Burgers@N8 - Burger Review in Crouch End

Thankfully you will not have to guess where to find this new burger restaurant. Oh well, maybe a little. The location is on its name and it is down an alley that the local people know well (for good things) and the burgers are here at Burgers@N8.
Burgers@N8 is a new venture aimed at giving the local Crouch Enders local produce in the form of burgers. Meat from Muddy Boots, buns from Dunns bakery and groceries from Haelens Organic store are a great sale for the locals. From here, 10% of sales will be donated to charities and community initiatives in the local area. Great selling points which appeal to many different people.  And don't forget people ike me, BURGER LOVERS.

Chef Max hard at work

You know me by now, if there is a new burger restaurant, I've got to be there. It had been over a week and I still hadn't been to a place which was literally a five minute walk. Given a chance in the pouring rain, my brother and I went. Being honest, I was not expecting too much. The hype was not there and a friend had been and did not give much positive feedback. However, I wanted a burger and nothing and no one would stop me.

One thing I have to say from the off is that the chef, Max Aynsley-Ridgen was the star here. The food was good but his service was on point. Sherwin and I were sat by the bar by the staff and were then neglected for the majority of our stay. It took us over ten minutes to wait and put our order in, this was after serving people who were seated after and also after being prompted by Max. 

There seems to be a new trend where waiters will pass on serving you because it is not their role. The lady said she didn't take orders and for the next eight minutes we watched her walk around the restaurant checking on other guests and that was it. Why could she not just take our order, what was the point of letting us wait? The worst came, when after we ordered we saw her taking other customer orders on her tablet. So Frustrating. Max, saw this frustration and finally got someone to take our order. Even then, the staff just did not seem to care one bit. Rule of thumb- if you are a new restaurant and you are experiencing teething problems or the food is not that great, make sure you ACE the service. Good service is a sure way to get repeat service. If not, you just get annoyed and pissed off twins. If it wasn't for Max, I would have left a lot earlier

We ordered a bacon cheese burger each with triple cooked rosemary fries and a portion of onion rings. Because of the awful service, Max gave us an extra potion of fries as well as 20% off, Max saved the day. The fries were cooked really well and seasoned generously and had the good amount of rosemary needed when giving rosemary fries.

The onion rings were okay, work is needed on the batter, in order to making it lighter and airy. This in turn will then give the onion and batter the opportunity to indulge your taste buds. On this occasion, thin rings, were slightly burnt and had a crisp which lacked much else.

The main event was the burger and due to the bad service, we needed a lot to make sure we would become regular customers. I would have to say that they did not deliver the top billing it needed. If it wasn't for the poor service I would happily come back. The burger was fresh, meaty and packed full with toppings, bacon and cheese. The burger with cheese was slightly overcooked in the sense that the patty itself was burnt. That burn which is a bit further down the line from the charred flavour which is there to add texture. When the carcinogenic flavour is dominant then you know it has gone to far. This was the case also with the melted cheese and the bun too, so the burger was not as good as it could be. 

This is a rant and I will not apologise for it. The burger has potential and Crouch Enders I know welcome the venue as it is great for the community and the fact that they are giving back, even better. Just please make sure you work on your Service. Put the customers first and show them love and get people who look like they care too. Max leads by example so I am sure they will sort themselves out and for this reason I will be back.