London's burger scene has evolved from an afterthought to one of Europe's most exciting. What started with American-style imports has blossomed into something distinctly British - dry-aged beef patties with regional provenance, inventive toppings that pull from the city's multicultural DNA, and everything from no-frills smash burgers to upscale creations that command Michelin-adjacent prices. The city now rivals any American metropolis for burger excellence, with chefs treating the humble hamburger as a canvas for serious culinary ambition.
These six spots represent the best of what London offers right now. Some have won national awards, others have quietly perfected their craft over years of slinging patties, and one serves just ten burgers per service that people queue around the block to taste. Whether you want a £12 smash burger that hits every classic note or an £18 Gorgonzola-topped creation made from 50-day aged beef, London delivers.
| Restaurant | Location | Price Range | Specialty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Bear Burger | Brixton Market | $$$ (£12-16) | Award-winning miso bacon |
| Bleecker Burger | Multiple locations | $$ (£10-15) | 40-day dry-aged beef |
| Honest Burgers | 32 London locations | $$ (£12-16) | Regeneratively farmed beef |
| Patty & Bun | Multiple locations | $$ (£11-15) | Ari Gold cheeseburger |
| Blacklock | Five London locations | $$$ (£16-20) | Vermouth-caramelized onions |
| Dove | Notting Hill | $$$ (£18) | Gorgonzola burger (limited) |
Black Bear Burger: Britain's Best Burger for 2025
| Address | 11-13a Market Row, Brixton Market, London SW9 8LB (Access via Electric Lane, Coldharbour Lane, or Atlantic Road) |
|---|---|
| Website | blackbearburger.com |
| Price Range | $$$ (Burgers £11.50-16.40) |
| Specialty | Canadian-British fusion with British dry-aged beef |
| Must-Try | Double Miso Bacon - £16.40 (National Burger Awards winner) |
When Black Bear Burger's Double Miso Bacon claimed the title of Best Burger in the UK at the 2025 National Burger Awards, it wasn't exactly a surprise to anyone who'd been paying attention. Tucked into the vibrant chaos of Brixton Market, this Canadian-inspired spot has been quietly perfecting the art of the burger since opening their first full-service restaurant in this location.
The signature Black Bear burger (£12.50) showcases what they do best: dry-aged British beef cooked to order, smoked bacon, onion jam that adds sweet-savory depth, and garlic mayo that ties everything together. But it's the Double Miso Bacon that deserves the awards. The miso brings an umami complexity that makes sense the moment you taste it - that funky, salty depth cuts through the richness of the beef and bacon in a way that standard condiments simply can't match. It's the kind of creative flourish that could go terribly wrong but instead elevates the entire experience.
The restaurant itself feels like the best kind of neighborhood spot - covered outdoor seating with heating for London's unpredictable weather, a casual vibe that welcomes solo diners and groups equally, and service that strikes the balance between efficient and friendly. They also serve a legitimately good chicken burger (£12) and wings (£8) that are worth considering if you're dining with someone who isn't in a beef mood, though honestly, you'd be missing the point.
Black Bear has expanded beyond Brixton to locations in Camden's Boxpark, Canary Wharf, Exmouth Market, and more, but the Market Row original remains the flagship. The full menu offers more creativity than the delivery apps suggest, and dining in lets you appreciate the craft that goes into each burger. At these prices, you're firmly in the premium burger category, but the quality of ingredients and execution justify every pound.
Bleecker Burger: National Champions with 40-Day Aged Beef
| Address | Multiple locations including Baker Street (195 Baker St, NW1 6UY), Bloomberg Arcade (16 Bloomberg Arcade, EC4N 8AR), Victoria (205 Victoria Street, SW1E 5NE) |
|---|---|
| Website | bleecker.co.uk |
| Price Range | $$ (Burgers £9.95-15.15) |
| Specialty | 40-day dry-aged beef with signature cheese melt |
| Must-Try | Bleecker Bacon Cheeseburger - £12-13 (National Burger of the Year 2024) |
Bleecker won National Burger of the Year 2024 for a reason that becomes obvious the moment you bite into their bacon cheeseburger: they've mastered the fundamentals so completely that no fancy toppings are needed. The 40-day dry-aged beef delivers a depth of flavor that fresh ground chuck simply cannot match - there's a slight funk, a concentrated beefiness that tells you this patty has been given time to develop character.
