theadmiralcodrington.co.uk
I've got a fever...and the only prescription is MO...
I've got a fever...and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL! Or rather, more cow. Preferably in burger form.
Hot Dinners recently reviewed the Admiral Codrington with a focus on their burger offering. Based on this, and my quest for the best burger in London, I headed there with Tracy L for a lunch time feast.
As described by HD, the meat is personally selected by the Chef and then aged in house (I imagine in the cold cellar that seems to run the entire length of the restaurant and is accessed through door in the floor next to the bar). It is then coarsely ground and formed into 8oz patties with light seasoning in an effort to let the meat speak for itself.
The cheese alone requires a story. Legend has it that the chef infuses cream with bacon and parmesan rind. Mature cheddar, parmesan, and American cheese are then melted into the cream. The resulting cheesy mixture is chilled and sliced before being used to top the burger. So the question has to be, is it worth it?
I want to say yes, I really do. Flavourwise, the cheese has a soft smooth consistency that melts in your mouth and its heaven on a patty. It's lost that over processed aftertaste inherent in American cheese slices, gained a silkiness rather than the slightly chunky way that cheddar insists on, and mellowed the parmesan into a deep flavour that warms and comforts without slapping you in the face. But I wonder just how much time and effort had to go in to this in order to achieve the cheese. In addition, it's a cheese that really only suits burgers and I have a hard time imagining it on anything else (although maybe if they added a steak sandwich to the menu that could work). Finally, the bacon and parmesan infusion into the cream seems redundant as you are already adding parmesan to the cheese later and the burger comes with two (albeit very small) strips of bacon.
The burgers is simply served on a brioche bun which does the job of soaking up juices admirably and managed to almost hold together until the end. Make no mistake, this is a messy burger which will require you to grab it with both hands and tear in. The brioche is soft and fluffy and seems to melt away.
And there, folks, lies the problem. Everything was too smooth, too easily melt in your mouth, to provide any texture. The incredible quality of the meat made it like butter on warm day, the soft brioche soaked with juices dissolved faster than cotton candy, the cheese just swirled around and was gone leaving just a memory. I have teeth for a reason and they were begging for something to bite on, some sort of texture that gave substance to these great flavours my tongue swore were there. Perhaps if we had order the burgers medium instead of medium rare (they came out looking more rare than medium) there would have been a better balance or if there was more delicious crunchy bacon, but as it stood I felt a bit let down by what had all the hallmarks of a great meal.
On other bits, the chips were fluffy inside and crunchy outside but had an odd taste as if the oil had been used for frying fish or was just a tad too stale. The salmon ceviche was truly tasteless with the overdose of lime pickling out all flavour of the fish and the jalapenos failing to make a notable appearance. The garlic mash was similarly smooth and decent although I was left with the feeling I could have made a better one at home. Great ambience with very pretty blonde wait staff.
The sticky toffee pudding was fantastic though and I would highly recommend it. Soft and moist cake with rich date sauce and a tiny pitcher of cream to mellow out the sweetness. Incredible!
Overall, it's a tad on the expensive side but a pretty decent meal. Is it the best burger in London? Tastewise it was right up there and overall it's above average but by no means deserving of the top spot
