Honest Burgers Ealing

Back in May last year I was staying in Ealing. Having arrived early in Ealing, too early to check into my hotel, I parked and looked for a place for a late lunch and to spend some time working until I could get to my hotel.

I wasn’t in the mood for a coffee and a sandwich, the usual lunchtime favourite for many. I did think about some pasta from Pasta Remoli, but they didn’t have a lunch deal. I also thought about a pizza from Franco Manca, who did a £10 lunchtime deal, but wasn’t that hungry, well hungry enough for pizza, and I don’t think it helped the restaurant was empty. I saw that Honest Burgers also had a lunchtime deal, £10 for a burger, rosemary fries and a drink. I did quite like the idea of a burger. Even though this place was also empty, I went in and ordered lunch. It wasn’t long before my food arrived.

cheese burger and fries

This was a tasty burger, and I enjoyed the fries. I took my time and then left for my hotel.

Uninspiring

I have stayed and eaten at various Premier Inn hotels across the UK. Sometimes the experience is quite good, sometimes it leaves a lot to be desired. So now when I am travelling and staying at a hotel, I prefer not to book a Premier Inn. Sometimes though I am only staying a night, or I can’t find something suitable (and in budget), so I end up at a Premier Inn. Having stayed two nights at the excellent Georgian Townhouse in Norwich, the next night I was at the Premier Inn in Ipswich. There was a problem with my booking, but it was sorted in the end. It’s this kind of thing that is rather stressful when travelling, so much so that I would rather stay in a different hotel than a Premier Inn.

I had booked the Meal Deal which was £24.99, which is still good value. I did wonder what the meal would be like.

Back in July 2012 I did the Meal Deal, which was £22, at a Premier Inn in Cambridge.  I had a prawn cocktail, a rump steak, and a crumble. It was a rather uninspiring meal, not awful (well the crumble was), but not amazingly delicious.

In April 2019 we were staying at the Premier Inn in Brentford, and were very disappointed with the food, as they had served a steak which was off.

In September 2021 we were at the Premier Inn in Edinburgh, the food was okay, but it just took so long to get to the table.

So, to be honest I didn’t have high expectations about the Premier Inn in Ipswich. I went down for dinner; I had booked a table. I chose a table and looked over the menu. I was informed that there were quite a few things unavailable on the menu. There was no steak, no gammon, and no mixed grill. I did quite fancy the mixed grill.

In the end I had Peri-Peri chicken wings for my starter which were a bit hot (as in spice).

These were freshly cooked, tender, and had an interesting flavour.

I then had The House Stack Burger.  Two 4oz British and Irish beef burgers, Cheddar cheese, cos lettuce, red onions, tomatoes and burger sauce. Served in a brioche-style bun with skin-on chips and house slaw.

It did look a little insipid. The burger was rather flavourless and bland. They had no coleslaw, but they did make a little side salad for me instead when I asked about the slaw. The only issue was the cold plate, as a result some chips were hot, others were cold.

I was fancying something sweet, so I had the Triple Chocolate Brownie, made with white, milk and Belgian dark chocolate chunks. Drizzled in chocolate sauce and served with vanilla ice cream.

This wasn’t very inspiring, but it did taste of chocolate, and the cold ice cream enhanced the experience.

The meal reminded me why I don’t usually book a Premier Inn when travelling away.

Rocket’s Burger

I was over in Dublin for an event, and having arrived late to my hotel, I decided I wanted a quick lunch, but didn’t really have the time to head into the city centre or even looking around. I could have eaten in the hotel, but I thought it was a little bit pricey.

After a quick browse around the area I decided to try out Rocket’s and have a burger and fries. The look and feel, the menu and the concept reminded me of Five Guys in the UK.

There was a lot of choice of different burgers, but in the end I went with a cheeseburger with fries, and a coke. After placing my order I took a seat and my burger was served to me at my table, which is always nice.

Burger

It was a good burger, tasty and nice toppings, you could also taste the cheese. The burger had a good meaty beefy flavour and I liked the sauce it was dressed with. I did feel that it was a bit thrown together, but that does seem to be the norm with this kind of burger though. I had a similar experience recently at 1885 Burgers in Harwell. As a result it can be quite challenging to eat, without making a mess. Can I be the only person who eats a burger with a knife and fork now and again?

fries

The fries were okay as was the drink. 

Would I go again? Well I think it’s unlikely I will be in Dublin in that location again for sometime, so I would have a burger there, but I don’t think that will happen in the foreseeable future.

That’s a darn fine cherry pie!

On the A420 from Oxford to Swindon are some roadside services. In the past there was a Little Chef located there, but that closed in February 2012.

In June a new venture took over the location and opened the Cherry Pie Diner.

Cherry Pie Diner

This is an independent company and this is their first physical location, they are expecting to open another soon in Grove. In addition they have a mobile trailer they take to events.

I have seen the diner a few times as I passed by, but never really had the time, the opportunity or the inclination to stop there for something to eat. No point in stopping if you’re not hungry. I usually catch the train to work, so I don’t drive much, and usually when I do drive, I probably use the A34 and then the M4 rather than the A420. The one time I did have some spare time to stop, it hadn’t actually opened.