The cheese melt is legendary among London burger enthusiasts. American cheese - that often-maligned processed slice - becomes something transcendent when it hits a properly hot patty. It doesn't just sit on top; it cascades down the sides, melting into every crevice, creating that creamy, salty blanket that defines the perfect cheeseburger. Add crispy bacon, and you have something that tastes simultaneously classic and refined.
With locations scattered across London from Spitalfields to Canary Wharf, Bleecker has managed what few burger chains accomplish: maintaining quality and consistency while expanding. The Baker Street location, their seventh, has the same excellent burgers you'll find at Bloomberg Arcade or Victoria. Some locations serve halal beef, and all offer click-and-collect ordering if you want to skip the queue.
The menu stays focused - burgers, fries, shakes, and beer - which means your only real decisions are single or double patty, and whether to add bacon. The Angry Fries (standard fries with spicy toppings) are worth the upgrade from regular chips, and the cherry shake hits that nostalgic diner note perfectly. At £10-15 for a burger, you're paying a premium over fast food but getting restaurant-quality ingredients and execution. The dry-aged beef alone costs more to source than the standard 80/20 chuck most burger joints use, and you can taste the difference in every bite.
Honest Burgers: Regeneratively Farmed Beef Across 32 Locations
| Address | 32 locations across London including Soho, Camden, Borough Market, South Bank, Brixton, Shoreditch, and more |
|---|---|
| Website | honestburgers.co.uk |
| Price Range | $$ (Burgers £12-16 estimate based on similar London restaurants) |
| Specialty | 35-day dry-aged British chuck steak from regeneratively farmed sources |
| Must-Try | The Tribute - bacon, American cheese, burger sauce, French's mustard, pickles, with rosemary chips |
Honest Burgers could easily coast on having thirty-two locations across London. Instead, they've doubled down on ingredient quality in a way that's genuinely impressive for a chain this size. As of 2022, every single burger they serve uses beef from regeneratively farmed British cattle, partnering with GrassRoots to source meat that's better for the land, the animals, and ultimately, your burger.
The Tribute burger showcases their approach: 35-day dry-aged British chuck steak cooked medium (pink) as standard, topped with crispy bacon, melted American cheese, and a combination of burger sauce, French's mustard, and pickles that hits all the classic notes without tasting mass-produced. The beef does the heavy lifting here - that dry-aging process concentrates flavor and tenderizes the meat, creating a patty that's both juicy and intensely beefy.
What sets Honest apart from other chains is their commitment to doing one thing exceptionally well rather than offering a bewildering menu of options. You choose your burger, you choose your side (homemade rosemary salted chips, dressed green salad, or seasonal slaw), and that's it. The rosemary chips are legitimately excellent - crispy, well-seasoned, with just enough herbal fragrance to complement the burger without overwhelming it.
With locations spanning from touristy spots like Leicester Square and Covent Garden to neighborhood favorites in Dalston and Peckham, you're never far from an Honest Burgers in London. The quality remains remarkably consistent across locations, which speaks to their systems and training. They also offer plant-based options that are more thoughtful than the usual afterthought veggie burger, making this a solid choice when dining with mixed dietary preferences. For a reliable, high-quality burger that supports more sustainable farming practices, Honest delivers exactly what their name promises.
Patty & Bun: The Ari Gold Reigns Supreme
| Address | Multiple locations including 54 James Street, London W1U 1EU (original location) and others across the city |
|---|---|
| Website | pattyandbun.co.uk |
| Price Range | $$ (Burgers £11.50-15) |
| Specialty | Dry-aged beef with signature smoky mayo |
| Must-Try | Ari Gold - £11.50 (dry-aged beef, cheese, lettuce, pickled onions, ketchup, smoky P&B mayo) |
Patty & Bun started in a tiny 30-seat space in Marylebone with a simple mission: bring high-quality, incredible burgers to London. They've since expanded to seven locations, but the Ari Gold burger remains the undisputed champion of their menu - the "prime cut" that regulars insist is "very hard to beat."
