Black Bear Burger - Restaurant Exmouth Market — Restaurant in London

I visited this restaurant a fortnight ago and had an extremely underwhelming experience. After reading all the rave reviews online I found the food to be anticlimactic and well and truly not worth the journey.

So first, let me discuss the sides and starters. The chips they served were the absolute definition of average. Not well seasoned, somewhat decent crunch and definitely a bit on the greasy side. The sauce it came with did it not justice either, it was far too thin in viscosity and lacked a decent flavour profile. The blooming onion was an absolute disaster too. There was still raw batter inside of the onion and whilst eating it, it felt like the fryer was set to the wrong temperature as some parts were burnt and other parts were raw. Again, the sauce it was served with did it no justice. The only saving grace of the entire meal was the brisket spring roll. This was quite possibly one of the greatest starters that I’ve ever eaten. It was perfectly balanced and the fatty and rich beef served with a crispy light wonton pastry, acidic pickles, tongue tantalising chillies and a creamy mayo worked like a match made in heaven. My mouth is salivating just thinking about how mouth watering they were.

Things went really bad with the burger. My black bear burger was still quite pink and wasn’t properly caramelised on the outside. It just felt like a mishap like it was rushed and not prepared properly as it wasn’t pipping hot when it arrived. It was truly a shame as it was evident that while eating the burger the ingredients used were of high quality. It was well and truly a massive let down.

As for the service things were truly a shambles after we paid our bill. We were offered our complimentary ice cream and told that they would bring it shortly. We waited ten minutes for the server to turn around and say that it would come in a second for us to end up waiting a further ten minutes for them to bring it. The twenty minutes we waited for the ice cream was an absolute joke and the ice cream wasn’t even worth it in the end as it tasted like a knockoff mr whippy. I think I set my standards to high after expecting it to be like the fresh in house ice cream that flat iron give.

I wouldn’t come back here again unless I was coming for a beer and the spring rolls, and even then, they have no draft on tap...

We booked a table one week in advance and when we arrived were seated downstairs in a dingy and dimly lit “bar” area with loud music of the worst kind that was bringing zero ambience to the room, with such classics as Friday by Rebecca Black. What made matters worse is that the speaker was pointed directly onto our table. We asked the waiter if they could possibly lower the music a little so we could hear ourselves talking and he kindly obliged only for it to be turned up again a few minutes later. Apart from the music which could be overlooked, we were 3 seated on a table that really should have been for 2 as one of our party had to sit on a chair that backed onto a narrow corridor so he kept getting his back nudged every time a staff member entered the kitchen or another customer wanted to pass to go upstairs. This was disappointing as we booked in advance and didn’t just walk up but ok, onto the “atmosphere” we noted that the staff, while friendly and attentive seemed to lack drive or clear leadership, this meant that the service was sloppy, our side dish of fried chicken which costs £7 was served to our table but no one was given a plate and we had to ask for napkins to eat from. We also asked for tap water which was never served. Then onto our mains, the fries arrived cold which we sent back and although the staff were quick to rectify the situation, it felt very poor considering the prices we were paying. Then I had asked twice for my burger to be well done as I’m pregnant and the burger came rare. While the burgers were good, we felt that the overall experience, sloppy service and high price didn’t justify the visit. If I’m paying £90 for 3 people to eat burgers then I expect the meat to be cooked to my liking, the service to be outstanding and the atmosphere to be enjoyable. Unfortunately this was a serious let down and anyone coming after seeing the recommendation on Top Jaw or similar will be severely disappointed. Honest Burger have more reasonable prices and you will have a much more enjoyable time and a burger which is as good.

Overall the place looked like it seriously needed a clean and tidy up too. Perhaps at one point this burger restaurant had been one of the best in London but standards seem to...

Food ok, but overpriced and poor service.

Visited Black Bear for the first time, and made the effort to travel out specially to Exmouth Market, as we’ve been wanting to try it.

Started off well being seated. Burgers arrived on their own, dropped off speedily and the waitress didn’t return. We’d ordered two sides of fries too, so had to ask her if they were coming. She came back with one portion. Had to correct her to get the second portion, having clearly taken no note of the order to make sure it was complete. We also had to ask for standard sauces, again not offered to us. She had no interest in serving us attentively.

The place was full to the brim with staff, and not full with customers, yet we were never asked if our food was ok nor revisited throughout.

Burger was tasty (Brisket and Black Bear ones) although nothing out of this world, and overpriced. Fries were ok but again at £4.95 per portion, hugely overpriced for both the quantity and quality. This meant that the total for a burger and fries was between £18-£19 each, pricey by even London standards, and when compared to the many other good options around, unjustified too.

Bill arrived with service charge of 12.5% already added, not even optional. I’m all for leaving a tip when earned but when enforced and in this case, unwarranted, it’s simply unfair to the customer, as the staff had done nothing to justify paying for good service.

Oh, and the much promoted complimentary ice cream after your meal, non existent.

In summary, at almost £50 for two burgers, two fries and two soft drinks (regular cokes), we’ve tried it, learned from the mistake, won’t return and would suggest that you consider the alternative options for good burgers in London...