**Please note: Byron invited me in, and paid for our food and drink. This in no way impacted on my opinion. I was not obliged to write a positive review, and Byron didn’t see this review before I published it.**
Did you know that burger chain Byron has a new menu?
There are new burgers (including veggie) and new sides on offer. We headed to the Bury St Edmunds restaurant to check some of the new offerings out.
Among the new dishes we didn’t try are The BBQ Chicken (BBQ chicken burger with ranch, cheese and bacon) and The Big Cheese (vegetarian). You can now also upgrade any regular burger to a double smash patty version.
What we DID try was the new “Build Your Byron” option. They describe it as a “completely customisable experience”, ordered by scanning the QR code on your table.
This will take you through to the full Byron menu – including the Build Your Byron option. You start by choosing between eight patties, including beef, chicken, Beyond Meat, vegan fried chicken, and the new cheese patty.
Next comes the option to double up, adding another of the same patties, or something completely different.
You can choose between a standard bun and a gluten-free bun, or skip the bun altogether and go for a salad instead.
Sauce-wise, there are 13 to choose between, from your standard ketchup or mayo to sriracha hot honey, beef dripping mayo and Byron’s own Byron sauce.
You can choose up to 10 toppings: some are free, some cost extra.
You can add lettuce, tomato, crispy onion, pickles, red onion, pickled red onion and jalapenos free of charge. Other toppings, like smashed avocado, maple-glazed bacon, pulled beef or one of two cheeses, cost an extra £1.50 per topping.
This is burger 1: a signature patty in a standard bun, with beef dripping mayo, hot honey, smoked Cheddar, maple-glazed bacon, lettuce, crispy onion, pickles and smashed avocado (£14.50). Doesn’t it look amazing?
As ever, the team had cooked and seasoned the patty perfectly. The burger itself held together really well and the flavours were incredible. Definitely a hit.
Across the table, we decided to stack up the burger a little higher and try the new smash patties, too. This one came in at £18.50: double smash patties in a standard bun with Byron sauce, beef dripping mayo, smoked Cheddar, maple-glazed bacon, lettuce, crispy onion, pickles, pickled red onion, smashed avocado and pulled beef. And look at the size of it! We’d definitely recommend the smash patties – they were beautiful. The pulled beef was rich, tender and juicy, and the combination of flavours in this one was delicious. Think fresh, smokey, creamy, meaty, zingy, all in the same mouthful…
I was tempted to test the limits of the Build Your Byron and see how much I could stack in, but I wanted to save space for the sides…
We had to order the mac and cheese (£5.50) – we’ve loved it before. I sometimes find mac and cheese in restaurants disappointingly un-cheesy, but I think this picture says it all…
The new cheesy bites (£6.50) turned out to be 12 of the little beauties, with the dip of your choice (we chose hot honey). Bite open the crisp, herby, golden breaded coating and you’ll reveal the smooth, creamy, cheesy filling – they’re pretty moreish! The hot honey was the perfect pairing too!
We couldn’t NOT try the dirty fries. Choose between house fries, sweet potato fries or tots, all of which you can make “dirty” with pulled beef, cheese sauce, beef dripping mayo and a bacon and onion crumb. They also come with a pot of gravy on the side for dipping.
We didn’t really need the gravy: the toppings were enough to give our choice of house fries (£7.45) plenty of flavour! Generous on the toppings and with lovely crispy fries, we loved these, and there were plenty for two to share. The only thing I’d say is that a bigger bowl would have been handy. It was pretty hard to eat them easily without risking the toppings falling off onto the table.
A special mention too to the kids’ meals, which come with fries and a choice of drink for £6.95. My son loved seeing the world’s biggest slice of tomato (in his eyes) on his burger bun. I loved seeing the carrot and cucumber sticks that came with it.
The only thing he wasn’t impressed with was the fact that the milkshakes were off the menu when we visited. We’ll have to head back soon for his Oreo shake fix…
We were really happy with all the new menu items we tried – especially the Build Your Byron option. It’s a great way to customise a burger exactly how you like it, no matter your dietary requirements. We’ll be back – and fingers crossed the milkshakes are on the menu next time!