It was Friday night, and the wife and I were off to Bluewater shopping complex. Now under normal circumstances I would of kicked up a right fuss (Friday night is pub night) but I knew there was light at the end of the tunnel, and that light was a burger at Byron’s. If your not familiar with Byron, it’s a big burger chain that was started by Tom Byng and has gone from strength to strength, boasting 25 restaurants, 23 in London, 1 in Oxford and this brand new one here in Bluewater.

After a hour of walking around, the wife and I were ready, it was time to get our munch on, we walked in and were greeted by a really friendly front of house manager, the first thing we noticed was the familiar Byron décor.

We took our seats and browsed the menu, the waitress came over and took our drinks order, I went for the boilermaker, a Steel Toe Stout from Ska Brewing and a Four Roses Single Barrel, and the wife went for their Chocolate Milkshake. The stout was good, a nice bitter milky chocolate taste, which went well with the sweet bourbon. The wife was very impressed with her Chocolate Milkshake, nice and thick and dreamy.

We were off to a good start, it was now time to order our food, I went for their Summer special, The Californian, which was a 6 oz hamburger, guacamole, pickled red onion, dry cure bacon, shredded iceberg lettuce all served in between a nice glazed bun, my sides were hand made skin on chips and mac ‘n’ cheese. The whole meal was looking impressive, where do I start?

I went in for the mac ‘n’ cheese first, the burnt cheese was tempting me in, my first bite was met with a nice cheesy hit, ummmm, the only gripe I had was it was a touch dry, but it tasted good, really, really cheesy, so off to a fairly good start. Next I hit the chips/fries, nice, soft and fluffy. My taste buds were up and running, so it was time to taste the ‘Californian’. I took my first bite, I was greeted with the crunch of the red onion and the dry cured bacon, the next taste to come through was the beef mixed with the guacamole, now I have never had guacamole with a burger before, but I will be re-visiting it again some time soon as it was a really good flavour, and was a good substitute for the cheese, it was a really great burger, upset that it will be disappearing at the end of August, so get in quick folks.

So, am I glad that the Byron dynasty has ventured out of London? Hell yes! Is my answer to that, so pleased I don’t have to venture in to London to get a top notch burger now, just hop in the car and 20 minutes up the road I can get my hands on one of Tom’s beauties. Now all I ask Tom, is get down to Maidstone and open one here, we desperately need a decent burger joint.

Thanks for reading.

Dan Humphrey