I really get tired of the "meatball in a bun" that British restaurants seem to think is a burger. Where does this come from, I've eaten burgers all over the world and obviously the ideal place is the US and at non diner in America have I EVER had a burger over 8mm and usually they're 5 to 6mm.

This ia an idea thickness for a burger as it allows "doubling up" if you are one of those beardy weirdies that like a thick burger and also allow a proper topping range.

I've never seen a cookery show where they did a burger and it was less than 15mm which is just a joke but when you got a restaurant in the UK you can expect a meatball, 15mm or more thick and at least 2cm of bun with no meat.

So any ideas, why can't the UK do burgers at all ?

Handmade burger Co.?

actually thats somewhere i tried, given it uses fresh pattys and I spent a lot of time telling them to roll the burger thin so it matches the size of the bun and is never more than 6mm thick.

The result? A meatball on a bun.

I expect it's quite hard to cook a 5mm burger to a particular degree of "done-ness". Perhaps your definition of a good burger differs from that of the people who operate burger restaurants over here.

If the definition of a good burger is using inferior meat and over cooking it so all taste has gone like MacShit and BuggerKing, then I'm glad restaurants do it wrong by giving the customer something succulent and tasty.

We can do burgers, perhaps in the UK most people prefer more meat to bun ratio in our burgers as they are more like "home made" burgers than the flat chested patties Americans like so much.

There are 2 US brands in Covent Garden, Five Guys and Shake Shack.

Someone has done a review of those 2 and Honest burger.

http://www.foodoverlondon.com/2013/0...on-honest.html

Maybe Five guys and shake shack will fill your burger needs

No doubt comes down to the cost of beef, and what the average BK, McD customer will pay for a burger.

As an American expat, I'm with you, OP. I usually describe them as meatloaf on a bun with all the unnecessary fillers. It's just too much for me.

And no, sumdges dad, I'm not talking about MacShit (really?). I mean In and Out or Dick's or Red Mill in Seattle.

Nowhere near the standard of an average U.S. restaurant unfortunately. I don't know why it's so hard to get a well cooked (medium rare) burger in this country.

I presumed he was talking about proper restaurants, not fast food joints.

Because they are not allowed to do "medium rare" anymore.

Who says? I had a medium rare burger last month in London.

Are you saying Handmade Burger aren't allowed to do them?

I have my steaks blue or rare, burgers usually medium.

Theres an English restaurant place a few miles from us that does a cracking burger with trimmings but it is nearly £11 so quite expensive but really nice.

I presume you were talking about Handmade Burger Company and you are right, they won't do them. But legally apart from a few overzealous councils there is nothing to stop restaurants doing rare or medium rare burgers.

It is getting worse though, the over zealous idea that we can't have medium rare burgers is spreading like wildfire

bit bloody stupid because you can have steak tartare which is just chopped up raw steak!

The concern is that the mince can be contaminated. If you have a steak it will be cooked on the outside even if you like it rare so any nasty bacteria on the outside will be killed. With mince any contaminants on the outside of the meat can be distributed thoughout the mince. I suppose it all comes down to trusting your suppliers. Presumably the resturants that serve tartare must source their meat very carefully or do something to it that kills any harmful bacteria.

I'd love to try an American burger. I don't like them over here, too thick and dry.

The place I see nice thin patties are in burger vans.
Unfortunately the quality of the meat and toppings etc. will not give you that diner feel

Byron Burgers
Luck lust luker and Burn
Almost famous

All do great burgers in Manchester

Do you insist they serve your chips in a Jenga tower?

I spent three weeks travelling the US East to West and never ate a burger.
I made the mistake of reading "Medium Raw" by Anthony Bourdain on the flight out
He has quite a bit to say about the average burger content.

Oh no! Really?

Still, can't be as bad as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle!

Pack it in!
I just downloaded it to kindle
Only 37p

Solita in manchester's northern quarter is amazing.