London’s Favourite Burger Will Never Be the Same [Updated]

The city’s burger pantheon will never be the same, as one of London’s best burger restaurants switches up its beef supplier. Zan Kaufman’s Bleecker Burger, best known for its double cheeseburger that tastes both much beefier than and also exactly like the McDonald’s double cheeseburger, will no longer use The Butchery’s dry-aged meat. The butcher, which focusses on native breeds and whole carcass butchery, is one of London’s best; it says that it decided to make the decision, not Bleecker Burger.

The Butchery founder Nathan Mills announced the change on Instagram this morning:

“END OF AN ERA 7 years we have worked with @bleeckerburger. Supplying the best dry age native breed burger mince that has taken their burgers to the most highly regarded burger in London if not the world. Saying that all good things come to an end and our supply to them will stop this week.”

Bleecker Burger founder Kaufman later told Eater that:

“Nathan is a true pioneer. He wasn’t only our supplier, but a real friend. Over the past 12 months we have been developing our Bleecker beef with Royal Warrant holders (and Mayfair butcher) Aubrey Allen. We are delighted to confirm they are our new beef supplier. Bleecker Bloomberg and our truck moved to Aubrey Allen in May of this year, and during this time we’ve had extensive customer feedback and an increase in positive reviews. Victoria moved over in August and Spitalfields moves over this week.”

Kaufman also dropped some big news for burger stans: “we are hopeful that with the change to Aubrey Allen, we will soon see the return of the Bleecker Black!”

A former lawyer, Kaufman founded Bleecker in 2012 after arriving from the USA, and the burgers — including the now retired “Bleecker black,” sporting black pudding, are consistently cited as among the city’s best. It has three sites: a restaurant at the Bloomberg Arcade in the City; a Victoria burger bar, and the original unit at Old Spitalfields Market in Shoreditch. A fourth Bleecker at Westfield London is yet to open. A very, very small sample size of feedback for the new burger suggests it has lost none of its quality:

Eater has contacted Bleecker regarding the new beef supplier. More soon.