Food Hoods: Get your favourite burger featured on this beautifully illustrated Food Map

We're pretty spoilt, you know, in London, with all our great burgers. (Hi again, by the way, I haven't posted for a while as I've had a busy couple of months but hopefully a few more posts coming down the pipe shortly).

I would say we've got a pretty established set of great burger slingers, and so it would seem that now is the time to institutionalise them into something beautiful. This is what I'm talking about:

A couple of weeks ago a fellow burger enthusiast (let's call him a bit of a foodie), had a chat with me about a food map he was creating - codenamed "Food Hoods". The intention is that the map will be hand-illustrated and cover the crème de la crème of the city's best food and drink neighbourhoods. This obviously appeals to me because it means that as well as being able to plan to get my burger fix around the capital, I can explore other foods in the area - recommended by peers.

Hoods that have been confirmed already are:

• Soho
• Covent Garden
• Fitzrovia
• Marylebone
• Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Hoxton
• Hackney (London Fields, Dalston mainly)
• Whitechapel & Spitalfields
• Brixton
• Clerkenwell
• Bermondsey

Food Hoods is the creation of Will Moody and he wants to make sure your favourite burger joints are included on the map, which is where you lovely lot come in.

All you have to do is plug your favourite burger into the comments section below, or tweet me and Will (@HamburgerMe @FoodHoods) with your top burger restaurant in London.

Now, and this is important, you need to make sure you share your absolute number one. The place you'd go if it was your last burger in London. And Will will make sure the best ten make it onto his new illustrated map.

If you want to get your hands on a copy of Food Hoods you can pre-order your copy here - it comes as a fold-out map for sticking up on your wall or a small booklet (better for burger fans on the go). As great maps take time to produce, the first copies will be ready in early 2016. 

[Competition] Win two breakfast burgers from Burger & Lobster

Burger & Lobster, the Goodman sister brand that pairs luxury with comfort, has launched a new range of breakfast burgers at Threadneedle Street in the city. And yours truly gets to give two away as part of Great Little Place, London's Burger Week.

Here's the official line from Burger & Lobster

"Burger & Lobster DOES MORNINGS!

We travelled the world to find great farmers and what we consider to be some of the best beef in the world. Our 6oz Baby Burgers are 100% Nebraskan Angus Steak made from 3 cuts; Chuck, Tri Tip & Brisket. We also use our own recipe for the brioche bun. Comes with cheese and a soft poached egg. Dish served with beans and hash browns!

Exclusive to our Threadneedle Street restaurant as part of our Breakfast Menu."

So what do you have to do to be in with a chance of winning?

It's pretty simple. Just tweet "#BurgerWeekBreakfastBurgerBonanza" and mention @glpLondon and @burger_lobster on Twitter. Simples.

Winner drawn first thing on Sunday 26 July. G'luck.

COMP NOW CLOSED - congratulations to the winners!

[Competition] Burger Craft opens in Euston at The Exmouth Arms

Burger Craft, originally named Juicy Bastard, launched their forth pop-up kitchen in their brand new flagship Euston pub - The Exmouth Arms - at the start of February following a £150k refurbishment.

It's traditional Victorian pub, a short walk from Euston station on Starcross Street and seats 80. They're serving from their new ‘Burger Craft Does..’ menu which sees 12 classic British dishes reinvented and served in a demi brioche bun - as well as The Juicy Bastard burger which we all know and love.

As well as serving award-winning burgers, The Exmouth Arms will serve a London-focused product range including 15 brands of gin and 50% of their bottled and draught beer coming from London-based breweries.

To celebrate their new pub, they've given Hamburger Me! a meal for 4 to give away. To be in with a chance to win, simply Tweet "I want a #JuicyBastard @hamburgerme @Burger_Craft" or post on my Facebook wall.

[Sponsored] Win dinner for two at Byron Hamburgers

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. But in this case, there actually is!

