Jazz music, dimmed lights, a disco ambiance and candles, you'll know that you've reached Stokey Bears, or the Burger Bear place, a destination burger joint, as they say.
What's unique about this place is not only the burger, its taste and shape but the bacon jam The Burger Bear is famous for.
The burger's meat is supplied by Charlie at Flock & Herd, Peckham's finest butcher. His meat is sourced locally and is as sustainable as it could be. Now for the bacon jam. Yep. You heard right, bacon jam, and the glorious touch that's made from 12 crazy ingredients. This jam makes the signature burger, The Grizzly Bear, which has made the place famous.
A long corridor takes you straight to the bar and the open kitchen. It's all very dim, like a tavern or underground pub. Inside are wooden tables decorated with candles.
The menu:
- The beef burgers are 100% Sussex beef, grass fed in the pastures of east Sussex
- You can order a Burger Bear and classic cheeseburgers
- The Grizzly Bear with cheese, double oak smoked bacon and bacon jam is the highlight
- The Gretzky Bear is everything twice over
- The Angry Bear has cheese with jalapeno relish and Ribman Holy Fuck Hot Sauce
- Triple Threat Burger
- Koala Burger with spiced beans, American cheese and an avocado salsa with coriander and lime yogurt
Let's eat:
- Those burgers look great indeed, a shiny round bun served in a plastic plate. Inside is a huge, thick piece of meat and lots of condiments. At first I wasn't impressed, something is too sweet and unpleasantly chewy. Unfortunately that's the bun. The meat, the bacon jam and the crunchy vegetables are awesome, but not the bun. The bun is tough with a hard envelope that's unpleasant in such a refined, juicy burger. The bacon jam has a certain sweetness, an interesting smokiness, a different taste I've never experienced before. And the burger also smells good.
- The impressive part is the thickness of the meat. A really thick, well cooked, red on the inside, meat that sticks together and doesn't crumble under your fingers, a pure meat I fell in love with. Add to that the sauce, ketchup and vegetables and you'll feel like you're eating a chunk of meat in a fine diner.
- But again, as a whole, as a complete burger, the bun lets it all down.
- Now for the wings, and I strongly believe this is something the place should be known for. Strongly spicy, orangy wings, cooked to perfection, juicy and exceptionally flavorful. They followed me around thanks to a great after note all afternoon.
The bad: It's too dark so you cannot even see the real colors of your food or even take photos of it.
The good: They have free WiFi and the password is "Studio54".
The burger is good, not extraordinary as it's described.
