Byron Hamburgers

I signed up to the Byron Hamburgers mailing list (Byron Burger Club) a while back and was informed when they were opening up a branch in Manchester’s Piccadilly Garden. To celebrate the opening night, they were giving away free tickets on Eventbrite to be released at a set date and time. I only managed to get one ticket, but Byron were happy enough to accept my friend to the table if she was paying. As the ticket entitles you to one burger or main course salad, one while-you-wait, one side and one dessert per person, there was plenty of food to go around! We split the bill, paying only for an extra burger, side and drinks.

There is also another Byron Hamburgers in Manchester on Deansgate and another coming to the Corn Exchange, but this review is for the Piccadilly Garden branch. Our readers should take into account that this was the first time the restaurant is open to the public and thus there might be some teething problems. Our opinions were not affected by the fact the food was free.

Byron Hamburgers exterior

Byron Hamburgers exterior

Byron Hamburgers interior

I’ve never eaten at the Deansgate branch of Byron Hamburgers, but I felt the interior was cosier in Deansgate than it was at the Piccadilly branch. It was very industrial, which I didn’t mind, but I felt the lighting was a bit dim. We were sat on the left of the entrance near the windows, so perhaps it would have felt cosier further in.

Ryo: I think they were going for the American diner look – but unfortunately it felt more industrial (and slightly posher) Burger King… Mind you, I’m a huge fan of industrial look – but the whole place felt a bit cold and dark.  We went in the evening so it might feel different during lunch time though.

Menu

I felt that the menu at Byron Hamburgers was a bit limited for a burger place, there were only 7 different types of beef burgers, 1 chicken and 1 veggie. As they were heavily promoting the B-Rex burger, I decided that we should definitely try this.

Ryo: As Elsa said, not many choices of burgers here. In this day and age of posh and inventive burgers, most of their menu sounds slightly boring – with the usual jalapeños, streaky bacon, smoked BBQ sauces. But then, nothing wrong with the classic burgers if they are done right. So I decided to order a burger with some blue cheese. For the sides, we opted for iceberg wedge (hoping that it would be something refreshing) and skinny fries.

Food

The food arrived at a reasonable time although they struggled to fit everything we ordered on the small table we had.

Ryo: Well, yes. Maybe we were a bit greedy but the table was tiny!

Starter

Nachos (for two) with melted Cheddar, jalapenos, salsa, guacamole and sour cream

It was very nice of them to allow us to have the nachos as they are advertised as for two people and we only had a ticket for one free starter. I quite enjoyed these as the portion and toppings were quite generous. The tortilla chips had a good bite to them.

Ryo: Yes, plus point for allowing us to have the nachos and true to what they said – it was definitely for two+ people!  Salsa was fresh and their guacamole was good, but I loved the creamy sour cream. Some places give you the watery version, but this was more full-on cream goodness!

DISH 1 – B-REX burger

B-Rex burger

This monstrosity was overflowing with sauce. As a result, the burger didn’t quite hold itself together as the sauce drenched the bottom bun into nothingness. The burger was cooked quite well however, but I felt like the BBQ sauce was too much and I definitely struggled to taste the mayonnaise in this. Seeing as this costed £10+, I expected a more impactful burger.

Ryo: Very messy and big burger, but I expected it to be even more monstrously big… especially with that price tag. This was more Nanotyrannus than T-Rex. My biggest disappointment was not in the size though, but buns. The meat was good and the fillings were OK, but why do they have to use dry and tasteless burger buns? I know I can be picky about buns but it would have been nice to have them at least toasted.  Please respect the buns like you respect the meat.

DISH 2 – BLUE CHEESE HAMBURGER

Three cheese hamburger

This was a much better burger as I can taste everything in the bun.  I wished there were more choices for bun types as I felt maybe a sesame bun might have added to this burger.

Ryo: Agree that it was better than B-Rex as the blue cheese went quite well with the meat. It was less synthetic taste than B-Rex’s BBQ sauce as well. Also agreed that sesame buns (toasted! So that the blue cheese goes with the meat and hot buns) would have been a nice addition.

SIDES

Iceberg wedge with crispy bacon, blue cheese dressing, croutons and chives.

We ordered fries as well which were ok, nothing special. The above iceberg lettuce wedge was a nice addition as the freshness of the lettuce was a good contrast to the meat in the burgers. I do however resent the cheese on top of it and in hindsight would have ordered the house salad instead or had a different cheese in the cheeseburger.

Ryo: Fries were fries… though I would have preferred it to be more crispy.  I actually liked the blue cheese dressing but not so much it together with the bacon.  I think it should be either or, not both bacon and blue cheese. The portion was massive though.

DESSERT

Caramel and honey blondie

By this stage I was really full; I only ordered this because it was part of the ticket offer. This was nice but again, nothing special.

Ryo: Dessert menu is always very important for me and after a meal like this, you want something light. But all everything sounded really heavy and we found it difficult to choose anything light. I believe the one we ordered was the lightest option we could think of. It was sweet and nice… but not interesting. I think salted caramel with some lighter ice cream (banana, perhaps?) would have been better.

Funny you should say that, as they have since removed the caramel and honeycomb blondie and made up a sundae version with similar ingredients. Additionally they added Banoffee Mess – vanilla ice cream, banana, caramel sauce, biscuit and whipped cream. Had this been there on the day we visited, we might have ordered it!

Overall rating and comments

5/10 -2 for the B-Rex, -2 for the interior, -1 for the menu. I noticed at the time that the bill removed the price of the fries rather than the more expensive iceberg wedge as the side, but seeing as they allowed us to order the nachos, I didn’t want to make a fuss.

Ryo: 4(+1)/10  -2 for cold and dry buns, -2 for the menu, -1 for the B-Rex, -1 for the interior (but +1 for the voucher…) Overall, a disappointing experience.

Would visit again?

It is unlikely that I’ll visit Byron Hamburgers again, if I was craving a good burger I’d go to Solita or Filthy Cow instead.

Ryo: Nope, not worth the full-price. I think I would also go for Solita. And even GBK has a more inventive menu!

Information

Website: https://www.byron.co.uk/
Address: One Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester M1 1RG

115 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2NW

37 Hanging Ditch, Manchester M4 3TR

Have you been to Byron Hamburgers before? What are your favourite burger places?

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