Reviews Bobo Social

Excellent food, the burgers were amazing and I recommend the Capsicum burger, the cocktails were fantastic. Fully recommend.

Great food. Really nice staff. Great atmosphere. Tasty porn star cocktails. Spent the whole afternoon there and really enjoyed it. Thanks

Great food, fantastic cocktails and very friendly and helpful staff all at reasonable prices considering the location... What's not to like.

Absolutely beautiful, food amazing - Peanut butter burger was the best burger I have ever had with sweet potato fries and staff were lovely too! I'm definitely going back - I have to try out the other burgers

The food, drinks, and service were excellent! I highly recommend stopping by for some great burgers and cocktails.

Amazing food. Melt in the mouth beef. Stunning interior. Head for one of the little Cave booths downstairs for a really special treat.

Really lovely atmosphere, wonderful staff and above all incredible food. Highly recommended.

Best cocktails & burgers about and all in a beautiful setting. Love it!

Who would have thought peanut butter on a burger would taste so wonderful? Definitely coming back!

Absolutely love this place the service was amazing and the cocktails are great will be back for sure and try the bellisimo burger next and the debauchery

Nicely located, friendly staff and the food is absolutely delicious. They serve the best chips, wedges and meatballs. I will have to go back and try out the burgers which what they are known for.

Bobo Social joins other well reviewed eateries along Charlotte Street that bizarrely also begin with the letter B, such as Barnyard, Bi Bim Bap and Bubbledogs. A strong contender in the competition for London’s best burger, Bobo Social can be found in a townhouse which looks more like an elegant home than a restaurant.

The Lobster and Crab burger comes smothered in a dill caper cream with wasabi fried onions, and the chef’s special of ‘Beef on Beef’ came with fillet steak strips on a 6oz rare-breed beef. Served with lettuce, tomato and a honey mustard glaze it was a salty, juicy delight. For any PBJ fans out there, then the signature Peanut Butter burger is not to be missed, with Westcombe Cheddar and Maple Cured Bacon.

To top things off, Bobo Social hosts their own Experimental Burger classes – every Monday and Saturday. Guests get to enjoy a welcome cocktail, meat tasting, wine pairings and even get to create their own burger using exotic meats like Kangaroo, Alligator, and Ostrich.

It's an experience. The venue looks great and the service was good but the real news here is that these guys have taken burgers to the next level.
The Bobo burger - this is the finest burger I have ever eaten. Good quality meat (Red Lincoln was the offering that day), cooked in an indoor charcoal oven with English plum wood. Wow. Branded 'B' buns, vintage mismatched plates - my expectations were all surpassed and the burger rule book rewritten. The guys next to me were eating debauchery burgers and looked like they were in heaven.
The small plates menu looked good but the burgers are insane here. Well done, what a pleasure.

The Vibe

With a name like ‘Bobo Social’ you would be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled upon a review of a Tinder-style app for single parents with toddlers looking for the perfect play-date but you couldn’t be further from the truth. Situated on the ‘unofficial business lunch’ capital of London, Charlotte Street, this new high-end burger restaurant has a very modest front door and entrance hallway leading into a minimalist dining room which makes you feel like you are entering a supper club run by Kate Moss.

We arrived at 7pm on a cold Thursday evening and even at this time it had a great buzz and liveliness about it. The name ‘Bobo Social’ is an amalgamation of the words ‘Bourgeois’ and ‘Bohemian’ and the décor is certainly playing for Team Bohemian. Crockery plucked from Alice in Wonderland, aged wooden tables and chairs and low-hanging Edison bulbs give an intimacy to each space with the white walls preventing the feeling of dining in a haunted house invaded by an axe-murderer (I’m talking to you Meat Liquor).

The Order

If the décor is Bohemian then the food is definitely Bourgeois. We got things under way with a deliciously smooth chicken and British chorizo pate. To accompany this my date insisted that we had the sea bass ceviche and I could kiss her for this decision (I did later). After the light starters we headed into burger country. Bobo Social differs from traditional burger bars in that they use different British beef and wood on a weekly basis so, in theory, no two trips should be the same (unless you go in the same week, and we probably would). I opted for the Bobo which is a 6oz Rare-Breed beef served in a buttermilk bun with lettuce, charcoal roasted red onions and BOBO Sauce. In case you were wondering the vital statistics were meat: Galloway and wood: English plum. Cutting to the chase: it’s the best burger I’ve ever eaten. I managed to share a fragment with my date and she hi-fived me and agreed – the flavour is incredible with no burger juice, greasy brioches or overcooked patties in sight. My date went for the Lobster and Crab burger which was bloody lovely too. A cavalcade of sides are on offer; whilst we got stuck into the beef dripping chips, served in a large tea cup and the apple slaw with pumpkin seeds which were both very good, we couldn’t help but notice the table next to us had ordered the chilli chocolate latticed bacon which we will definitely be trying on our return visit.

