I went to one of my first food markets since I was back from my holiday. And boy was I pleasantly surprised to find Vinegar Yard at London Bridge. A great location with a lot of seating, a fantastic view of the Shard, a plethora of drinks available and a few good food stalls. I went for the Nanny Bill’s burgers. I have heard of them before but never tried them so this was an opportunity.

How tasty is the Motherf*#$&r? – 9.5/10

This burger hit all the right spots, and I was very impressed. Few tweaks and that is an easy 10/10, it was playing with a lot of intense flavours and making them all shine through is difficult. You know I give a TEN only when the burger flirts with my soul and this wasn’t exactly it, quite good nonetheless.

The burger had:

• 2x Hand Pressed Beef Patties
• American Cheese
• Smoked Bacon
• Bacon Jam
• Burger Sauce
• Hot Sauce
• Pink Onions
• Shredded lettuce
• Seeded Bun

I love this new trend of hand-pressed beef patties. It is a great way to celebrate the beef and bring most of the flavours out of it. Compared to the smashed patties it isn’t very thin so you still get some of those burger juices flowing through. However, you have much more and much even char on each side that brings a lot of flavour with each bite. The meat quality was good, it was a fatty cut (maybe 30%) and the seasoning was alright. The bacon was nice, and it is always tricky to get it right with regular patties but with the hand-pressed ones it goes so well. The flavours play with each other so much more. Bacon wasn’t the best, not as the previous burger I had, but pretty tasty overall. The smoky feel was very welcomed.

American cheese just goes so well with hand-pressed patties, it gives that classic junky feel that is such a familiar taste. Using different cheeses is risky and a lot of burger joints are cautious about doing so.

The sauces were tasty. The bacon jam brought a lot of that sweetness and intensified the bacon flavour. The house sauce went very well with it, it was a classic with a seasoning twist. I was expecting a bit more heat from the hot sauce and a bit more of a classic flavour like a Scotch Bonnet. The sauces were heavy and had a strong base, the acidity came from the pink onions and I would have loved a bit more from them in between the bites. The lettuce was unnecessary, even in larger amount I don’t think it was going to shine through

Burger joint venue and overall experience? –  10/10

Just go visit Vinegar Yard, it is great. Good beer and good food everywhere!

Quirkiness level of the experience? – 9/10

I have to commend the large croquet made of beef brisket that came with the burger. Very flavourful and a great touch to a great burger