• Home
  • Restaurants in Wales
    • Cardiff
    • Abergavenny
    • Brecon
    • Merthyr Tydfil
    • Newport
    • Swansea
    • Vale of Glamorgan
  • Restaurants in England
    • Bath
    • Birmingham
    • Bradford-on-Avon
    • Bristol
    • Cheltenham
    • Hereford
    • Liverpool
    • London
  • Restaurants in Spain
  • Recipes

Calendar

June 2025
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« May    

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • December 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • December 2013

Categories

  • Abergavenny
  • Bath
  • Birmingham
  • Bradford-on-Avon
  • Brecon
  • Bridgend
  • Bristol
  • Cardiff
  • Cheap Eats
  • Cheap Eats
  • Cheap Eats
  • Cheltenham
  • Deliveries and Takeaways
  • Hastings and St Leonards
  • Hastings and St Leonards
  • Hereford
  • In Praise of Pork
  • Liverpool
  • London
  • Merthyr Tydfil
  • Newport
  • Powys
  • Reading
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants in England
  • Restaurants in Spain
  • Restaurants in Wales
  • Rhondda Cynon Taf
  • Set lunches
  • Swansea
  • Thoughts
  • Uncategorized
  • Vale of Glamorgan
The Plate Licked Clean
  • Home
  • Restaurants in Wales
    • Cardiff
    • Abergavenny
    • Brecon
    • Merthyr Tydfil
    • Newport
    • Swansea
    • Vale of Glamorgan
  • Restaurants in England
    • Bath
    • Birmingham
    • Bradford-on-Avon
    • Bristol
    • Cheltenham
    • Hereford
    • Liverpool
    • London
  • Restaurants in Spain
  • Recipes
onion rings Honest Brixton
London . Restaurants in England

Honest Burgers, Brixton Market, London

On August 23, 2015 by The Plate Licked Clean

You could lose hours in Brixton Village. A bustling, gaudy microcosm of London, with flags familiar and unfamiliar draped from the roof, and stalls with baskets piled high with fascinating produce from near and far, people from every corner milling around. It thrums with life and seems custom-built to give a Daily Mail reader an aneurysm. Or at the very least a migraine. This, of course, is always A Good Thing.

It is also home to this, the original Honest outlet, though they have since added nine more to the roster. It’s a tiny space, with an added few tables outside. There’s a no reservations policy so on a busy Saturday you resign yourself to queuing- again- but they have a civilised approach here. Leave your details and you’re free to wander and explore the market’s palette of cuisines and attractions, and they’ll get back to you when they have room for you. They messaged us immediate confirmation of our place in the line and contacted us again within 10 minutes, just time to load up on Colombian chorizo at the carniceria next door. Or have a peek at the Caribbean seafood place over the way. Or Mama Lan’s with its burgeoning reputation for zingingly fresh Asian street food. 

Theirs is a small but judicious beer list, ranging from England to Hawaii via Iceland and Spain; a Gosnell’s mead and their own ‘Honest’ pale ale, in those telltale skull motif Nick Dwyer-designed cans and brewed in collaboration with local superstars Beavertown, were standouts.

The burger options are limited in number-of which, more later-and all come with chips.

onion rings Honest Brixton Market
Onion rings have a light spicy batter fried a deep gold. They’re brilliant: as soon as we try the first, we order another batch. They are also huge- big enough to double as bracelets for slimmer wrists than mine. Yes, burgers plus fashion AND gift-buying advice now- you don’t get that on other food blogs, do you? A last-minute option for a forgotten anniversary? A birthday, perhaps? Rest assured- she’ll love them. You can thank me later.

And it came to pass, that our waitress did enquire as to how we desired our burgers cooked; and lo, when they did arrive, there was much jubilation, for behold they were pink. And they did say among themselves, ‘This is a miracle!’

(At this point I usually get a flurry of emails telling me that advocating the eating of undercooked meat is downright irresponsible and will surely lead to housemaid’s knee, Mrs Miggins’ Drooping Malady and Guy Fawking of the Leg.)

