When Richard Corrigan tweeted the other week that he'd just launched a new all-burger tasting menu at his Mayfair restaurant Corrigan's, well we felt honour-bound to try it out. So we snagged an invite to the launch to check it out for you, dear readers (selfless - us?).
Served in the bar area - either up at the counter or at one of the smaller tables - the new menu consists of a choice of five burgers. For £25 you get to choose three of the mini-burgers which are served with a small glass of beer matched to each of them.
Whether it's the boss man's recent appearances on TV or not, we were pretty surprised to find Corrigan's absolutely heaving on a Monday night. Granted it was almost wall-to-wall suits, but then that's still pretty impressive on what's normally the quietest night of the week.
After a brief, but bloodless fight, the Hot Dinners team came to the conclusion that we both wanted the same burgers and that we weren't prepared to share. So we'll have to leave it to other Hot Dinners readers to try the mackerel and squid burger and the lamb burger with cucumber and mint and let us know what they're like.
So we plumped for the venison with duck egg (served with a glass of Hobgoblin from Oxfordshire), a hand-ground veal with smoked bone marrow (served with Goose Island India Pale Ale) and - in homage to the first place Corrigan worked in London - the Stephen Bull's hand-ground beefburger which was paired with Brooklyn Lager.
The three mini-burgers come served on a wooden platter, with bowls of beef dripping chips and a range of sauces. The buns themselves were herby and sweet - although they could have done with being toasted more lightly, being a bit prone to crumblage (technical burger term denoting disintegration of bun whilst eating). As for our favourites - we were split between the veal burger served with a decent portion of roasted bone marrow on the side, which was also the sommelier's favourite, and the venison with goose egg which was sweet and rich.
We'd have preferred a little more beer in our glasses (wouldn't everyone?) but generally speaking the beers were a good match for the burgers, particularly the malty depth of the Hobgoblin with the venison burger.
Our verdict? A fun - and relatively cheap - way to eat at Corrigan's, this would also be a perfect pre or post-theatre treat. The Burger menu at Corrigan's is ostensibly available until the end of September - but we reckon they'll keep it on if it proves popular.
Enjoy 50% off your total bill at The Brave in Islington this weekend