However last Friday, knowing that the M5 would be a bit of “car park” took my time leaving Oxford and having missed lunch, decided to stop at the Cherry Pie Diner for a break and something to eat. The fact it was also the 4th July, made this visit a little special too.

Having parked the car in the large car park, I looked over the building. From the outside, despite some attempt to “Americanise” the exterior, you could tell that this was once a Little Chef. I went to try and find the menu in the window. When it comes to eating out, I can be somewhat indecisive, so like to look over the menu before committing. There wasn’t a menu in the window or by the door, so I was forced to commit, I needed to go in and ask! So I opened the door and went in…

Inside I looked around the tables, booths, red and white, it felt like an American Diner. Now I should point out that I have never been to the USA, so have never been into an authentic American Diner, the closest I have got is through the movies and the odd television show, such as the X-Files. The decor and ambience certainly met my expectations, this did not feel like Oxfordshire, it felt more like Arizona or Delaware. The tables, the chairs, even the uniforms, gave this a real authentic feel, much more so than places such as TGI Fridays where they try to do something similar and I think that place feels artificial, the Cherry Pie Diner felt real.

The place was full of people and all the tables and booths were full. There was a member of staff smiling as I entered, I explained I was in a hurry and asked how long service would take, she checked with the kitchen and I was assured that it was quite fast. In the end I sat on a bar stool at a high table and looked over the one page menu.

There was a lot of breakfast options, but this was Friday evening, so I wanted something more substantial. There was quite a limited choice. However I don’t see this as a negative, on the contrary, I found it rather reassuring. The problem with a four page menu, the kind of thing you find at Little Chef (or pub chains) is that it means the food is cooked to a system and very little of it would be freshly cooked. A more limited menu, generally means that the food is cooked to order from fresh, and not re-heated.

Alongside the breakfast menu, the main offering was hotdogs and burgers and variants of these. There were some sides on offer, as well as salads, ribs and a couple of vegetarian options. Though only a page, there was for me a fair bit of choice. As for drinks, there were two pages to that menu!

I was tempted to go with some buffalo wings, as for me that is a good test of the cooking in a place like this, are they cooked from fresh, or merely cooked in advance and then re-heated once ordered? However I knew I didn’t have a huge amount of time, so maybe later.

I went with the Cheesy Chariot Burger, a 6oz burger patty which according to the menu is made to a “secret recipe” using 100% locally sourced beef. It was served
in a bun with shredded iceberg lettuce, beefsteak tomato, sliced dill pickle and a “signature” Cherry Pie Diner relish. Alongside was a small portion of slaw and a bowl of fries.

Cheesy Burger

The burger was nice and I enjoyed it. I think the burger itself lacked though a depth of flavour I was expecting from a such a good looking burger. The bun was good, full of flavour and tasted very fresh. The cheese was so much better than the “plastic” cheese you find in most burgers, as was the pickle and the salad. The fries were fresh and crisp, however the slaw was a little sharp for my taste, they needed a slightly sweeter onion perhaps.

I went for a “classic” coke alongside the burger (I was driving) and it came in a bottle. Personally I much prefer the bottled version over the pump post-mix that was also available. I was tempted to have a milk shake, but in the end went with the cola. It was nicely chilled and I was offered more ice in my glass if I wanted it, you know to be more authentic. I am not a great fan of having coke over a glass full of ice, it waters it down too much for my liking, so I left it as it was, just a few cubes of ice in there.

Overall the food was very good, and for a roadside service station I thought it was very good value for money, the burger and fries were £11 and the cola was £2.30. You could easily spend nearly that amount at a Burger King on the motorway services.

Where I think this place will win out, over other service stations, will be in the quality of the service. Here they need to do a little more work, they are so nearly there, but I am guessing there are still a few teething issues to resolve. Don’t get me wrong, when I first walked in I thought, oh this looks really busy and I don’t really have time to wait too long for food, but when asked and true to their word, they were pushing the orders out really fast. So I didn’t have to wait too long for my food once ordered, though there was a delay in ordering, despite me telling one of the staff I was in a bit of a hurry. There seemed to be too many staff hanging around, either welcoming customers or talking to them, or even just standing around doing nothing, with only a dedicated couple actually taking orders! As I said though, once the order was placed, the food arrived very quickly. My drink though arrived after the food… now they are missing a trick, as I probably would have ordered two drinks in the time I was there, but the first didn’t arrive until much later, so as a result I only ordered one drink.

I did find it amusing though, after placing my order I popped to the men’s room and when I came back, one of the staff, I think she was a manager or supervisor, said to me “thanks for coming, goodbye”. I thought at least let me eat my food first! She did come and apologise once she realised that I hadn’t actually eaten yet.

These really are minor quibbles, as the quality of the service was good, the staff were smiling, friendly, and though the place was packed out, it was speedy and quick.

I liked the environment, it felt like an American Diner and I will go again.