger. Bake Street proves there’s no need to get cute with the smashburger. Just do the basics right.
58 Evering Road, Stoke Newington, N16 7SR
Jupiter Burger
Branding itself as “an intergalactic hamburger stand” – which just so happens to be in Hackney – Jupiter Burger is one of the newest kids on the smashburger block. But what they lack in experience, they more than make up for in gusto. The titular Jupiter Burger is the order. Two rich beef patties, sourced from legendary local butchers Hill & Szrok, get smashed with shaved onions and then rammed into a shiny potato bun with mustard, pickles, cheese and the tangy house-made Jupiter sauce. It’s a deliciously meaty mess that you’ll need a stack of napkins to tackle.
Netil Market, 13–23 Westgate Street, E8 3RL
The Plimsoll
I’m sure the chefs at The Plimsoll are sick to death by now of people coming in and ordering the Dexter cheeseburger, especially when there’s an entire menu’s worth of thoughtful dishes that are way more fun to cook. But the burger’s good. Like, insanely good. So order it and a heap of whatever else takes your fancy from the menu – just long as you get your hands on one of London’s best burgers, which arrives in a bun as glossy as a copy of GQ, with a mess of cheese and gherkins. You’ll find the team just as capable of cooking sweet scallops and bream as of smashing delicious lumps of meat.
52 St Thomas’ Road, Finsbury Park, N4 2QW
Whole Beast
Currently holed up at the Exale Taproom in Walthamstow, Whole Beast is a nose-to-tail cooking project specialising in cooking large hunks of meat over live fire. Sure, you could try the mutton tacos or Wagyu and stout chilli cheese fries, but don’t walk out without trying a cheeseburger. It’s made using a smashed, aged patty – which retains its substantial beefy growl despite the pounding – and decked out with bread-and-butter pickles, smoked bone marrow, burger sauce, diced white onions and American cheese. The soft and squidgy milk bun just about maintains its integrity while you wolf the whole thing down.
Unit 2C, Uplands Business Park, E17 5QJ
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Lagom
Lagom is a Swedish word meaning “just right”, and it’s the perfect way to describe the burgers chef Elliot Cunningham is turning out in Bohemia Place. An easy way to ensure you’re serving a very good burger is by using very good ingredients to make it. The beef patties at Lagom come from Hampshire’s Hogget and Boar Butchery; as soon as you take a bite, you can tell that you’re eating a quality puck of beef. McDonald’s mystery meat this is not. What we like best about Lagom’s burger, though, is its acidity: the salty, fatty beef is paired with a tangy mustard mayo and vinegar slaw that cuts through the richness like a ship’s stern through calm waters.
17 Bohemia Place, Hackney, E8 1DU
Beer & Burger
Beer & Burger does what it says on the tin. If you want a good smashburger and a cold pint of beer then there are worse places you could go. In fact, there are few better places if you’re craving one of London’s best smashburgers. The regular cheeseburger contains two lovingly charred, aged and smashed beef patties, while the double cheeseburger contains three patties. Go figure. Both come with all the regular fixings and Beer & Burger’s signature goop sauce. It has absolutely nothing to do with Gwenyth Paltrow and – much like most signature burger sauces – tastes like a blend of mayo, ketchup, sweet pickle relish, and vinegar. It’s a good ’un.
The Co Kitchens, 584 Kingsland Road, E8 4AH, and 1 York Way, N1C 4AS
Great burgers, it turns out, are simple creatures. In recent years, we’ve seen a shift away from the traditional thick hunk of beef with towering layers of onion rings, relish, and cheese, and in its place, the nimble smashburger has risen. These trimmer patties are made by crushing balls of ground beef into thin discs that form caramelised edges when cooked. Then the stacking begins. Two, three, four, or an ungodly five layers of crushed meat make for a protein lover’s dream. They’re also addictively good. Here’s our edit of the best smashburgers in London.
Bake Street
Bake Street was one of the earliest champions of the smashburger in London, repping lacy-edged patties since day one. They’re still rightfully at the top of the burger mountain. The patties here are smushed until they’re thin but, crucially, still juicy, and joined by a classic combination of American cheese, ketchup, mustard and sweet-tart pickles. A smattering of fried shallots, which adds a welcome bit of crunch, is just about the only thing you wouldn’t find on a classic diner burger. Bake Street proves there’s no need to get cute with the smashburger. Just do the basics right.
58 Evering Road, Stoke Newington, N16 7SR
Jupiter Burger
Branding itself as “an intergalactic hamburger stand” – which just so happens to be in Hackney – Jupiter Burger is one of the newest kids on the smashburger block. But what they lack in experience, they more than make up for in gusto. The titular Jupiter Burger is the order. Two rich beef patties, sourced from legendary local butchers Hill & Szrok, get smashed with shaved onions and then rammed into a shiny potato bun with mustard, pickles, cheese and the tangy house-made Jupiter sauce. It’s a deliciously meaty mess that you’ll need a stack of napkins to tackle.
Netil Market, 13–23 Westgate Street, E8 3RL
The Plimsoll
I’m sure the chefs at The Plimsoll are sick to death by now of people coming in and ordering the Dexter cheeseburger, especially when there’s an entire menu’s worth of thoughtful dishes that are way more fun to cook. But the burger’s good. Like, insanely good. So order it and a heap of whatever else takes your fancy from the menu – just long as you get your hands on one of London’s best burgers, which arrives in a bun as glossy as a copy of GQ, with a mess of cheese and gherkins. You’ll find the team just as capable of cooking sweet scallops and bream as of smashing delicious lumps of meat.
52 St Thomas’ Road, Finsbury Park, N4 2QW
Whole Beast
Currently holed up at the Exale Taproom in Walthamstow, Whole Beast is a nose-to-tail cooking project specialising in cooking large hunks of meat over live fire. Sure, you could try the mutton tacos or Wagyu and stout chilli cheese fries, but don’t walk out without trying a cheeseburger. It’s made using a smashed, aged patty – which retains its substantial beefy growl despite the pounding – and decked out with bread-and-butter pickles, smoked bone marrow, burger sauce, diced white onions and American cheese. The soft and squidgy milk bun just about maintains its integrity while you wolf the whole thing down.
Unit 2C, Uplands Business Park, E17 5QJ
Lagom
Lagom is a Swedish word meaning “just right”, and it’s the perfect way to describe the burgers chef Elliot Cunningham is turning out in Bohemia Place. An easy way to ensure you’re serving a very good burger is by using very good ingredients to make it. The beef patties at Lagom come from Hampshire’s Hogget and Boar Butchery; as soon as you take a bite, you can tell that you’re eating a quality puck of beef. McDonald’s mystery meat this is not. What we like best about Lagom’s burger, though, is its acidity: the salty, fatty beef is paired with a tangy mustard mayo and vinegar slaw that cuts through the richness like a ship’s stern through calm waters.
17 Bohemia Place, Hackney, E8 1DU
Beer & Burger
Beer & Burger does what it says on the tin. If you want a good smashburger and a cold pint of beer then there are worse places you could go. In fact, there are few better places if you’re craving one of London’s best smashburgers. The regular cheeseburger contains two lovingly charred, aged and smashed beef patties, while the double cheeseburger contains three patties. Go figure. Both come with all the regular fixings and Beer & Burger’s signature goop sauce. It has absolutely nothing to do with Gwenyth Paltrow and – much like most signature burger sauces – tastes like a blend of mayo, ketchup, sweet pickle relish, and vinegar. It’s a good ’un.
The Co Kitchens, 584 Kingsland Road, E8 4AH, and 1 York Way, N1C 4AS