The Ari Gold exemplifies the less-is-more philosophy. Dry-aged beef provides the foundation, bringing that characteristic funky depth that fresh ground beef lacks. The cheese melts into the patty, the pickled onions add sharp, acidic bite, and the smoky P&B mayo ties everything together with a creamy, subtly smoky finish. Ketchup and lettuce round it out, and somehow the combination of these familiar ingredients creates something greater than the sum of its parts. At £11.50, it's one of the better values on this list for the quality you're getting.
You can add bacon for an extra pound, and honestly, it's worth it. The salty, crispy bacon amplifies everything else happening in the burger, adding textural contrast and a smoky, savory punch that plays beautifully with the aged beef. The bun deserves mention too - it's sturdy enough to hold everything together through the last bite but soft enough that it doesn't dominate or distract from the fillings.
Patty & Bun represents the sweet spot in London's burger scene: elevated enough to taste distinctly better than chains like Five Guys, but approachable enough in price and atmosphere that it works for a casual weeknight dinner. The locations maintain a relaxed, unfussy vibe where the focus stays squarely on the food. When you're craving a straightforward, exceptionally well-executed cheeseburger without bells and whistles or Instagram-worthy gimmicks, the Ari Gold delivers every time.
Blacklock: Where Chophouse Craft Meets Burger Perfection
| Address | Five London locations: Soho (24 Great Windmill Street, W1D 7LG), Covent Garden (Bedford Street), City, Canary Wharf (Frobisher's Passage), Shoreditch (28-30 Rivington St) |
|---|---|
| Website | theblacklock.com |
| Price Range | $$$ (Burgers approximately £16-18) |
| Specialty | Chophouse-quality beef with vermouth-caramelized onions |
| Must-Try | The Blacklock Burger - double cheeseburger with Ogleshield and Cheddar |
Blacklock built its reputation on perfectly grilled chops and steaks, so when they turned their attention to burgers, expectations were high. They exceeded them. The Blacklock burger takes the double cheeseburger format and elevates it with chophouse technique and ingredients that most burger joints would never consider.
The onions get caramelized in vermouth - a gloriously excessive touch that transforms them from simple aromatics into something with serious depth and complexity. That subtle herbaceous quality from the vermouth mingles with the natural sweetness of slow-cooked onions, creating a topping that could stand on its own but instead amplifies everything around it. The double cheese situation showcases serious thought: Ogleshield for its exceptional melting properties (it becomes almost molten), and sharp Cheddar for flavor punch. Together they create layers of creamy, tangy richness.
The burger sauce deserves its own paragraph. Hellmann's mayo forms the base, mixed with Colman's mustard for that distinctive English heat, Sriracha for subtle kick, and chopped gherkins for texture and brine. It's punchy, complex, and balanced - the kind of sauce that makes you want to ask for extra on the side. A chargrilled sesame brioche bun holds everything together, toasted just enough to add crunch without becoming brittle.
At around £16-18, this is firmly in the premium category, but you're paying for chophouse-quality beef and the kind of ingredient sourcing and technique that Blacklock applies to all their dishes. The atmosphere skews more upscale than the other spots on this list - you're in a proper restaurant with table service and a full menu of exceptional grilled meats. If you're already planning to visit Blacklock for their famous chops, the burger is absolutely worth ordering. If you're specifically seeking out London's best burgers, this one justifies the higher price tag.
Dove: The £18 Gorgonzola Burger Worth Racing For
| Address | 31 Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill, London W11 2EU |
|---|---|
| Website | dove.london |
| Price Range | $$$ (Burger £18) |
| Specialty | 50-day dry-aged beef with Gorgonzola (only 10 made per service) |
| Must-Try | The Gorgonzola Burger - off-menu, limited to 10 per service, arrive early |
Here's what you need to know about Dove: they make exactly ten Gorgonzola burgers per service. Not eleven, not twelve. Ten. When they're gone, they're gone, and you'll have to come back another day. This scarcity isn't artificial hype - it's a function of using 50-day dry-aged beef and preparing each burger to exacting standards that don't scale well.
