Brighton’s Best Meat-Free Burgers – Week #1 – Honest’s ‘Bacon Plant’ Burger

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Welcome to our brand new feature – Brighton’s Best Meat-Free Burgers!

Every week, we are going to be bringing you the best of Brighton’s imitation-meat burgers. With more and more people deciding to reduce their intake of meat for environmental reasons, we thought we would try to answer the question – can you satisfy that meaty craving without having to eat the real thing?

To kick things off, I headed down to Honest on Duke Street to sample their ‘Bacon Plant’ Burger. I was super intrigued by this burger, which claimed to replicate the taste of bacon as well as beef – surely a potential game changer for those of us struggling to imagine life without a fry up! But did it cut the mustard?

What is it made of?

The burger combines a plant-based patty from Beyond Meat made from pea protein with ‘THIS Isn’t Bacon’, vegan smoked gouda, shoestring fries, plant-based bacon ketchup, chipotle ‘mayo’, spinach and pickles.

Coming from meat-free pioneers THIS, ‘THIS Isn’t Bacon’ is made primarily from soy protein and is fortified with vitamin B12.

 

So come on then, how did it compare to the real thing…

When the burger arrived, I thought I had been brought the wrong one by mistake. The patty looked exactly like beef – it was even pink and juicy in the middle, owing to the use of beetroot juice in the recipe. It was tender, with an unbelievably similar texture to beef – easily the closest to the real thing that I’ve ever managed to find.

As well as tasting like beef, the patty also tasted amazing in its own right. It was perfectly seasoned – nice and peppery, slightly herby and cooked beautifully.

And as for the ‘not’ bacon! If no-one had told you otherwise, you would genuinely think you were eating bacon. Sure, it lacks the fat round the edges, but the taste and smell are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. It is slightly tough, but not unpleasantly so, tasting more like good quality, thicker-cut bacon than your average supermarket stuff. It even crisps up nicely too.

Honest have also pulled off a blinder with their cult hit ‘No’ bacon ketchup, which reinforces that slightly smokey bacon smell and taste.

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Combined with the nutty vegan smoked gouda (which even melts a bit!), tangy pickles, crunchy shoestring fries in the burger, and addictive rosemary-salted fries on the side, this is a truly exceptional meat-free meal. Honest, hats off to you.

 

And how about the restaurant itself…

Tucked into relatively small premises on pretty Duke Street, Honest is cosy and welcoming, with warm lighting and calm music playing in the background. The walls are covered in cool Polaroid pictures, and information about each burger is written smartly on on the wall next to the bar.

We are greeted at the door by the friendly manager, Becca, and after showing us to our table, she took the time to explain a bit about the ‘Plant Bacon’ burger and how it came into being.

One nice thing about Honest is that everything you need is already on your table, so you don’t have to waste time waiting for cutlery or sauces once your food has arrived.

Whether you are a meat eater or not, the menu gives you plenty of options without being overwhelming – ‘a few things done very well’ could easily be the motto of this place. There is a good selection of local beers too.

Honest Burgers, Duke Street, Brighton.

Price – £12.50 inc. fries

Out of 10 – 9.5

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