KATHERINE MACALISTER finds a burger to rival her family’s secret recipe

There’s a secret MacAlister burger recipe that gets passed down from generation to generation, and it’s legendary. My father honed and toned it and everyone who eats them is a convert. I obviously can’t disclose the recipe because then I’d have to kill you. But who better to take to Byron, the new burger joint on George Street than the two recipe safe-keepers, the ‘burger aficianados’.

And they were going to be difficult to impress. “It shouldn’t be hard to make a good burger,” they agreed while perusing the menu, like two assassins in an art-house movie, “but for some reason it is.” Deep guys, deep. But one bite in, and they were both converts, like a married man leaving his wife for the first bit of skirt that comes along, they both switched allegiance in the blink of an eye.

And listening to their rapturous exclamations, it was hard to tell the difference.

But what a dame. To put you in the picture, Byron has several restaurants in London, different decor but same food, and Oxford is their newest venture. Opened by a fan of US burgers, Byron is parked bang opposite Jamie’s on George Street, all white Underground style tiled interior, stacked plates and warehouse lighting, with a US diner twist.

Having to squeeze my way through table after table of men proved that the beefcake to beef-cake ratio is alive and well. The testosterone here was something else. Men love burgers and with burgers as good as these they are going to be flocking.

Just don’t be foiled by the simplicity of the short menu. There are only six burgers to choose from meaning the concentration here goes into the details. “The reason they’re so good,” Mr Greedy said, his eyes alight as he munched his way through his Byron burger (dry cured bacon, mature Cheddar and Byron sauce for £9.25), with a look of ardent lust, “is that not only are they really tasty, but they are also cooked properly and the meat tastes good.”

“And it’s not too big,” his burger partner joined in. “It’s not one of those massive, toppling burgers that you can’t get your hands around. Plus its not overcooked, it’s got a rare side which you don’t get in burgers very often.”

They were right, the ingredients are allowed to speak for themselves, also evident in the sides: the coleslaw was magnificent and I eventually just ate it out of the bowl with a spoon, the home-made skin-on chips tasted of potatoes (which shouldn’t be remarkable but is), and the courgette chips were sweet and delicious. Even the onion rings, which are so hard to get right, were superb.

I ordered the Greek salad (£8.75), to cover all the angles, us girlies need to stand our ground, and that too was gorgeous.

Add in the really unique collection of beers, including the home-brewed Byron ale, and you really are onto a winner here. We shared the fabulous Orio cookie and brownie sundae (£4.75) somehow and then left to get some air while it all digested.

“That was really excellent,” the burger brothers agreed, wandering home, discussing the experience on their way back to the train station, “and obviously not as good as the MacAlister burgers,” I heard as the words wafted back in the wind. ”No”, the other one agreed, “but a damn close contender.” Competition indeed.