The burger itself is technically off-menu, though everyone knows about it now. The beef has been aged for fifty days, nearly twice as long as the already-impressive aging periods at other top spots. This extended aging creates a flavor profile that borders on funky - in the best way. There's an almost cheese-like quality to the beef itself before you even get to the Gorgonzola. The onions are cooked in champagne and butter, because when you're already committing to a £18 burger, you might as well go all the way. That melted blanket of Gorgonzola is divisive - blue cheese always is - but if you're a fan, this is transcendent.
Chef Jackson Boxer runs Dove as a neighborhood restaurant serving elevated comfort food, and the burger embodies that philosophy perfectly. It's comfort food in concept - beef, onions, cheese, bun - but executed with fine-dining technique and ingredients. The burger arrives glowing pink in the center, cooked precisely medium-rare, with a seared crust that provides textural contrast.
You'll want to book ahead or arrive early. The restaurant operates limited hours (Tuesday-Thursday 5:30-10pm, Friday-Saturday 12-3pm & 5:30-10pm, Sunday 12-4pm), and those ten burgers go quickly. At £18, this is the most expensive burger on this list, but it's also the most unique. If you want a classic cheeseburger, go elsewhere. If you want to experience what happens when serious culinary talent focuses on the hamburger format, race to Dove and order one of those ten precious burgers before someone else does.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the average price for a burger in London?
Most quality burgers in London range from £11-16, with budget-friendly options starting around £10 and premium gourmet burgers reaching £18-20. The sweet spot for excellent quality without breaking the bank is typically £12-14, which gets you dry-aged beef and thoughtful toppings at spots like Black Bear Burger or Honest Burgers.
Do these burger restaurants take reservations?
It varies by restaurant. Casual spots like Honest Burgers, Bleecker, and Patty & Bun operate on a first-come, first-served basis. However, Blacklock and Dove accept and recommend reservations, especially for weekend dining. If you're specifically after Dove's limited Gorgonzola burger, booking ahead or arriving right when they open is essential.
Are there good vegetarian burger options in London?
Yes! London has embraced plant-based dining, and most burger restaurants now offer quality vegetarian or vegan options. Honest Burgers has thoughtful plant-based burgers on their regular menu, and many spots offer Beyond Meat or house-made veggie patties. For restaurants specializing in plant-based burgers, consider dedicated vegetarian spots alongside these traditional burger joints.
Which burger place is best for a quick lunch?
Bleecker Burger is ideal for quick lunch with their click-and-collect system and multiple locations near offices and transit hubs. Honest Burgers' 32 locations also make them convenient for a fast, quality lunch. Both serve burgers quickly without sacrificing quality, and you'll be in and out in 20-30 minutes during non-peak hours.
What makes London burgers different from American burgers?
London's burger scene distinguishes itself through British beef sourcing (often with regional provenance), longer dry-aging periods (30-50 days versus 14-21 days typical in the US), and creative toppings that reflect the city's multicultural influences. Many London burger joints also emphasize sustainability and regenerative farming practices more prominently than their American counterparts.
Conclusion: London's Burger Excellence
London's transformation into a world-class burger destination reflects the city's broader culinary evolution. These six restaurants represent different approaches to burger excellence - from Black Bear's award-winning fusion creativity to Dove's ultra-limited fine-dining interpretation - but they share a commitment to quality ingredients, proper technique, and respect for the humble hamburger.
Whether you're after a £12 smash burger that nails the classics or an £18 Gorgonzola creation that pushes boundaries, London delivers. The dry-aged beef, the creative toppings, the focus on British sourcing and sustainability - these aren't just trendy talking points. You taste the difference in every bite. And with options spanning from Brixton Market to Notting Hill, from chophouses to casual counter-service spots, there's a perfect burger waiting wherever you are in the city.