With half-term with us it was a welcome treat to be invited to revisit Byron Burger’s and check out the return of former favourite Run Rarebit Run, one of the many legendary burgers that will be getting another well-deserved runout over the summer months, writes Michael Holland.
I was accompanied by Haydn King, just turned 16 and who considers himself a burger connoisseur. I often follow his lead when visiting a new burger joint as he seems to know what to order and what to wash it down with. But this time I had specifically been asked along to taste and discuss Run Rarebit Run, this month’s back-by-special-demand burger.
I was emailed the info a couple of weeks ago. The first thing that caught my eye was a picture of said mouthwatering delight and that alone made me want to get to the nearest Byron as quickly as possible. Then I read the ingredients: 6-ounce British beef patty, smoked bacon, Rarebit cheese melt, pickled cucumbers, lettuce, red onion and mustard mayo. As I read each integral component I checked the photo. There was the bed of lettuce, the crispy onion, and the cucumber, all forming a crispy foundation for the thick, beef patty, which itself shouldered the flavoursome bacon. But the main element of this wondrous invention was the melted cheese that was slithering down the sides and touching and melding together with everything else that was caught between the two halves of the bun.
I was doing my best to imagine the taste but had to wait until today.
So there we were, at the table, menus in hand and ready to order. I went for the Capability Brown best bitter, which was the recommendation of the week, plus skin-on fries, to go with my burger. Haydn, after much deliberation went for the B-Rex, a beast of a burger consisting of: a 6-ounce Byron beef patty, American Cheese, smoked streaky bacon, smoky BBQ sauce, jalapeños and pickles.
Said to be inspired by a dinosaur called Byronosauras, B-Rex stood like a Jurassic monster on our table and it was the giant battered onion ring that gave it that scary attraction. Haydn felt compelled to combine this phantasmagorical joy with Cheese Fries and a Coke.
We also had some plump BBQ wings to wake up the palate.
There is no way to eat a proper burger without having sauce, relish or some sort of salad leaf stuck around the mouth, and that is fine. Proper burgers are not for the twee who like to eat delicately. Proper burgers have to be manhandled; shown respect but also shown who is the boss.
Myself and The Boy set about the task quietly but steadfastly, allowing our respective sauces to ooze out of the buns, down our fingers and chins while keeping a firm grip on our burgers and multi-tasking the fries into the dips and into our mouths.
Around the restaurant were tables full of like-minded customers. Some dabbing away the spillage from the face after every mouthful, the majority of us just going for it with a plan to clean up after.
With my burger finished and complemented with a nice drop of beer, it was time to peruse the dessert menu. Haydn was quick to pick the Salted Caramel Brownie, while I went for the Vanilla Shake. I was tempted to go ‘Hard’ and have a shot of bourbon added, but decided against it.
The shake was like liquid ice cream, and that description alone means liquid Heaven to me.
Haydn polished off his brownie in no time, stopping only to give a succinct mini-review: ‘This is good,’ he said without looking up.
Over the coming months, Byron will be bringing back The Chilli King, The Reuben, Uncle Sam and Bunzilla – All For One Month Only.
I’ll be giving these past legends all another go and maybe see if I can pick out my own GOAT.
Our 3-course lunch for two came to £64.10
Check out your nearest Byron: https://www.byron.co.uk/