Top tip: order the dark & milk chocolate mousse with salted caramel with two spoons and share it. If you want to keep the booze flowing then the dessert cocktails are very enticing. My date went for the ‘Apple Crumble in a Glass’ which is apple and cinnamon infused Bourbon with vanilla and cinnamon cream.

The Game

I met my date at the nearby Fitzroy Tavern prior to the burger action. Drinking a pint for under £3.50 was the aim of the game and Sam Smith’s chain of delightful boozers meant that we were rolling double sixes from the word go. The Fitzroy Tavern and Sam Smith’s pubs in general are reliable watering holes, which have refused to succumb to the hipster’s favourite – cans of craft pale ale that have been expertly brewed six inches from your face but cost more than a barrel of oil shipped from Libya. Fortunately for me my date proved no stranger to downing 2 pints of Taddy in 60 minutes, so after discussing the demise of Dapper Laughs (RIP, gone too soon, misogyny lolz) and wetting our whistles, we were on our way. The conversation wasn’t the only thing flowing as we ordered cocktails; choose from the Classics, the British and for those celebrating a new job, birthday or Tuesday, the Champagne section. My date opted for the Lavender Bomb (Bombay Sapphire gin, lemon juice, sugar, served with plenty of lavender-y goodness) whereas I went for my old favourite, an Old Fashioned. It’s a tricky craft making a good cocktail but these went down swimmingly. The best burgers in London had my date audibly wooed – I think I heard a little food-gasm. Bobo Social provided the amazing food and atmosphere but surprisingly one of the winning factors for my date were the toilets. She visited them twice and came back with a big smile on her face both times (not for that, filthy bugger). Often overlooked, the toilets at Bobo were a hit. Resembling mini-Cath Kidston stores, these little spaces of paradise, with the music of her favourite band Interpol playing proudly, really were a hidden delight. On the right side of tipsy, we strolled down Charlotte Street for a quick ‘Mexican Bullet’ at The Red Bar before slipping off into the night feeling all good’n’stuff. Needless to say we’re booked in for another date.

Sex Factor

5. Food that produces long audible moans of delight, an atmosphere that makes you feel like you are eating round your cool, famous mates house who has access to your Spotify account, and toilets that make her grin like she’s done something sordid. With winter dating in full swing, top marks for taking reservations and not making us wait in the rain and with a new brunch menu for Saturdays perhaps we should all try and be a bit more Bobo Social.

Bobo Social on Charlotte Street is a grey and white bastion of King's Road chic on a road of identical terraces and lifeless offices. It launched in August 2014 and serves a selection of burgers and small plates.

Time to take a closer look at the burger...

Price:
Bobo Burger - £8.50 - cheddar £0.95, bacon £0.95
Battered pickles - £2.50

Presentation:
The Bobo Social burger is presented on fine china and I kinda like the juxtaposition between the oozing burger and the chic-yet-not-quite-matching crockery. It's not a bad looking burger, either, with a bold 'B' branded on the bun, but I feel the lid-off effect is more to do with making the burger look bigger on the plate that to demonstrate any particular feature of the meal. I promptly popped it in it's required place and got on with it.

Toppings:
Great. I pimped my Bobo burger with cheddar cheese and cured streaky bacon which were to add salt and acidity to the experience. The bacon was pre-cut into chunky strips which made it easier to eat without the classic 'bacon tongue' fail that plagues burgers with cured bacon in whole pieces. Braised onions, which were not as sticky as those in the Elliott's Cafe burger but had been nicely softened and added a flavoursome hit of umami, were piled on top of the patty too.

Underneath the beef a combination of lettuce, tomato and mayo completed the accoutrements, adding to the moistness, but the tomato failed to add anything else like so many of the tomato-led burgers in London today.

