I make no secret of the fact that I've had mixed experiences of Gourmet Burger Kitchen over the years. Back in the early naughties, GBK was the only burger joint doing anything like a decent burger on the high street. Then came the copy-cats like Ultimate Burger and other generics, and burgers became more mainstream, then the copy-cats started to drop like flies in the face of a new wave of bodacious competition. Somehow GBK has resolutely hung on in there.
Back in 2012, GBK began a programme titled 'upping the game' to respond to the threat of other, more popular, burger joints that were in their ascendancy (I'm looking at you, Byron) and riding the wave of burger fever that gripped London. Joints which made GBK's large, complicated menus and cookie-cutter restaurant design look deeply uncool.
