Byron Hamburgers

I suspect this place will not last the course as Rump failed in this location so I suspect will this place. There is a limit to the culinary heights one can take a burger AND stomach paying for it and this place endangers the latter more than the former. Burgers are good but not exceptional and sides are equally acceptable, whilst not setting your palate ablaze unlike your wallet. So if you need a burger fix I’d go to GBK, which is just a stones throw away up Putney Bridge road.

Big Dave hit this place up at the weekend on his own. I was hungover and in need of some food, quickly, and the usual bacon sarnie wasn’t going to cut it. Stumbled into Byron and was seated quickly. I nearly threw up all of last nights 18 beers when I saw the price of the Byron Burger. COR BLIMEY SHEILA as they would say on Home and Away. I always prefered Neighbours to that rubbish, even though they had Alf Stewart and Donald Fisher. You could argue Karl Kennedy had become the Donald Fisher of Neighbours but it would need a proper debate – time that Big Dave simply does not have.

After recovering from near fatal bill shock, I waited for my food with some olives and fresh lemonade. Equally extortionate but good. Well, the lemonade was good. The olives were more like large frozen peas with a stone in the middle. Didnt tasted very good, firm, stoney. Everything the big man tries to avoid in an olive. I only got them because there wasn’t any other choice of starters. The burger arrives with the side of onion rings I ordered (the best I have ever had anywhere, FACT) and I was quite impressed. It was a good burger, cooked perfectly, served with the usual green and red crap inside that Big Dave always tosses away.

In summary, Big Dave awards four stars. Decent burger but overpriced, very small selection of starters and burgers, top quality onion rings. Go to GBK.

These are some of the best burgers I have tasted in London, but they should be at the price they are!

The quality is great, but come on! When did it become OK to charge so much for what essentially is just good quality ground beef made into a patty!

You also need to order fries seperately which really ups the cost.

There is a good selection of sides and options though and whilst I sound negative I do like this place with it’s Retro America kitchen diner feel… but I find it hard to ‘treat’ myself to a burger…

However this place is worth a visit just for the beer selection which I find very impressive indeed (but again is quite expensive).

Was there tonight too and - as a Byron virgin - I have now become another firm fan.

Naturally we received a warm welcome on their opening night but the impression I got was that the great service, fab food, and fun decor are just the way that Byron Hamburgers roll.

The marvellous beers involved in their Craft Beer season during this summer were cracking too. Can highly recommend the Camden Wheat Beer.

The house burger (dry cure bacon, mature Cheddar and Byron sauce) totally hit the spot, the fries were pretty good, and the macaroni cheese has a wonderfully thick and flavoursome crust on top.

No idea how we managed to fit them in, but the desserts were devilishly good. I preferred the almond tart to the banana split but it was a close run thing.

As Gary mentioned above, the atmosphere was just the ticket – colourful seats, good tunes and the occasional model cow.

Byron Putney deserves to do well with such attention to detail and quality. They'll probably make mincemeat out the decidedly poky and cramped GBK around the corner.

"How long have you been open?" I asked the very friendly front of house staff.

"About an hour," came the reply.

Yes, I'd inadvertently stumbled into Byron on their opening night, and you've no idea how excited I was just to see this burger restaurant in the first place.

I'm already a confirmed Byron fan, so short of a disaster, I was never going to dislike their latest chain. And after my quick visit, my fandom is very much confirmed.

The food was as good as I'd come to expect. The burgers were delicious and nicely pink in the middle with crispy bacon on top and the famous courgette fries, which, if possible, I love even more than the burgers, were perfect. And skin-on chips were delicious.

But what really impressed me was just how much effort had gone into the restaurant. The staff were all friendly, helpful, chatty and knowledgeable. At one point, when we realised the courgette fries weren't wheat-free (my girlfriend is allergic to wheat), our waiter immediately offered to replace with another side dish, free of charge. And even though we didn't have much of a wait for our food, they apologised for the first night slowness. We didn't mind.

The decor is fun and typically Byron - a hamburger joint that makes you feel a little like an extra in Grease. But there was no cheese on the stereo. In fact, the background music of Pulp, Suede, British Sea Power and others made me wonder if they'd swiped my iPod when I wasn't looking.

It's exactly the type of place that the bottom end of Putney High Street has been calling out for - a decent, fun, quality restaurant that has staying power (there's been a couple of failed places in this location since I've been living in the area). Judging by the packed seats on the opening night, profits won't be a problem.

At the end of our meal we had to rush off to the cinema. The maitre d' asked if we had time to give some feedback - sadly we didn't, but it feels only fair to give some given how good our meal and overall experience was. Byron Putney is fantastic.