Byron’s – Byron Burger

I was excited to come around the corner weekend and spot a Byron when we were trying to find a spot for lunch.  I hadn’t had their signature Byron burger for a year and a half (although I did pop into one last month to try out the Dribble they had on for the Euros).  It was nice to be in a busy restaurant again, or so I thought.  Read on to see how the burger was…

The Bun: 16/20

They have a nice golden brioche, and have done a good job of matching their new larger patties to the size of the bun.  It has a lovely flavour and holds together very well.  However on this occasion, I felt the bun had dried out more than normal, and so was just a little stodgy.  Perhaps a little butter or coming out of the bag closer to serving time would have helped. 

The Toppings: 4/10

The Byron comes with bacon, lettuce, pickles, tomato and some red onions.  The full range of standard burger fare and normally something I would give a higher score for.  However, on this occasion, I had to take out the tomato and some of the red onions.  The tomato had been sliced a long time before it reached my burger and so had become a little slimy.  The onions were much fresher but unfortunately had been pressed into a very charred patty and picked up some of that flavor.  I don’t love pickles but the fans at the table found the pickles “thin and boring”.  The lettuce was fine, just simple shredded lettuce that was still fresh, and soaked up a little juice and added some crunch but no real flavor.  The bacon had a decent flavor, but had been cooked long before and was very tough by the time it hit my burger.  

The Condiments 4/10

The only condiment here is Byron sauce, which is a classic burger sauce that I previously described as having “a near perfect mild spicy kick”.  But this batch was much milder than what I had in July.  It was also very runny, so either they changed the recipe a lot or someone made a mistake.  I spent enough time working in restaurants to be suspicious that they added plain mayo, and maybe even some water, to try and make the batch last through the lunch rush.  It was spilled all over the plate and outside of the bun as well, a very sloppy presentation.

The Cheese: 18/20

Thankfully at least one component lived up to what I used to expect at a Byron restaurant.  Really good American cheese that was melted perfectly.  Could have used a little more as the taste was slightly lost on the beef due to the char flavor.

The Patty: 12/20

I’ve wrestled with this score for a couple of days.  If it was my first visit, I would have given it a much lower score.  But after dozens of visits I know that the charred patty is not the norm.  I know Byron likes to serve burgers pink, but coming from N. America where E-Coli is a threat I am definitely a medium to well guy so asked for that.  What I got was charred on the outside and quite pink on the inside.   Not a great experience.  I couldn’t tell if the grill was turned up too high or if they had resorted to frozen patties in a rush.  It was the same for my table mates too, although thankfully they had less char than I did and one was at least closer to medium.  Either way, I was unimpressed, although there were a few bites where the regular flavour did shine through.  Normally these 6 oz patties are terrific, one of my favourites, but not on this day.

The Taste: 10/20

Just an off day for what used to be one of my lunch staples.  A good bun and very good cheese let down by a busy line that had used older ingredients and mis-cooked the burger.  That happens during a big rush unfortunately from time to time, and part of me was glad to see it as it meant we are getting back to normal in a very weird way.   At least the chips were good, and we all loved the vanilla shakes.  They really are a great complement to a good cheeseburger on a warm day.  You can always have a look at Byrons website here if you want to give them a go yourself!

Our Verdict: 64/100

I was expecting this score to be a high 80s to low 90s when I walked in the door, and my real experience on the day was probably in the 40s so my review sits somewhere in between as a result.  After months of lockdowns and now with staff shortages at restaurants everywhere, I am sure the team was not used to the volumes we saw in there on a busy Saturday afternoon.  

I also have to say that if you are going to offer your menus digitally in a restaurant with very poor mobile reception then you have to make sure your WiFi is working and it was not that day.  That fact was adding a lot of stress to the poor serving staff as they were having to help everyone find menus.  Byron has had a tough couple of years and I hope management can turn things around, but changing the menu to deliver more value and flavour isn’t enough, the service needs to be there as well. Byron Burger has given us The Dribble, which scored really well, you can see the review here