1 week Ago
THESE days nobody likes to add the burden placed on Mother Earth, so the idea of a ‘guilt-free’ burger has plenty going for it. 3Bros Burgers is a great Sussex success story which began in a garage in Woodingdean, built up a head of steam in Chichester, and is now also in Brighton again, with a second permanent home at the city’s fabulous Shelter Hall. We were invited along on a heaving Good Friday early evening, complete with a Bank Holiday queue and a lively full venue.
The burgeoning burger group has a mission to keep things sustainable and to steer well clear, whenever possible, of all things ultra-processed. They aim to provide a guilt-free menu. Selectively sourcing products around whole foods, a world away from the ghastly patties of yore, pumped-full of preservatives, gums, agents and flavourings.
There’s certainly no doubt where all the beef is sourced, and it’s not from Ireland nor South America, but rather from the award-winning Trenchmore Farm in Horsham, just 18.2 miles away from their kitchen in the great Brighton seafront food hall. George Simmons, co-founder of 3Bros told us the farm cross-breeds Akuashi Red Wagyu with both Sussex and Angus cows.
The cross breeding of a Japanese breed with the homespun breeds allows for the intense marbling and intramuscular fat synonymous with Wagyu He said “Trenchmore also encourages biodiversity in their farming practices, pushing for regenerative agriculture, focussing around soil health and diversity of wild grasses, essential for happy and healthy herds throughout the year.” So far so good. But does all this guilt-free grub taste good with a cold pint of ace Czech Pilsner Urquell after a gruelling week in the office? (spoiler alert: very much so).
The marvellous meat was served up to us initially in the form of some beef spring rolls. Fat crispy cigar-shaped beauties, full of slow cooked Wagyu beef with cheese and chilli sauce. A second side of Mac ‘n’ cheese bites were also sound, and had the all-important cheese-pull.
The main event soon followed with some absolutely banging burgers for the ever-greedy Argus boys. 3Bros/Trenchmore Farm beef is dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days before being minced with a high fat content to make for perfect juicy burgers with an all-important exterior bark from grilling. Their ‘keeping it local’ credo continues with the ingredients to accompany the perfect patties.
The classic burger is served with smoked vintage cheddar from another award-winning Sussex biz, Weald Smokery, which also provides the smoked Stilton for their chilli blue burger. And all of the burgers are inside buns come from Beauflour Bakery, an artisan firm which uses organic flours and biodynamic eggs. These buns are much more substantial than the now ubiquitous brioche, and were more than able to withstand the delights stashed inside without getting at all sloppy.
One of those delights was the 3Bros special sauce. I had been surprised at the absence of pickles in my classic burger, until I tasted the supremely tangy and fiendishly clever special sauce. The missing gherkins and onions were actually IN the sauce along with a host of other ingredients that George was rather coy about, but would admit to the addition of tomato, mustard and paprika.
There’s also the option of a indulgent, rich truffle Sussex-Wagyu bone marrow mayo, which is a key ingredient in their bone marrow truffle burger. In the same vein they hope to switch their deep-fat fryers from non-GMO rapeseed oil to far less processed beef tallow, and they also plan to start jarring the aforementioned sauces to sell to the city’s burger fans, and beyond..
. Of course the chippies are important too, as the more vanilla half of the Argus dining duo, I kept things fairly straight with a portion of Koffman’s potato fries with a rosemary and oregano salt dusting. Koffman’s are named after French chef Pierre Koffmann and are crispy on the outside and fluffy inside.
My dining chum chose the Chilli B Fries, alongside his chilli burger and chilli margarita, presumably before going home to a house made of chillies. He was impressed with chilli sauce and blue cheese fries which were remarkably equally coated and as impressive from an engineering standpoint as it was for the tastebuds. With a combination of considerable know-how, locally sourced quality produce, and sound prices (the generously proportioned single burgers range from £12 to £14), 3Bros is bound to succeed and is an excellent addition to Shelter Hall’s roster.
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