Moan over, though it still seems odd so few places in Cardiff actually bother to ask you how you’d like your food-you know, the thing you are paying for- when it’s the standard elsewhere.

rosemary salt fries Honest Brixton

What you get here is simple food, executed with precision, with each item the product of obvious care. It shows- these chips are exemplary. Proper hand-cut, skin-on chips with lots of lovely ‘scraps’ to chase around the bowl. Just the right amount of rosemary salt, just the right amount of crunch versus fluffiness. Superb, and a strong contender for the best I’ve had served with a burger anywhere. A little pot of curry sauce on the side, chutney-thick, had a mellow heat cut through with a fruity tang.

bacon cheeseburger Honest Brixton

The ‘Honest’ burger (£10) had the deep rich savouriness of properly aged beef. This is serious meat, Ginger Pig dry-aged beef, treated with care and respect.

cheeseburger with bacon Honest Brixton

These are simply presented burgers- no vertiginous array of onion rings, no superfluous layering on of extra meats, no bun skewered with a stalactite of frozen pixie’s tears. No, just meat and cheese and bacon and salad. There’s no showboating here; any lilies remain resolutely ungilded. And as a result these burgers are superb. As in, severely, ridiculously good in their simplicity, in their capturing of the essence of what this food is all about and hitting the burger-shaped bullseye with a resounding thwack. 

burger served pink Honest Brixton

If you’re of a certain vintage- or a fan of the kitsch 60s Batman- feel free to provide your own percussive sound effect at this point. KAPOW, perhaps. Or KLONK. Or even the little-used but undeniably onomatopoeic SPLONK! The kind of burger that simultaneously reminds you how good this classic can be, and infuriates that so many manage to miss the point, becoming sidetracked in extra this and bonus that and dollops of the other and just generally losing sight of the eternal truth: good meat, cooked properly, plus a few wise adroit judicious toppings can make something deeply wonderful. 

Every bit of this meal had had the same attention lavished on it. As with Patty & Bun, the local competition means the kitchen is Not At Home To Mr Cock-Up: get this wrong and there is plenty of competition for your hard-earned nearby. Their avowed mission is  ‘to do one thing well, a simple burger menu inspired by great British produce’.  Five beef, one chicken, one veggie: yes, less really is more.


Mission accomplished, with room to spare.


Honest Burgers

Unit 12 

Brixton Village

London

SW9 8PR





YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:

  • Patty and Bun London
    Patty & Bun, London
  • Is your favourite delivery service killing your favourite takeaway?
    Is your favourite delivery service killing your…
  • Jay Rayner
    Dear Jay Rayner...
  • croquetas jose
    José, Bermondsey, London
Tags: Burgers, London, London Restaurants

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • X
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Subscribe to The Plate Licked Clean

I'll never try to sell you anything or spam your inbox, but to get an update via email when a new piece is posted, register here:

The Plate Licked Clean

This blog is a very simple thing.

I won’t try to sell you any hand lotion, exercise programmes, coffee syrups or Patagonian nose flutes.  You won’t find tips on dating, ‘wellness’ or yoga mats.

I write because I love it (and food, as indicated by my increasing girth). Greed happens to be my Deadly Sin of choice, but at least it is never shy of providing me with subject matter. 

A simple thing, then: all you get is me wittering on semi-coherently about places I’ve eaten at; hence a ‘restaurant blog’ rather than a ‘food blog’, although there are a few recipes scattered throughout. 

From mezze to Michelin ‘fine dining’ and all points in between. 

Recent Posts

  • Cuisines Negombo Sri Lankan restaurant, Canton, Cardiff: review
  • Sumisu Ramen, Stooge Coffee, Trinity Street Hastings: review
  • Lury, Hastings: restaurant review
  • The Albion, Hastings: restaurant review
  • The South Kitchen, Albany Road, Cardiff: Yemeni restaurant review
  • Ayeeyo’s Kitchen, Corporation Road, Grangetown: review
  • Winifred’s Restaurant and Bar, The Courtyard at Source Park, Hastings: review
  • Dhamaal Kitchen, Sai La Vie, Grangetown, Cardiff: review
  • Khalid’s Kitchen, Hastings: Middle Eastern restaurant review
  • The Old Moat House Kidwelly/Cydweli: restaurant review

©The Plate Licked Clean 2025. All rights reserved.