The lovely folks at Line-Up are giving Hamburger Me! readers a chance to win £50 to spend at Byron Hamburgers.

With Byron’s Smoky burger (6oz hamburger, smoked cheddar, streaky bacon, crispy onions, shredded iceberg, pickles & smoked chilli BBQ sauce) now a firm fixture on their menu, I know what I’d be spending the cash on...

For those of you that don’t know, Line-Up is a brand new iPhone app that lets you create your own personalised 'what’s on' guide for going out in London (and lots of other cities across the UK). To enter the competition, just join their mailing list using the form below. It’s that simple. You'll get additional entries for following their Facebook page and Twitter account too.

Winner announced from among those who sign up next Friday at 5pm. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hamburger Gourmet competition winners

As you know those lovely folks at Murdoch Books, publishers of the English translation of Hamburger Gourmet, have sent me three copies of the book to give away. This fantastic prize coincides with the UK release of the book, the contents of which I wrote about here:

Here are the entries:

@burgerawayday's study in felt tip

Chris Stott's triple patty outline 

@Chrislm86's burger collage, modelled by his long suffering girlfriend

@Fevis's line burger

@PovoasCraig's  'two slow' 

@Joelgherkin's study of a Breddo's Slider

@Michaeljosem's 'wear it' burger tee

@steampie's lifecycle of a burger

@willyumscouk mashup in pencil and paint

And the winners are:

Joelgherkin

Chrislm86

Steampie

I'll be in touch with you all shortly.

Congratulations!

Of course you're all winners as you can get your own copy of Hamburger Gourmet for just £10.34 on Amazon.

Competition Entries and Ticket Winner - Two Nights Only

Judging by entries to the competition, there were a lot of burger fans out there who wanted tickets to the latest Two Nights Only burger supper club, but when it comes to winners, as in Highlander "There can be only one".

After much deliberation, the winner is Phoebe with her Limerick about the Honest Burger from Honest Burgers (in just 139 characters).

"Honestly not horsing around,
It's the most succulent that I've found,
With rosemary chips,
And mayonnaise lips,
Lots of mess and fun abound!"

Although there's only one winner, I was thoroughly entertained but a strong set of entries, with the following also short-listed (in no particular order):

Marcus de Pfeiffer-Key's limerick for the Hawksmoor cheeseburger:

"Bone marrow is the key to this feat, Unctuous, oozing and sweet, Robust brioche bun,Glorious messy fun, Each bite resumes an inspiring eat"

Nick Doyle's Limerick for the Patty & Bun Ari Gold:

"There once was a burger from P&B,
and I am a fan you see,
we went for lunch,
skipped breakfast and brunch,
they were so good I had to get three"

Alice Brooksmith's mnemonic for H.O.N.E.S.T. B.U.R.G.E.R

"Happily On Nearly Every Sensation This Burger Unavoidably Really Gets Everything Right." 

Toby James's Dead Hippie rhyme: 

"Mustard fried! I nearly died, and thought I'd gone to heaven! Special sauce and gloppy cheese, I rate this a double 7! (Out of ten!)"

Katy's putting the kaibosh on her burgerslutty ways for Lucky Chip's El Chappo:

"Tastes ten times better than skinny feels. I would become celibate for this burger after having it's tasty burger babies."

Matt Stavrou's Tarantino-esque take on Lucky Chip' Danny Trejo burger:

"Danny Trejo: THE Mexican. Danny Trejo Burger: THE Mexican burger. Disagree? How about a chipotle bullet to your face. Salsa machete to your gut"

Luke's Burger Bear Picnic (and our only pictorial entry!):

"pic.twitter.com/GJix18PIdh - A picture says 1000 words!"

Clelia's London burger:

"My brain is the burger, my heart is the charcoal, I am the London burger, juicy burger me. "

Vanessa's orgasmic James Morgan 30Burger:

"Eyes wide, hands full of juicy 30burger, senses loaded. Stifling urge to recreate When Harry Met Sally key scene. Want more. Need badly."

