Brighton Burger Bureau
PIG & JACKET
- May 17, 2019
- , 8:50 pm
- , MEAT
AGENTS ON DUTY
Agent Hasburglar | Agent Big ‘Mac’ Dave | Agent V | Agent Ayla Eats
PIG & JACKET
So is The Pig & Jacket Brightons best burger? Agents Hasburglar and Big ‘Mac’ Dave, Agent V and newbie Agent Ayla Eats are on the case.
AGENT HASBURGLAR
A spur of the moment decision to mobilise the BBB down to Street Diner on a Friday lunchtime after seeing a Facebook post about The Pig & Jacket made a nice change. I haven’t seen burgers down there since Troll left or the amazing Likkle Bikkle with their Ribwiches went off on their travels, so I was looking forward to this.
The stall was pretty stark but their was a nice array of sauces and pickles etc down the side. On looking at the menu It was good to see the option for Brie or Stilton to be added as a cheese option. Something I haven’t seen before.
However it was the Dirty Elvis that grabbed my attention. The banana jam was something I had not tried before, or even seen as far as I can remember. That along with a Spicy Satay really sounded good.
SWEEEEET
Unfortunately though upon biting into my burger the sweetness of this banana jam just over powered everything else (and I like sweet things). I couldn’t even detect a hint of the spicy peanut sauce, which was a shame as a real good hit of savoury spicy is exactly what this burger needed to cut through the bananary sweetness.
The patty itself was a bit to densely packed for my liking and too well done.The bun was pleasant enough. The home pickled items I added added a nice crunch and were pretty tasty. I tried a couple fo the other sauces too and they also were pretty sweet. The Pigs & Jacket guys obviously have a sweet tooth.
I think if I were to try another burger I would go for a simple bacon cheese (with stilton). A simpler burger with less going on would give a better indication of just how good these guys burgers are.
There were also zero sides on offer, which I know is harsh when doing a stall but more of the other stalls at Street Diner have some sort of accompaniment to go along side your main items.
AGENT BIG ‘MAC’ DAVE
Street food dressed in a functional bomber jacket.
It’s been a while since I made it to Street Diner. It’s a tricky location to drive to (without being skinned-alive in parking charges), but today we were making a special excursion to see if Pig & Jacket Brightons Best Burger?
On a slightly overcast Friday, the smells coming from Street Diner were like rays of sunshine. I find it hard to believe that anyone could walk through Street Diner without sampling at one of the stalls.
Fortunately we were early & only 1 person in the queue in-front of us. Special Agent Ben Hasburgular made his usual beeline for the sweetest looking item on the menu, the Dirty Elvis.. I chose the Dirty Hog (pork burger with pulled pork).
The chaps at The Pig and Jacket are very friendly & our burgers were ready in no time.
Unfortunately there are no sides, but there were a great range of homemade pickles, which according to their website, are all from vegetables they’ve grown themselves. Hand-grown/made is a nice touch & the pickled onion was a great accompaniment.
Perched on a wall, we tucked into our burgers. The bun had a nice ‘chew’ & held the contents together well & the flavour of pork came through nicely.
There was no real char on the burger, which would have cut through the sweet pulled pork sauce nicely… I can understand how tricky it is to cook pork without drying it out. But without the char, or a bitter/acidic extra in the burger, was slightly too sweet for my taste. Was still a very pleasant burger!
It’s great to see these guys specialising in local pig meats.. They often do specials, I would love to see a pork chilli burger or a burger with grilled apple slices from this team.
AGENT V
The stall is in a good position and the staff were friendly. They offered a range of condiments like chilli jam & burger sauce, we were also offered cardboard cutlery to eat our burgers which when balancing them on your laps in the park can come in handy.
The burger itself was sloppy & sweet and the taste of banana jam really came through however I couldn’t taste the spicy peanut sauce.
On the whole the burger was too sweet with no balance of savoury and I wouldn’t choose it again. The guys that had the ‘Dirty Hog’ Raved about the pulled pork so maybe thats where I will aim next time.
Would have been nice too if there was some sort of side, even though they are on a stall. If they can get the balance of sweetness vs savoury correct then these could be real contenders.
AGENT AYLA EATS
First off, before I get going, despite not scoring so highly I did actually really enjoy this burger. I went with the dirty hog, a pork patty with bbq pulled pork, bacon jam and mature cheddar cheese.
The guys that run the stall are known for their hog roasts and pulled pork and that was evident from this burger. The pulled pork was incredible. Full of flavour, melt in the mouth with a great texture, dripping with sauce but not too much to make the rest of the burger soggy.
OINK OINK
They definitely had the right idea going with a pork patty, I’ve had beef and pulled pork before and there’s a clash of flavours, both meats fighting to be the star of the show.
However, the pork patty itself was pretty average, a meaty yet subtle flavour, no extra seasoning that I could taste, not dry, but not juicy. It was also very compact, making it seem like poorer quality meat than I reckon it actually was.
The bun looked like a good quality brioche, but it was firm and dry, it would have definitely benefited from a good closhing to steam it and make it softer and warmer.
Apart from the pulled pork the only extras in the burger were a sorry slice of iceberg lettuce and some pickles. I would have loved to see a bit more effort with a homemade slaw for a bit of crunch and fresher flavours.
When I asked the guy at the stall what sauce would compliment the burger best out of his selected he simply said “all of them are good” as a spice fan I went with the chilli jam, hoping it would add a tiny kick to the burger.
Unfortunately, there was no spice and the chilli jam with the bacon jam made it too sweet. Which is a lot coming from me because I love sweet and savoury together!
I honestly think that the guys running the stall have a lot of potential, they’ve got the pulled pork down, and with a bit more love and effort I reckon they could make this burger something great. But for now, it didn’t quite hit the spot.
SUMMARY
So is Pig & Jacket Brightons Best Burger? A bit of a mixed bag today, some unbelievable pulled pork and some unbelievably sweet burgers. Pig & Jacket aren’t a million miles off having some really great burgers. There just needs to be a better balance between the sweet and savoury.
Bare in mind that these scores are with a zero in sides (as their weren’t any). Looking at the menu they run when running their full pub menu out in Newhaven (hello Hog Roasts) there scores would be higher. When we get a chance to head out that way we would love to try some more of their offerings.
