Food review: Psychic Burger, London

It’s 2014, the Year of the Horse. A fortunate year, according to Chinese astrologists, where people are likely to stand firm on their principles and fight for their ideals. The magical horse has supernatural powers, is heroic, strong and can even fly! It’s also a year after the national horsemeat scandal, which highlighted supermarkets selling beef burgers with traces of horse in them. 

So what better way to celebrate this than to review the newly launched Horse Burger from Psychic Burger, a pop up diner currently residing at Birthdays in Dalston? Were we going to turn this controversial offer of fully traceable and ethically sourced 100% horsemeat down? Neiiiiggggh - were we heck.

We had heard about Psychic Burger but not yet indulged. Despite the influx of burger bars opening on the London food scene, it remained high on our list to experience. We walked up to the fish bowl windows of Birthdays where the hip ‘all seeing eye/burger symbol’ steered us inside, eager to indulge in the culinary curiosities.

We got a cosy booth seat in the corner and got stuck into the cocktail menu. We ordered a Lychee Bellini, a refreshingly sweet glass of light bubbles and a Bagheera, vanilla vodka based long drink with a citrus and ginger kick and a rush of basil in the middle. It was reminiscent of a lemonade lolly you would have bought from the ice cream van when you were a kid.

It was 8pm on a Tuesday; the place was three quarters full, pretty good for a cold and rainy school night in Dalston. Nightmares on Wax and Burial were the soundtrack to our evening and created a relaxed vibe to the unpretentious venue. The Horse Burger was the reason we were there but the menu also had a choice of six other burgers ranging from classic beef, fried chicken and a spiced lamb option. Unfortunately they had run out of the soft shell crab burger which sounded a right treat, and also the baby crack ribs snack, but this ensured a return if anything, so they could both be tried and tested.

The burgers arrived, served up on trays, classic diner style. One Horse Special with cheese and chilli fries and one Veggie with classic fries. They were built to perfection with just the smoked American cheese oozing slightly over the sweet smelling brioche bun. We admired, we smelt. We just wanted to get them in our gobs!

Two huge bites in, the burger was still perfectly formed in my hand. No sauce dribbling in between my fingers, just a consistent bite after bite of considered layers and textures. The Horse Burger was cooked medium rare and was slightly pink in the middle, perhaps undercooked for some, but for us, this really added to the juicy and doughy soft consistency of the meat which we were later told by the chef went through a process of a steaming before grilling.

It was well seasoned with just enough pickles for added crunch. It was the ranch dressing that really gave it the authentic American vibe. At one point we got swept up in the moment and thought we were at a BBQ in LA singing ' A Horse with No Name' by America (above) whilst strumming the Ukulele! 

The Veggie Burger, a patty of sweet potato and squash was a vegetarian’s comfort food dream. The key stand out for this dish was the sauce, a smoked pomegranate and yoghurt dressing where the crunchy pomegranate seeds satisfyingly exploded with sweetness in your mouth. For an additional vegetable hit, and in our opinion, we would have added a slice of grilled aubergine to the stack. 

The fries were salty and moreish as expected. The chilli cheese fries were a meal on their own but we still devoured them greedily. It was the polenta and stilton croquettes that were a real surprise out of nowhere, we ordered them out of intrigue but these deep fried balls of deliciousness were a taste sensation especially combined with the chipotle dip, which we lashed onto our burgers as well.

With our taste buds craving sugar after the salty fast food delights, we ordered a Psychic Sundae to share and were not disappointed.  An intensely creamy vanilla ice cream mixed with caramelized popcorn bites and toasted nuts sent us into a next level sugar high.

Psychic Burger is simply a FUN night out. Next visit we are going to try the house special ‘Psychic Burger’ which, apparently comes with a secret PSYCHIC sauce that only three Chefs know how to make. Psychic Burger will be launching a series of weekly specials over the next few months, which aim to push the boundaries of the classic gourmet burger. Next week its Ox tongue! We can’t wait to see what they come up with next.