Continuing to make my way through London’s dirty-food scene, this week saw the turn of Covent Garden’s Five Guys. The fast-food chain originates from Arlington County, Virginia in the US. In 2003 Five Guys began franchising, opening their doors to rapid expansion. Lucky for us the first location outside North America opened in London this July – one day before the opening of Shake Shack‘s first UK outlet (a close competitor of Five Guys) just 300m away in Covent Garden.
As with most up and coming eateries in London, Five Guys had an organised queuing system which started outside the branch. It didn’t take long to get to the front of the queue – in the meantime it was useful to decide what you wanted to order before you got to the till point. The menu is pretty simple, which means you can’t really go wrong. The pricing is very reasonable – the most expensive burger was £8.90 and all the burger toppings are FREE!
My dining partner and I both went for the Bacon Cheese Burger, I added lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and HP sauce to mine, he went for lettuce, tomatos, pickles and mayo. It’s great that you can add as much or as little to your bun as you like!
Handed to you in a brown paper bag, the burger is wrapped in silver packaging to keep it warm. I recommend keeping half the burger wrapped in the foil whilst you eat it because otherwise it can go everywhere. The burger was delicious – the meat was juicy, the cheese was flavoursome and had melted all over the bun. The lettuce and tomato were fresh and crunchy, the bacon was crispy and salty and my addition of HP sauce was fruity and original. The best part of it was the combination of it all together but if I had to pick one ingredient it would be the bacon. DE-LICIOUS
The choice of sides is minimal – it’s basically fries, fries or fries. Salty or Spicy – I asked the lady serving me which fries were best and she gave me the unhelpful answer of “well if you like spicy things go for spicy, if you don’t go for salty” – not the most constructive advice but either way it lead me to order the salty fries. Unless your insanely hungry there is no need to order larger than the “little fries”. I couldn’t finish them and nor could my male dining partner.
Right – I’ve told you all about the good grub, next we need to discuss the Coca Cola freestyle drinks machines. Ordered at the counter the “bottomless” drinks service is presented to you in a Five Guys cup which you can refill as many times as you like from the innovative drinks machines. Designed by Ferrari, you can choose from any Coca Cola branded drink in any flavour you like. Hit Fanta and you’re presented with an array of fruity flavours I never even knew Fanta did!
Details
ADDRESS: 1-3 Long Acre, London, WC2E 9LH
WEBSITE: www.fiveguys.co.uk
CONTACT: www.fiveguys.co.uk/contactus
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/FiveGuysUK
TWITTER: @FiveGuysUK
Just another London foodie 
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