Byron’s The Shady

The Shady at Byron, O2 Greenwich

Today is National Sandwich Day in the US.  We don’t have a similar holiday here (outside of the wonderful British Sandwich Week, of course) so I have decided to adopt it (any excuse).

It’s been a while since I have written anything here, but only because I have been busy writing my other blog.  I have a whole list of sandwiches backed up in my draft folder that I hope to share with you soon, but right now I’m going to start with a burger.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see Lady Gaga at the O2 with my friends Madeleine and Joe.  In our younger gigging days we had a pre-show drinking ritual, which has been replaced with a pre-show eating ritual (let it not be said that your 30s are not fun), so turned up a little early, and ravenous, to look for dinner.  Anybody who has visited this curious building on the eastern curve of our river will know that it is hardly a gastronomic destination.  In the trend of all large public spaces in London, it has little more than a series of charmless chain restaurants providing fodder to the masses.  The food is often expensive and usually sub-par, as anybody who has found themselves in a Slug and Lettuce, staring blankly at the menu will attest.  Thank God for Byron, is all I can say.

In recent years, some chains have emerged that have bucked the trend somewhat. Byron is up there with the best of them, making burgers that could rival any in town.  As well as this, Thomasina Miers’ Wahaca and sourdough pizza giant Franco Manca are also good dining options.  Carluccio’s always has been, and remains, excellent.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

So we ended up, not unhappily, at Byron in the O2.  Having worked my way through their permanent menu some time ago, I usually opt for their monthly specials for a bit of a change.  This month, they have The Shady:  a 6oz hamburger with crispy cheese, pickle relish, American cheese, onion and ketchup.  I don’t recall ever seeing this on their menu before, and I was intrigued by the ‘crispy cheese’ which, I was told by the waiter, was a kind of parmesan crisp.  Sold.

The burger, as you would come to expect from Byron, was very good.  The patty was well-seasoned and pink in the middle and the toppings well-proportioned.  My only two gripes were that my patty was more medium than the medium-rare I had ordered, although this wasn’t too much of a big deal, and the cheese was not as crispy as I had hoped.  There was a little snap around the edges, but it seemed that the heat and other ingredients had softened it in the middle.  That being said, the addition of another kind of cheese is never a bad thing.

The staff at the O2 were excellent.  Our fries arrived cold so they replaced them and removed them from our bill.

Byron, The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX.