Honest Burgers opened its first eatery over 10 years ago in Brixton, London. Since then, their other eateries have opened across the UK, using some of the best British produce that the team can find. The latest Honest Burgers restaurant opened on Cloth Hall Street in Leeds this summer. I had heard some great things about the burgers and fries, so I jumped at the chance to review the restaurant.
On Tuesday evening, just as the sun was dropping below the tallest buildings, I cycled down to the City Centre with a friend. We found Honest Burgers right next to the Corn Exchange, where there are also conveniently lots of Sheffield stands for bikes. After locking up, we headed over to join a friend and we found ourselves a table.
We were all pretty thirsty as it was still warm, so we ordered some drinks to get started. We opted to try the homemade lemonade and homemade mint lemonade (both £3). The drinks came quickly and were lovely and refreshing. The consensus was out on which was better, but if I were to order again, I’d opt for the straight up lemon as it was sweeter.
Whilst we sipped our drinks, we made our minds up about food. We decided to share three burgers with sides. We opted for the Buffalo fried chicken (£13.50), the Pesto chicken (£12.50) and the Bacon plant (Vegan) (£14.75), with coleslaw, fries and green salad respectively.
The Buffalo fried chicken was a messy burger to eat but tasted great. The free-range buttermilk fried chicken thigh was crispy on the outside and moist in the middle, the American cheese was perfectly melted, the ranch mayo cut through the Frank’s RedHot buffalo sauce, and then the lettuce and pickles added some freshness. I really enjoyed the burger but would have liked to have had the option of ordering the chicken on its own as it was standout.
Up next, the Pesto chicken, which included a grilled chicken breast, with basil pesto, mustard mayo, and slices of tomato and rocket. The flavour combination was great, and may have been the best of all the burgers.
Finally, the Bacon plant. This was one of the vegan/ vegetarian options made with a Beyond Meat burger. Topping the burger was vegan bacon, Applewood vegan cheese, shoestring fries, bacon ketchup, chipotle mayo, rocket and pickles. Whilst I liked the concept of this dish, and thought that it was a great alternative to a ‘proper’ meat burger, I struggled to get my head around the fake meatness of the Beyond Meat burger. It was just a new experience. Saying that, I would order it again, and maybe next time I would be more prepared for how much like meat the burger tasted and felt.
To the sides: The rosemary fries are cut fresh, and they come with every burger as standard. We can see why because they were delicious. In fact, we all agreed that they were a standout feature of the whole meal. The fries were crispy, well seasoned and all round delicious. I’d go back to Honest just to order a bowl of these fries.
The coleslaw was tasty and I liked that it was different to coleslaw that you buy in the supermarket and also unlike others I’ve had elsewhere. But I wouldn’t rush back to order it again.
The green side salad was fresh, with lots of different greens like cos lettuce, spring onion, celery, rocket, cucumber and shallots and it was drizzled with Honest salad dressing. My friend loved it and thought that the addition of crunchy celery was great.
Finally, the dips: We ordered three, because it would have been rude not to. We opted for the Bacon ketchup, which was vegan. It was meaty and sweet at the same time, and was a great addition to all three burgers. I found the texture a little odd, but the flavour made up for it. The Honest hot sauce was lacking in depth of flavour for us – we thought that the heat was good and would have been a good addition to one of more plain burgers on offer. Last but not least was the BBQ honey mustard dip, which we all loved. It was smoky, sweet, rich and creamy all at the same time. It went so well with the fries, too!
Overall, we had a great time at Honest Burgers. The food was fab – particularly the fries and that BB honey mustard dip, and the service was friendly and fast too. I really appreciate the British sourced produce and also the story behind the company. I’d recommend Honest to others wanting to try somewhere new in the City Centre – especially if you love a good chip!
Leeds
Photographs by Gemma Bridge.
