GROUND: COMMON OR GARDEN

While HS chows down on tasty Burgers in LA, here in London it remains a problematical quest. Actually, I’m not that surprised. It’s just one of those things we’ll never get right in the UK. Much like the Fish and Chips you find in the States. Sure, they can probably make a good job of it but, it will never taste quite the same. Ditto Spanish bars, which lose all their identity when reproduced outside the Iberian Peninsula. All I ask for, then, is that a bit of care goes into the making of the facsimile and that I enjoy the end result.

Ground in London’s Wild West (that’s Chiswick) is one of those nuevo burger joints that have proliferated across London over the past few years. They all seem to come out with the same shtick: Grass-fed Beef, Artisanal Buns (yada yada) which seems like it’s telling you lots but on closer inspection means squat. It’s also one of those places that offers up multitudinous variations on the burger theme - most of which you’d never consider eating – when the only choice that’s necessary is with/without cheese.

Resisting the temptation to try and finesse the menu and double up my meat ration I went for a Classic Cheese Burger. When it came the burger was cooked a little over for my tastes and it fell apart too easily but the taste was ok. This was only after removing a large wet, flavourless piece of Lollo Rosso that came with it, though. The bun didn’t taste of much either, had a cotton wool texture and overwhelmed the petit patty.

Shoestring fries weren’t really and the homemade Coleslaw wasn’t very nice at all having far too much gloopy sauce in the mix. It the sort of stuff that kids would probably love. Which is basically what Ground seems to be about. Nothing here to offend any of the natives and their sprogs and all a bit, well, underwhelming. Even the beer list – surely a chance to do something interesting – looked liked it was sourced from a Costcutter. A very small one.

Not a meal then that will live long in the memory but I can always get my foodie kicks vicariously via HS’s heroic eating for England posts from the City of Angels.