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Haché, the Best Hamburger in London? Let's Hope Not

Posted by Nick Solares, December 9, 2008 at 10:30 AM

Haché bills themselves as "burger connoisseurs" and promises to "produce the best and most innovative burgers to be found anywhere." If you consider piling Parma ham, chorizo, and other exotic ingredients on your burger innovative, then I suppose Haché fits the bill, but I hope that this is not the "Best Burger in London" as recently mention in Time Out.

The room is about as far from what a burger restaurant should look like as is possible. It shares more in common with a Victorian tea room—miniature chandeliers dangle between the low wooden rafters of the vaulted ceiling and a prim yellow rose adorns each table. About the only thing missing to complete the effete motif would be lace curtains. Unlike most burger joints, you could credibly dine at Haché on Valentines or Mother's Day.

The service was effusive—at least, it was for everyone else. A party of four Parisians sitting next to me had trouble deciphering the menu and their waitress went to great pains to help them through it. My waitress was the polar opposite: curt and surly. She seemed genuinely annoyed that I wanted tap water rather than still or sparkling. I grew up on London tap water in the days before there was such a thing as bottled water—a glass or two a few time's a year won't do me any harm. But at least she got my order right.

The name Haché is derived from the French word meaning "to chop" and the restaurant claims to employ the traditional technique, making their hamburgers "steakburgers." The burger is charbroiled 100% prime Aberdeen Angus beef, and despite being overcooked—a rare order came out closer to medium—did not exhibit significant char. The relatively thin patty is overpowered by the bread, but the beef has decent flavor—earthy and herbaceous—and is moderately juicy. However, because of the leanness of the blend it has a stingy mouth feel. Texturally it is a bit rubbery, perhaps the result of overzealous grinding.

Although the ciabatta is far too large for the patty, it is at least quite soft with no significant crust. Piling on toppings might address the tyranny of the bread, but it won't make the burger any beefier. The rabbit food—rocket (arugula in the States), tomato, and sliced red onion—were beyond reproach, being crisp and vibrantly colored. There was allegedly some homemade mayo lurking in the sandwich, but if so, it made no discernible contribution. Everything I sampled—burger, salad, onion rings and fries—were all very fresh and flavorful. The fries and especially the rings were delectably golden and crispy and pleasantly bereft of the taste of the cooking oil.

The burger is just too polite, lacking the assertive beefy character that should be the hallmark of any great hamburger experience. It is too refined for its own good and requires additional ingredients to address the voluminous nature of the bun. That is not to say that I would advise against dining at Haché—as noted, the ingredients were all very fresh and there are some intriguing menu options: venison burgers, a riff on Peking duck, and even fish steak sandwiches. I bet the ciabatta works well as a general purpose sandwich bread, and the plethora of special ingredients make Haché a place one could visit for some interesting sandwich combinations within a salubrious environment. Is Haché a place for sandwich connoisseurs? Definitely. Burger connoisseurs? No so much.

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Tags: AHT reviews, Hache, London, reviews, UK