Hache

Haché has carved out (perhaps that should be chopped) a reputation for itself as a superior burger restaurant, initially in Camden and now in the Fulham Road. The menu offers other things besides meat, with four vegetarian options, but clearly the burger is where the beef is (with apologies to Walter Mondale). I began with nachos, which was perhaps not a great test as it is more an issue of assembly than cooking. However if you have ever had the misfortune to try the gloopy mess that passes for nachos at a cinema snack counter you will know that it is possible to screw up even this. The version here had jalapeno peppers, sour cream, a very mild tomato salsa and some guacamole with proper chunks of avocado, piled on top of a bowl of tortilla chips. There was hardly any grilled cheese, but otherwise this was a tasty enough starter, though for me a bit more spice would have been welcome (11/20).

The beef pattie itself was quite good, certainly better than that at, say, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and was cooked to order. There was not even a hint of gristle, and the beef had reasonable taste, though the bun it was served in seemed to be hard (over toasted) and lacking in taste; ideally a barely toasted good quality brioche bun is what you want for your burger (11/20 given the poor bun, but the beef was better than this). I enjoyed the generous serving of matchstick chips with it, which were quite crisp and dry (13/20 for the chips). An Americano coffee appeared to be from an Illy machine, but I found it to be watery and tasteless.

The bill, with tap water only, for nachos, a burger, chips and a coffee, was £19. This is the main caveat I have. For a lunch, which is what this was, it was an entirely pleasant experience, and certainly better than other burger chains in London I have tried. However for £23 you could have a two course lunch at somewhere serious. The prices would not have seemed quite so high in an evening, when there are no lunchtime bargains at serious restaurants around to compete, but it did seem a tad on the pricy side. Still, at least the quality of the food was generally good, and if I am in the mood for a burger I’d come back here in preference to one of the chains.