Chiara's The Ari Gold at Patty and Bun:

"So good it make me want to turn to the person next to me and say "let's hug it out bitch"."

Camilla's romantic styling of the Elliot's Cafe Burger:

"The farmer sips a well earned beer. Bread rises in oven. Happy cows graze in the field. Onions tickled by the fire. Dill butter softening."

Here's a selection of the best of the rest... 

James Alexander on The Disco Burger: The braised short-rib that tops the sublime buttery Devon Ruby patty, makes you wish you could relive that first bite again and again.

Nick on Patty & Bun: Unwrapping Christmas presents as a child ain't got nothing on the excitement levels of peeling back the greasepaper on a Smokey Robinson :D

Hilary Allen on The Bountiful Cow: 14 ounces of rare beef packing a cayenne kick. Easy on the toppings [bacon or egg or cheese] & good with fries. Hearty, satisfied, sighs.

Ben on Tesco basic: Decide to up the ante. The meat was good to soft. Fillings started to drift away, making the long price less appealing. Ended up like glue

Dan Humphrey on Byron Chrismas Cheesemas: This was a real messy burger, patties were cooked to perfection. Nice crispy caramelisation on the outside pink & juicy on the inside, lush

Thomas on The Thirty Burger: 4 cuts of beef (no horse), served with gooey cheese and vinegary slaw. 30% fat content should have killed someone but what a way to go!

James Crumly on the Atomic Burger - make your own burger: With hindsight choosing chili, stilton and fried egg seems bold when drunk, but certainly satisfied my desires for big flavour and mega mess

Sofia on Hawksmoor Kimchi: Most reviewers look past this one as the top spot, but beefy, spicy, crunchy; perfect bun & always the right medium rare, this is the BEST!

Owen on Americain fromage bacon frites, Midnight Express, Chamonix: Crunchy bun which infamously cuts the lips that you burned while skiing or climbing in the Alps. Served with fries on the bun, tasty meat.

James Stubbs on Honest Burger: It sits happily between a drippy, greasy burger and one you might get in a great steakhouse. Cheerful, understated and delicious. Top marks.

Kavey on Tongue n Cheek's Heartbreaker: TongueNCheek's Heartbreaker champions under-appreciated cuts like ox heart. Add onions, cheese, pork belly and leaves. My heart is won!

It's heartening to see so many people who are passionate about burgers, in fact so much so that a tear has just started running down my cheek. A salty, greasy tear.

Keep burgering on and watch out for more burger competitions in the near future!

[Competition] Two Nights Only at The Bedford Strand

This is happening. Again. Unreal Burgers for Two Nights Only. 

The London Burger for 2NO

After the unmitigated success of Two Nights Only (2NO), a burger supper club that launched in September 2012, Chris Todd and James Morgan are masterminding their second event, and it's touted to be even bigger than before.

[Submit Your Burger] The Diner SuperBowl 2013 Party Submissions

GET READY FOR SOME BURGER PORN.

I've had loads of amazing burger submissions to win 2 x tickets to The Diner's 2013 SuperBowl party on Sunday 3 February. In fact I've spent so much time drooling at all the fantastic #BurgerPorn that I just had to share it all with you!

Check out the all the submissions below, and remember you can submit YOUR burgers at any time for a chance to be featured in one of the regular Burger Me! burger roundups.

[COMPETITION] Win 2 x Tickets to Superbowl Sunday at The Diner

Every year, The Diner in Soho gets into the spirit of things with an evening dedicated to the SuperBowl, including designing a special burger (last year's was the Grab Burger). This year is no exception, and YOU could win 2 x tickets to their SuperBowl Event on Sunday 3 February 2013, courtesy of The Diner and Burger Me!

Yes, you heard me correctly, you can win 2 x £40 TICKETS for you and a friend to spend an evening watching the Superbowl at The Diner, Soho.