Peckham pub has the ‘best burger’ in the UK

A Peckham pub has been named the best place to get a burger in the UK.

To celebrate ten years of the National Burger Awards, this September there was a one-off contest to establish which signature burger was the best.

The Aged Cheeseburger at Whole Beast, the resident kitchen at The Montpelier on Choumert Road, was crowned the winner.

Chefs Sam Bryant and Alicja Specjalna wowed judges with their simple recipe: an aged beef patty, bread and butter pickles, smoked bone marrow, Whole Beast burger sauce, diced white onions, American cheese and a milk bun.

“It’s mad,” Sam said. “To be invited back to be a part of it and then to win the whole thing is absolutely mental. This is a burger we’ve done every day for a year, so we were kind of relaxed and in our comfort zone. It’s great that what we cook every day has actually won it.

“We know some of these chefs really well, like El Perro Negro, Bleecker, people we really admire. To be competing against them is an honour in itself, but to win it is absolutely incredible.” 

In order to win the accolade, Sam first served his recipe to a panel of industry judges during a round of heats made up of previous National Burger Awards winners from the last 10 years. 

He was then one of three chefs to make it through to the ‘live final’, where Whole Beast, El Perro Negro and Fattso were challenged to produce their burgers in front of hundreds of evening guests, serving their final dish to an on-stage panel that featured chef Sally Abé and Topjaw’s Jesse Burgess. The Whole Beast Aged Cheeseburger was then named the Champion of Champions.

The Champion of Champions contest saw previous winners and chefs rustle up their best patties in one of the biggest burger celebrations the country has ever seen.

Over the past decade, the annual event has crowned winners across three categories each year, most recently in 2024 through the Plant-Based Burger of the Year, Burger Chef of the Year and, the big prize, National Burger of the Year.

Unlike the traditional National Burger Awards format, the Champion of Champions cook-off solely revolved around the signature burgers from each venue, meaning everything hinged on just one recipe.

To try it for yourself visit Whole Beast at The Montpelier, 43 Choumert Rd, London, SE15 4AR.

Opening times:

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 6pm-9pm
Wednesday-Friday: 12pm-3pm / 6pm-9pm
Saturday: 12pm-4pm / 6pm-9pm
Sunday: 12pm-5pm