On Wednesday 19th of February, two Beans ventured to the Islington Metal Works to attend the much-awaited National Burger Awards 2020.

Casual Dining Magazineā€™s National Burger Awards is a competition which is exclusively open to trade. The one-day competition challenges casual dining, street food and pub chefs to impress industry experts with their burger skills. During the day the Metal Works play host to the sensory delights of the cook-offs, with the winners announced at the evening event.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by some lovely ladies who provided us with a burger menu and a beer (which I deem to be absolute essentials). We then entered what can only be described as The World of Burger and were straight away offered a vegan chilli and a mini vegan burger to taste. Both were lovely amuse-bouches, which successfully prepared our palate for the full-sized real deal. We headed straight to the fresh burger stand where we grabbed a shamelessly, very meaty burger. Coming from someone who isnā€™t a fan of beef burgers, I can confirm these were far superior to anything Iā€™ve tasted before!

With the energy of the host, Christian Stevenson, AKA DJ BBQ, putting everyone at ease and encouraging us all to head to the Brewdog-sponsored bar, we grabbed a Lone Wolf Gin and Tonic and headed towards the stage where everyone was gathered waiting for the awards to be announced. The National Burger of the Year went to Bleecker with their ā€˜Double Cheeseburgerā€™, the Burger Chef of the Year award went to Gareth Attwell at Big Boys Fine Burgers, the Vegan Burger of the Year went to The Botanist and the Bloggersā€™ Choice Award went to the Bun Club.

Curator of the burger which won National Burger of the Year, Celine Raeburn said ā€œThis will reinforce our burgers in peopleā€™s minds as one of the best, if not the best.ā€ She hopes this award will increase footfall to all their sites and I for one am sure it will!

Big thank you to Casual Dining Magazine for inviting us to enjoy the night. We hope to be back in 2021!