National Burger Awards – 20th February 2024
Burger fanatics, talented chefs and of course, a number of us beans found ourselves travelling to the Big Penny Social in North London for the hotly anticipated 10th National Burger Awards. Hosted by DJ BBQ, and organised by Dine Out Magazine, the event promised talent, passion and camaraderie.
Guests were treated to a range of delicacies, with sides from Urban Foodservice, featuring the delicious PEPPADEW® Bites, a Pepsi Cocktail Bar, wine from Greasy Fingers and of course, burgers – from beef brisket and bacon to plant-based offerings, all gratefully received by us bunch of hungry beans.
The awards started off with a bang as DJ BBQ announced an all-new competition in the pipeline, the ‘Champion of Champions,’ which will see all past National Burger Awards winners fight for the ultimate accolade of champion of champions.
The Main Event
The 16 Burger Award finalists competed in a day-long cook-off, made up of three delicious rounds, presented to an esteemed panel of judges, including editors at H2O Publishing and even previous winners.
First up, was the ‘signature’ round, with competitors making their own burger of choice, before a ‘technical challenge,’ where finalists were tasked with creating a burger made up of specific ingredients supplied on the day. This year, finalists were also asked to create a ‘Plant-Based Burger,’ in association with Redefine Meat.
The finalists were:
- Black Bear Burger
- Bleecker Burger
- Bun & Sum
- Burger Shop
- Burgervore
- Fat Dads Kitchen
- Fattso
- Herd Burger
- Libertine Burger
- Loungers Brightside
- MeatCastles
- Mollie’s Motel & Diner
- Stonegate Pub Company
- That Burger Place
- The Barley Mow
- Whole Beast
Then, after a hectic day of burger making came the announcements!
Celine Raeburn won the Best Burger title, cooking Bleecker Burger’s signature dish, the Bacon Double featuring double grass-fed dry-aged beef, double American cheese, onion, bacon and house sauce! Celine, who also won back in 2020 is only the second person to win the National Burger Awards twice – and wow, we can see why Bleecker features so heavily when it comes to London burger recommendations!
Second place went to Mollie’s Motel and Diner, and Black Bear Burger took a very respectable third place.
Other awards went to Fattso’s Hamish Macdonald, for the Plant-Based Burger category. Sam Bryant from Wholebeast scooped the Blogger’s Choice award and Farbez Uddin from London’s Bun & Sum triumphed in the ‘Technical’ cook-off round.
A first this year, was the ‘Freakshake’ challenge. Taking home the prize, Francesca Hudspeth from Meatcastles who offered up a sweet apple crumble inspired shake.
Lots of cheers, followed by a few beers, made this a very enjoyable event for competitors and guests alike, and now we wait with great anticipation the ultimate Champion of Champions event coming soon…
The full breakdown, including each delicious creation cooked up by the winners is available to view here. [link to dineoutmagazine.co.uk] Well done to the team at H20 publishing on another great event.
If you have a favourite burger recommendation, do let us know on our socials @jellybeanagency as the night showed, we love a good burger!
Photo Credits: Dine Out Magazine