Meat:
"Today's meat is aged Red Lincoln rare breed ground beef from Dorset cooked over plum wood in the charcoal oven", my waitress croons, "we change our beef, and our oven fuel, every week". That's what I'm told when I order my Bobo burger. The patty in my burger is turns out to be pretty bloody good, too. It's a juicy, fatty, coarsely ground burger cooked med-rare, it's well seasoned and is full of flavour - I can even taste a slight sweetness from the plum that complements the aged beef. The burgers are cooked in a 300 degree heat of the charcoal oven which seals the burger, but doesn't give that crusty sear of a flat-top grill, or cast iron.

Changing the beef and wood it's smoked with is an interesting concept, and one that means I have to go back several times to get the full set. Clever.

Bun: 
Full brioche. The bun was toasted and branded with the Bobo 'B' - a nice and difficult to master - premium touch in a place of nice touches. It's fully capable of taking some serious juice punishment and there's enough acidity in the rest of the burger to offset the buttery composition of the brioche.

Accessories:
Ok. I opted for deep fried pickles, so I shouldn't have been surprised when a selection of onions, gherkins and a chilli turned up - all picked - and coated with a thin, crisp batter. They batter's hot and crispy, while the pickles are sharp and acidic but slightly slimy at the same time. Accompanying the pickles is a spicy buttermilk dip which is really rather good, but I can't help thinking that for a plate of 5 pickles at £2.50 - paying 50p a pickle feels slightly mean.

Overall rating: 9/10
It all about nice touches with Bobo Social - the crisp pickles, the chopped up cured bacon, the 'B' emblazoned on the top of the bun - and it feels well thought out and well loved by its creators. I think the burger is pretty good - it doesn't have the blow-your-palate buzz of a Patty & Bun, but it's a nice, relaxing place to really appreciate the chemistry of flavours that can be pulled together using aged beef and smoking wood. I'd go so far to say as it's a great place for a date or romantic meal out.

Being a vegetarian, I'm not a massive fan of burgers as I tend to struggle to find ones that I *really* love. Like most burger joints, Bobo Social has only one vegetarian burger on the menu, which can get difficult for the more picky eaters out there.

Lucky for me, I'm a fan of mushrooms and their Mushroom and Truffle burger, is definitely one of the best vegetarian burgers I've had in a long time! I erred on the side of caution and opted for the sweet potato chips with truffle salt as well, though the apple slaw with toasted pumpkin seeds did pique my interest. Perhaps I'll give that a go next time!

The staff were friendly, and the decor is really lovely! Definitely a place I'll be visiting again soon.

We held a party here for 30 people. The food was lovely and the staff were fantastic. Chatty and engaging and really kind to everyone. They catered for all the people with food intolerances. Thank you to the staff for making a great evening 😊

Delicious food, juicy meat, unique taste and fresh ingredients ! SO much better than all the chains. The decor is cute, a very cosy place. Would definitely recommend it

The peanut butter is delicious!!! The quality of the meat is outstanding. They have weekly experimental society burger on Tuesday's

Was thoroughly impressed with my experience. The waitress was lovely and the venue is warm and intimate, perfect for a date or catch up. Food was terrific. I had the peanut butter burger, truffle fries and lamb croquettes; utterly delicious! I also indulged in terrific cocktails, loved the Bobo and the Last Mexican. You can tell they source their food from quality suppliers and despite all the issues with covid etc, that many venues are facing, have managed to open an excellent little restaurant. Have already booked my visit back!

We had our staff party at Boho Social back in April and the service was fab! Mike and the team were so accommodating and incredibly welcoming to us all. The food was fantastic and we had our own bar in the basement which mean't we did not have to disturb any customers enjoying a quiet meal upstairs. Great location, great fun, would highly recommend.

We had our staff party at the private function room at Bobo Social and can highly recommend the venue, if you're looking for an intimate but bright and cozy space with it's own bar and a variety of seating spaces. The food was first class, there's a huge choice of canapés and they were not just beautiful to look at, but tasted as good. We followed with the set menu and again we couldn't fault this either. Thanks to Mike and staff for being so patient and ever so friendly, whilst managing our first post lockdown staff Party. I / we will certainly be back.

Lovely venue. Excellent, decently priced food. We had a bottle of wine between us and spent around 2.5 hours. The staff are really friendly and service is relatively quick.

This place has got to have the best burgers around. The board tells you which cow is being eaten that day and which wood is being used to cook it. You can have your burger any way you want it. Heaven. Sweet potato fries were amazing, skinny chips too, all done with a bit of truffle oil for a rather unique taste. Nice happy hour before 7pm. I am a repeat customer